Eight years experience and observation in the culture of the mulberry tree, and in the care of the silk worm : with remarks adapted to the American system of producing raw silk for exportation

MULBERRY TREE

AND SILK WORM.

EIGHT f IMS

EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATION
IN THE CULTURE OF THE

MULBERRY TREE,

AND IN THE CARE OF THE

SILK WORM*

WITH REMARKS

ADAPTED TO THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF PRO-
DUCING RAW SILK FOR EXPORTATION .

BY SAMUEL WHITIARSH.

Patience and Perseverance will convert the Mulberry Leaf
into Silk. — Spanish Proverb.

NORTHAMPTON!
PUBLISHED BY J. H. BUTLER.
FOR THE AUTHOR.

1839.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1839, by
Samuel Whitmarsh, in the Clerk’s office of the Distr
Court of Massachusetts District.

TO THE

jpavmers of tfje ©tottett states,

AND THEIR CHILDREN:

To all my Countrymen, who are, or may
be engaged in the interesting employ-
ment of raising Silk, I would respectful-
ly dedicate this work, hoping that it
will meet their wants, and promising
that the profits of sale shall be devoted
to the cause,

BY LAYING A FOUNDATION
FOR A

PATTERN FILATURE

FOR

INSTRUCTION IN REELING,

which shall be open to all.

Samuel Whitmarsii.

Northampton , Mass. Nov. 13, 1838.

HUH

The selection of the mulberry tree,

Soil, -

The culture and treatment of the mul-
berry tree, -
Seed, -

Eggs and Hatching,

Feeding, -

Cocoonry, - - - -

Reeling, -

Produce of an acre, &c.

Do thunder storms affect the worms 1
To landholders, -

To the overseers of the poor in towns
and cities, -
State bounties, -

Manufacture of Silk,

Facts from Bandolo,

MULBERRY TREE

I have been frequently solicited
by the friends of the Silk cause to
publish the result of my experience
and observation, in a form suited to
the silk-growing interest of this coun-
try : — most of the works already
published being in a great measure
compilations from foreign authors,

which are made up of details, not at

*

all applicable to what I shall term
the American system ; for such must
be the system by which we shall suc-
ceed in making raw silk one of the

10

great staples of our country ; and by
which we shall induce our farmers to
turn their attention to its extensive
cultivation.

To farmers and planters we must
in a great measure look for the pro-
duction of the article. Much has
been done and will continue to be
done by individuals associated for
the purpose ; but to the farmers and
planters throughout our land I would
particularly address myself and urge
them to give their immediate and
earnest attention to this all impor-
tant subject ; to look into the matter

♦

thoroughly, and not only look but
act. Be not alarmed by the frequent
croakings about the high price of la-
bor in this country and the impossi-

11

bility of raising silk, in competition
with other countries ; it is too late in
the day for any such arguments ; they
vanish completely before the face
of facts, which are better than all
theories. The silk culture has gain-
ed too much headway to receive the
least check to its speed by the fears
and doubts of the timid. I urge you
all to plant mulberries in the full as-
surance that they will be wanted.
If you will not use them yourselves,
you will leave your now worn out
lands as a rich legacy to your child-
ren ; for you may be assured that silk
must and will be raised from one ex-
tremity of our country to the other.

The attention of the people has
been called to this subject repeatedly,

12

and from one cause and another it has
been neglected, excepting in some
parts of Connecticut and Massachu-
setts, and, before the revolution, in
Georgia. But the time has come for
general action, and I rejoice to say
that the attention of the whole coun-
try is now alive to the subject, and
if directed in the right course, will
result in the complete establishment
of the profitable culture of silk in
the United States. Congress has
taken the matter into serious consid-
eration, and well it might, for it is
of immense importance to the coun-
try : we have the soil, the climate
and the population, to produce silk
to any extent and of the best quali-
ty ; and I venture here to say, that

13

China and Bengal will before long
feel the effects of the efforts now
made, which will result in the pro-
duction of silk to compete with them
in the London market. I speak not
at random ; — either or both of these
countries may produce a lower priced
article, but the quality of silk in all
cases decides the question of prefe-
rence, and in another place I will
give the reasons for this opinion.

The cultivation of silk is in itself
simple, and my object is now to treat
a simple subject in a simple way,
and to remove from it all the myste-
ry of foreign authors. I would soli-
cit the attention of farmers and their
children. Old and young will find
pleasure and profit in the culture ;

2*

14

the whole process, from the egg to
the reel, is very interesting and in-
structive, and I am quite certain
they will be surprised at its simpli-
city. It is for them I write ; to
those who are better informed on
the subject I need offer no apology
for the plain and unadorned pages
which I offer as all that is necessary
to be known to constitute this a silk-
producing country. Thousands are
inquiring, what work on the subject
is best 1 where shall we look for in-
formation 1 As I observed before,
all the published works are transla-
tions of foreign authors, or compila-
tions, and in my view not adapted to
our country. I may not succeed
any better, but I will try.

15

THE SELECTION OF THE
MULBERRY TREE.

It is ail important that we select
the right sort of Mulberry tree, and
provide a plenty of them ; and as the
quality of the silk and the health
of the worm depend much on the
quality of the leaf and the soil on
which it grows, I may trespass some-
what on the patience of my readers
before I leave this chapter. It is a
common error to suppose that the
size of the leaf is every thing ; con-
sequently almost every consideration
is lost sight of in the pursuit of the

16

SELECTION OF THE

largest leaf ; — trees are manured and
forced to their destruction. A large
leaf is certainly desirable if it be of a
dry nature, containing more of the
resinous substance, and less of water
than many of the larger leaf kinds,
as the black, red, &c. All the va-
rieties of the white mulberry are
better than these.

Great allowance should be made
for the more luxuriant growth of the
mulberry in this country, it being
much greater than in France or Ita-
ly. We should adapt the tree to the
soil ; the more luxuriant kinds should
be planted on the poorer soils, while
those of a slower growth may occupy
richer lands. In the South of France
and Italy, where the mulberry is ex-

MULBERRY TREE.

17

tensively cultivated lor silk, planta-
tions are made with great care, prin-
cipally of grafted mulberry trees,
trimmed to a head as standards and
carefully pruned and as carefully
handled when the leaves are picked.
All this is very well for a country
where the growth of wood in a sea-
son is but small, where land cannot
be exclusively devoted to the mul-
berry, and where also the labor of
gathering leaves by the help of lad-
ders can be sustained. This cannot
be done in this country in competi-
tion with the cheap labor of Europe,
at least not extensively.

Silk has heretofore been raised
from standard trees in this country ;
but the superior adaptation of our

18

SELECTION OF THE

soil and climate to the growth of the
mulberry and silk worm, the cheap-
ness of land, the superior intelli-
gence and activity of our farmers —
themselves the owners of the soil —
all tend to mark this country as des-
tined to become one of the first, if
not the first, for the production of
raw silk. China may excel in quan-
tity, but not in quality. Neither
France or Italy can produce silk so
cheap as the United States. China
and Bengal produce the cheapest
silk, but it cannot be delivered in
this country at so low a price as it
can be raised for here. If we pur-
sue a system adapted to our climate
and state of society, we should not
look to foreigners for aid, who are

MULBERRY TREE.

19

generally wedded to their own sys-
tems (which for them may be well
enough ;) but pursue a course which
nature points out to us.

Silk may be made from a mulber-
ry which is indigenous to our coun-
try, but the quality will not compare
with that made from the finer kinds,
nor will the same success attend the
growth of the worm. The black
and red mulberry contain too much
water in the leaf, particularly under
cultivation. The silk made from
them is strong and well adapted to
Sewing Silk, but not for the finer ar-
ticles, for which the main crop of
silk is wanted.

A very common error prevails
of planting trees too close or in

20

SELECTION OF THE

hedges, as they are called. No kind
of mulberry should be planted closer
than four feet (I prefer eight feet
between the rows and four feet be-
tween the trees) if good silk and
healthy worms are desired ; and if
you do not wish to gather twice the
quantity of leaf which ought to pro-
duce a pound of silk. Every plant
should have the sun and air to ma-
ture its leaves ; and it should be our
aim to perfect the worm and bring it
to winding its cocoon with as little
bulk of leaf as possible. As the res-
inous substance in the leaf is that
which fills the silk bags of the worm,
the smaller the quantity of leaf re-
quired to perfect the worm, the less
will be the danger of a superabun-

MULBERRY TREE.

21

dance of water in the leaf — a cause
of disease in the worm. Any one
who will try the experiment with
closely planted trees, or trees in a
rich soil, and with those of a dry
gravelly soil with more space, will
find the result in favor of the appa-
rently poorer growth.

3

22

SOIL.

The soil most suitable for the pro-
duction of good silk is a gravelly
loam on a sub-soil of gravel and sand.
Stony lands, hills and elevated plains
are suitable, or any warm dry soil.
A rich loam is not so good. Clay is
not suitable ; trees will grow in it
well enough, but it will produce a
watery leaf.

There are millions of acres lying
in waste, in Virginia and the Carol i-
nas, which would produce rich crops
of silk and clothe the now desolate
commons with the most beautiful fo-

SOIL.

23

liage; and what is better, help to
clothe the poor, feed the hungry,
and raise the drooping spirits of thou-
sands who now find it difficult to sus-
tain themselves, and who would, I
am sure, gladly avail themselves of
any opportunity of obtaining profita-
ble and healthy employment.

The raising of silk is as interesting
as it is profitable. It is not laborious
or difficult, nor does it require large
capital. It is happily within the
means of the most humble, and offers
to all who will undertake it a rich
return.

I would here suggest to landhold-
ers in the vicinity of towns, that by
planting their light lands with mul-
berry trees they would not only in-

24

SOIL.

sure to themselves a large and in-
creasing income, but enjoy the satis-
faction of giving a pleasant and heal-
thy employment to hundreds of fam-
ilies who may not be in a situation
to provide it for themselves. Light
land planted with the mulberry will
yield a large profit by the sale of the
leaves only, or by having them fed
on shares.

Every farm has more or less of
black vegetable matter collected in
hollows and swamps,, usually called
muck, which is the best of manure
for the mulberry, causing it to flour-
ish on very light and sandy soils.
The muck should be thrown up in
the fall to freeze and sweeten, as the
gardeners say ; before planting the

SOIL.

25

trees, put it into the furrows or holes,
and the trees, once started in it, will
continue to flourish for many years.
No mulberry tree should be manur-
ed with fresh barn manure ; it is
rank poison to them, and is one great
cause of their being winter-killed.
The well rotted vegetable matter
above mentioned is the best and most
durable manure. It causes a thrifty
natural growth. A little ashes or
lime may improve it in some cases.
Old woolen rags, bones, fish, and all
animal substances, are useful ; but
the muck, which is within reach of
almost every one, is the cheapest and
on a large scale the main thing to be
depended on.

26

SOIL.

'Mulberries, when planted out,
should be kept clear of grass and
weeds, and the ground loose about
them. They delight in a mellow
soil, and when once well established
in a healthy state will continue to
improve for twenty -five years, if
well used. We are told by some,
that “ the more you pick them the
faster they will grow,” the fallacy of
which must appear to every one who
will for a moment consider the na-
ture of the operation of stripping a
tree of its foliage once or more every
season.

We are also told that several crops
may be fed from the same trees in a
season ; — this you may do if you do
not regard the durability of the tree.

SOIL.

27

Once a year is quite often enough to
strip them of leaves or branches,
(feeding with branches has many ad-
vantages which I shall mention in
another place.) Several crops of
worms may be fed in a season, but
not from the same trees. Trees
enough should be provided to make
a second picking unnecessary. We
have land in abundance ; and the
same building may accommodate a
succession of crops fed from a suc-
cession of acres.

I would not have my readers place
implicit confidence in what I say on
the subject, as I may be mistaken.
But let any one who doubts it try
the experiment ; — set apart a few
trees, no matter of what sort, and

28

SOIL.

pluck the leaves as many times in a
season as you please; it is possible
that the leaves will diminish in size
and quantity by the operation, and it
is also possible, that after a year or
two there will be no leaves at all,
that the trees will perish in summer
or winter — most likely the latter.
It should be considered, that what is
called a hardy tree is not merely one
that will endure cold winters, but
the clipping, picking, and hard usage
which they will be likely to receive
according to our mode of treatment
when they come to be fed from.

In making a plantation for the cul-
ture of silk, we must suppose it of
course to be a permanent one which
shall be a continued source of profit.

SOIL.

29

the profit increasing with the age
and growth of the tree, if well used ;
and nothing is better repaid than
good care and cultivation for the
mulberry. We shall need much
less care than the cultivators of Eu-
rope, as the mulberry thrives much
better in this country and makes a
much more luxuriant growth, — so
much so indeed, that I have seen in-
telligent men, who had extensive ac-
quaintance and experience with the
mulberry in France and Italy, quite
at a loss amidst our fields, to recog-
nize their old acquaintance — varieties
which they have long cultivated at
home, here quite changed in appear-
ance. They could scarcely believe

30

SOIL.

the fact, when shown a year’s growth
of the mulberry in this country.

In consideration of the vigorous
growth, we should give more space
for our standard trees or stools ; as
by our system of cutting them down
every year they will spread over a
large space. Eight feet by four is
quite near enough for the vigorously
growing kinds. They will meet in
a few years, and when leaves are de-
prived of sun and air, they are of lit-
tle use to the silk grower.

The mulberry delights in the hot-
test sunshine, — never too hot, if mois-
ture is seasonably supplied. Our
bright sunshine and frequent show-
ers, cause an almost too luxuriant

SOIL.

31

growth of the mulberry, in some
cases detrimental to the worms.

The leaves are undoubtedly im-
proved by the age of the tree, hav-
ing less of the rough, harsh taste and
feeling, that are common to the plants
of younger growth. It is found in
Europe that the worms succeed best
when brought out simultaneously
with the leaf. They are generally
hatched much later in this country,
and the general character of vegeta-
tion differs so materially from that of
the silk districts of France and Italy,
and withal so extensive is our coun-
try and so various its climate, that I
can give no better rule than for the
North to aim at the most genial and
steady heat, and for the South to en-

32

SOIL.

deavor to finish the crop before the
hotest season commences. Excess-
ive heat is more to be dreaded than
cold. Cold only retards the worms ;
excessive heat destroys them. An
equal temperature of about 72 de-
grees of Farenheit is most to be de-
sired ; — but I am wandering from the
subject of soil.

This, as I have before observed,
must be warm, gravelly, or sandy.
It is often said, that “the poorest
land is the best for the mulberry.”
It is not so. It may with truth be
said that the light lands of a farm —
too light for profit in other crops —
may be most advantageously planted
with the mulberry, and in a few
years, by proper treatment, be made

SOIL.

33

more profitable than richer lands,
planted with other crops. I have
seen many acres set out with mul-
berry trees, the soil so poor that
blackberry briars would starve ;
whilst mulberry trees from four to
eight feet high with full heads were
set in barren sand ; and because they
would not begin to grow, “ the silk
business was all moonshine.” Now,
had the holes been filled with muck,
and the heads of the trees cut off- —
poor as the soil was, they would
have made a good growth, and in a
few years, when well rooted, pro-
duced'a good crop of silk.

Lands that are considered worn
out for corn or cotton may thus be
made productive, and of the best
4

34

SOIL.

silk. The mulberry strikes its root
deep, and when once well establish-
ed, will do better on light lands than
any other tree. Lands which will
grow twenty bushels of corn to the
acre, manured, are quite strong
enough for good silk, if on a gravel-
ly or sandy bottom. Such lands, by
the application of ashes, lime, mud
or muck, or compost of all kinds,
will produce vigorous trees with the
sweetest foliage, and silk of the best
quality, and much more than lower
richer lands. It is the dry nature of
the leaf on such lands that makes the
silk so superior.

35

THE CULTURE AND TREAT-
MENT OF THE MULBERRY
TREE.

The mulberry tree is of course
but little known in this country, so
recent is the awakened interest in its
culture. It will prove to us a source
of great wealth, and it should receive
the attention that it merits. It will
add another valuable staple to our
agriculture, the true source of wealth
to any country, — a staple that will
conduce more to the happiness and
comfort of our whole country than any

36

CULTURE AND TREATMENT

other. There is no other that has
not its peculiar locality, while the
mulberry and silk worm will flourish
from the extreme north to the south-
ern borders of our country. If there
is any advantage, in one part of the
country over another, it is in fa-
vor of the north ; but all parts of it
may participate in its benefits, and I
hope will do so.

To propagate by cuttings and lay-
ers seems best adapted to the go-
a-head propensities of our country-
men. In Europe grafting and bud-
ding are much resorted to, even in
hedges. It is not desirable for us,
nor is it practicable on an extensive
scale.

OF THE MULBERRY TREE.

37

No kind of mulberry under culti-
vation can be produced from seed.*

# By the above assertion, I mean that if we
wish to cultivate or propagate any particular
kind of mulberry, we must not expect to do it
by seeds. We may indeed select many valua-
ble kinds from seedlings. Some produce fewer
varieties than others— but a particular mulber-
ry, lilce any other fruit tree , must be continued
by graftings or cuttings. I have trees four
years old which I raised from fruit gathered by
myself from the Multicaulis trees in my own
grounds. Of four trees no two are alike, and
neither of them like the parent tree. All have
lobed leaves. Two of them have leaves no
larger than the smallest wrhite mulberry. This
could not be the result of mixture from other
trees, as the multicaulis fruit was fairly set, in
fact well filled, before the white mulberry was in
blossom . This I particularly observed at the

4*

38

CULTURE AND TREATMENT

This should be generally under-
stood as much disappointment would
be thereby avoided. Many persons
purchase seed expecting it to pro-
duce trees exactly like the parent.
But they will see varieties without
number, and if they would increase
any one among them, it must be by
grafting, budding, or cuttings. Wood

time ; although it was said by the knowing
ones, and is believed to this day, that “ it must
be a mixture with the white.” There could be
no mistake in the case, as I planted the fruit in
two minutes from the tree, and kept the plants
in a flower pot till the second year, and then
planted them with my own hands where they
now stand. I have been thus particular as
there are many theories upon the subject of
multicaul is and other seeds

OF THE MULBERRY TREE.

39

for cuttings should be kept in sand
through the ivinter. When the buds
swell in the spring, cut them into one
or two bud cuttings as you may
think best. Cut them half an inch
below the bud. Make the ground
mellow and rich. Place the cuttings
under the soil, about two or three
inches, according to the situation.
When the sprout appears through
the ground, nearly cover it with
earth ; do the same when it is grown
an inch or two more ; and you will
not lose one in fifty. Keep them
clear of weeds and the ground loose ;
— hoe often, weeds or no weeds ;
and you will have no need of the
watering pot. I have known weeds,

40

CULTURE, &C.

left to shade the cuttings, to exhaust
all the moisture from the soil and
prevent the dews from penetrating
to the roots.

41

SEED.

Mulberry seed should be soaked
twenty-four hours in warm water
and rolled in dry wood ashes. Sow
it in rich ground — cover it one quar-
ter of an inch and press the ground by
a board — or, if on a large scale, the
roller. Keep the weeds from the
plants, and after one year transplant
them where they are to grow. Out
them off two buds above the ground
in all cases when shrubs or stools are
wanted. The tops may be used for
cuttings, which make handsomer
trees than layers, and form much

42

SEED.

larger roots. Cuttings are quite
sure, if treated as I have directed.
Single eyes, or cuttings of two eyes,
make the best trees with fine large
roots and numerous branches.

Mulberry trees are often buried
too early in the fall, before the sap is
still, and before the ground is cold to
the proper depth. In such a case,
they become heated and spoiled.
Let them remain till there is danger
of the ground freezing too hard to
dig. Make a trench from two to
four feet deep in a dry soil, put a
layer of trees a foot or two thick,
and then throw on the soil, filling
well the space between the roots
and branches. Raise the earth to a
point to turn off the water. Plant

them as you take them out. They
must not be exposed long to the air
after being taken out. Cuttings
often fail in consequence.

EGGS AND HATCHING.

It is highly important that the
eggs should be of the best quality
and that they should have been care-
fully kept. Many of the diseases of
the worms may be traced to the egg
and the coming forth from it. Eggs
are often kept in damp places, and
contract mould. If they hatch they
are not so healthy as when kept cold
and dry.

Foreign authors tell us we must
not let the eggs freeze, and that this
will certainly kill them. There can
be certainly no advantage in letting

EGGS AND HATCHING,

45

them freeze, but it is well to know
whether accidental freezing will des-
troy them, in order that we may
govern ourselves accordingly. To
test the matter, in the summer of
. 1832 I put a miller on the shutter
of my green-house, on the north side.
She deposited her eggs, a full com-
plement ; they remained on that
shutter through the summer and
winter, exposed to all the storms.
The shutter was taken down every
day and was frequently covered with
snow and ice. The thermometer
hanging on the same shutter, stood
several mornings at 18 and 22 de-
grees below zero, Farenheit, yet ev-
ery egg, save six, which were crush-
ed, hatched with the first buds of the
5

46

EGGS AND HATCHING.

white mulberry. The worms were
healthy and vigorous and made fine
cocoons. I should say that the mil-
lions of eggs, which have been lost
within a year or two, have been lost
from the dampness and confined air
of the ice-house or cellar. When
brought forth to hatch, they have
been brought suddenly from the ice
to 75 or 80 degrees of heat. The
result was that the worms died in
the egg or soon after leaving it ; or
perhaps that they lingered till the
third change.

The eggs should be brought grad-
ually to the warm air. We have on-
ly to expose the paper or cloth*

*1 never could imagine why the French i -

EGGS AND HATCHING. 47

gradually to the air of the hatching
room, and about the sixth or seventh
day the black heads of the worms
may be seen through the shell.
Tender leaves should be placed
round the edge of the paper to pre-
vent the worms going over. They
will collect on the leaves, and each
day’s hatching will be finished about

quire us “ to scrape the eggs from the papers —
wash them in wine” and make the poor little
fellows earn their first meal by climbing through
small holes pierced in paper. I have seen yan-
kee recommendations of the same course.
What possible reasons they have for it I know
nqt, but I do know that they hatch better when
left on the papers. The worm hap something
by which to help itself in coming out, in conse-
quence of the egg being glued to the cloth.

48

EGGS AND HATCHING.

10 o’clock, A. M. They come forth
from sunrise to about that time each
morning. Keep the ivorms of each day’s
hatching by themselves ; the importance
of doing this you will realize when
feeding, as they will go through with
their changes, about the same time, if
equally fed. Should worms of the
first day become mixed with those
of the third day, it will be a source
of trouble and annoyance throughout
the whole course. Try it.

I have raised worms in the open
air till nearly grown, but they were
taken by birds. The eggs wTere
pinned upon the leaves. They
hatched, and escaped all the storms
of thunder and rain, till the third
change, when the birds destroyed

EGGS AND HATCHING. 49

them. It can be no object to raise
worms in the open air, (I have no
doubt they can be so raised,) as the
silk will not be fine. Good silk is
not raised in the open air in any
country. A coarse article is thus
raised in China ; — such as the slate
pongees are made of. But all the
fine silk is raised under shelter.

5*

50

FEEDING.

We have now come to an impor-
tant part of our subject. And I
would here remark that although the
raising of silk is perfectly simple, a
thing which any child may do, yet
our good or ill success, our profit or
loss, will depend on the attention we
give to this wonderful insect, during
its short life. The period of its ex-
istence as a worm, may be from
twenty to fifty days, according to our
own diligence or neglect. It will
be found that the quantity of silk
will vary in like proportion.

FEEDING.

51

Experience teaches us, that fre-
quent feeding is the best. If we
leave them four or five hours, and
then feed them profusely, we endan-
ger their lives by overfeeding.
They will do well if fed four times
in twenty -four hours, but they will
do better with eight or ten meals.

When a sufficient number are fed
to make it an object, it will be well
to feed them during the night. A
change of hands from day to night
would make the work easy. Time
and silk would be gained by it.
The best cocoons I ever saw were
raised this year, (1838) in eighteen
days, from what is called the six
weeks worm- The worms were atten-
ded day and night. The shortest day-

52

FEEDING.

fed ones were fed from twenty -four
to -thirty days, and the cocoons were
not so good. The Chinese produce
nearly twice as much silk from an
ounce of eggs as the French or Ital-
ians, mainly by night feeding and con-
stant attendance.

Cocoons may be raised with but
very little care or attention. I write
for those who I hope will make a
business of raising them, and if this
business is worth pursuing at all, it
deserves the greatest attention. It
is the neglectful who may tell you
• that you cannot raise silk in this
country. Perhaps they have tried a
few thousand worms, and in conse-
quence of neglect have lost them at
the moment of moulting.

FEEDING.

53

A sufficient supply of leaves for
two or three days’ consumption
should be on hand for the last ages
of the worm. Leaves will keep a
week in a dark cool cellar, with a
brick floor, if turned occasionally to
prevent heating. Leaves that have
remained for several days in the dark
cellar, must be spread in the light
about an hour before feeding.

I would not recommend the use
of wet leaves, although I have
used them occasionally, and per-
ceived no bad effect from it. Much
depends on the leaf we use, and
on the wetness or dryness of the
season. It is a point which all can
decide for themselves, although one
season will not determine it. I con-

54

FEEDING.

sider it unsafe as a general practice,
and should suppose that the silk
would be affected by it as it is by
leaves from a wet soil. Leaves will
heat if pressed closely in bags or
baskets more than an hour or two.
This must be avoided, as heated or
fermented leaves will destroy the
worms.

The mulberry leaf is composed
of five substances — the fibrous sub-
stance, coloring matter, water, sach-
arine, and the resinous substance.
The three first, excepting that which
in part composes the body of the
worm, cannot be said to be nutritive.
The sacharine matter nourishes the
insect. The resinous substance is
that which fills the silk vessels.

/

FEEDING.

55

The mulberry grown on moist rich
soils contains too much water in pro-
portion to the resinous substance.
Consequently the worm must con-
sume a larger quantity of leaf to fill
the silk vessels, and is thus subject-
ed to disease and death.

A superabundance of moisture in
any way is detrimental to the worm,
and to the qualify of the silk. It is
for this reason that silk cannot be
raised in England. The soil and
climate are too humid for the tree,
and consequently for the worm.
They have not the bright sunshine
that suits the mulberry, and renders
it productive of silk. Hence Eng-
land will be our best market for raw
silk and must remain so.

56

FEEDING.

The worm evaporates an immense
quantity of moisture in the dryest
climate, and requires not only dry
food, but a dry atmosphere, and a
free circulation of air.

Silk worms breathe by several ap-
ertures near the feet, and must not
be crowded on the shelves, as respi-
ration will be difficult and diseases
occur. Stagnant damp air is most to
be avoided in feeding worms. It
may be remedied by a simple hot
air furnace in the cellar. This will
create a circulation of air while it
dissipates the moisture. The only
use of a furnace is in case of protrac-
ted rains, when the coeoonry must
necessarily be closed and the air be-
come damp and stagnant. A mode-

FEEDING.

57

rate fire in such cases (in a furnace,
not a stove) revives the worms and
improves their appetite. It is par-
ticularly desirable, if a storm occurs
while they are moulting, which is
the most critical time with them.
With a plenty of good dry food and
fresh air, with the wind from the
west and northwest, the worms will
be sure to thrive.

It is to the dry north and north-
west winds, and the abundance of
electricity in the air, that we may in
a great measure attribute the singu-
lar success of the silk worm in this
country, without artificial heat, and
the superior quantity as well as qual-
ity of the silk. It is a fact, that from
a given quantity of cocoons, one third
6

58

FEEDING.

more silk may be reeled than in
France or Italy ; — a difference suffi-
cient in itself to counterbalance the
cheapness of labor in those countries.
The loss of worms is not one half as
much as in those countries.

The culture of silk then is for us a
simple matter, too much so you may
think to write so much about. But
simple as it is, our success will de-
pend on the observance of a few sim-
ple rules, which I shall in a plain
way give in their proper places.
Let no one despise them because
they are simple. There is nothing
mysterious about the matter. Al-
though men of high reputation for
science, in Europe, have devoted
much time to scientific experiments

FEEDING.

59

and have written volumes upon the
subject, — still, as it regards the
American System, their writings will
benefit us but little.

Our system must vary materially
from that of Europe or China. Our
country is extensive, its soil and cli-
mate are various. Its people are too
active and enterprising to devote
their time and attention to the petty
details of foreign authors ; nor is this
necessary.

I do not say that these details may
not be useful for other countries, but
that they are not necessary for us.
And if by these few pages I shall be
able so far to remove the mystery
which has been for centuries design-
edly thrown over the culture of silk,

60

FEEDING.

as to induce our farmers generally to
engage earnestly in the business, I
shall have accomplished the purpose
for which I have consented thus to
come before the public, in the face
of volumes, written by scientific
men,- — men who are deserving of all
praise for their exertions and for the
satisfactory results of their experi-
ments.

These pages are merely offered as
the result of eight years experience,
and close study and observation of
the silk worm and mulberry, in this
country, attending the production
not only of raw silk, but the various
articles of manufacture. This expe-
rience has been confirmed by a per-
sonal inspection of the most celebra-

FEEDING.

61

ted silk districts of France and Italy.
I must beg pardon of my readers
while I boast of being clothed in
part with the richest silks, the pro-
duct of my own soil and looms.

It is to this production of raw silk
for exportation that I would call the
attention of my countrymen. There
is not, in my view of the case, one
single obstacle in the way of complete
success, and I now say, if our farmers
are true to their own interests, the
amount of raw silk for exportation,
will be in a few years, equal in val-
ue to the present cotton crop of the
United States. The field is open to
all, from Maine to Mexico. We are
often met by the bugbear of the
“ cheap labor of ether countries,”

62

FEEDING.

without considering the difference in
climate, and in the state of society,
and without regard to facts, which
after all are the best arguments.

It is an ascertained fact that a mer-
chantable article of raw silk may be
produced for market, at a cost not
exceeding one dollar and fifty cents
per pound, and that the silk of this
country is superior to most, and
equal to any, in the world.

I speak from experience in regard
to the superior quality of American
silk, and that experience is confirm-
ed by the opinions of the first silk
manufacturers of France and Eng-
land. I have used the silks of
France, Italy, Turkey, China and
Bengal, in the progress of manufac-

FEEDING.

63

tures, and give the American the
preference by twenty-five per cent.

We have only to produce a suffi-
cient quantity for trial in the Lon-
don market, to prove that we shall
compete successfully with countries
where men live on a few cents’
worth of rice per day.

It will certainly be cause for re-
joicing, when our free and happy
farmers can compete with the degra-
ded and miserable population of oth-
er countries, and that too from lands
already exhausted by the culture
of the vilest of weeds — Tobacco.

In connection with raising silk for
exportation, I would here speak of
the great importance of a uniformity
of reeling , both as it regards the

64

FEEDING.

quality of the work, and the length
of the skein. This matter is regula-
ted by law in Italy, — particularly in
Piedmont, which is one cause for the
superior reputation of that silk in
the market.

Silk, to be fitted for the finest fab-
rics, should be reeled on a machine,
simple in itself, but of great accuracy
of proportion and workmanship.
With such an instrument, if we make
a good beginning, there will be no
difficulty. But if we allow ourselves
to be attracted by the numerous in-
ventions that are daily offered for
the purpose, we shall be led into
great confusion, and occasion in the
end much loss.

I trust that the inventors of ma-

FEEDING.

65

chines for reeling will do me the
justice to believe that I am actuated
by no other motive than the good
of the cause and the country in the
remarks I may make ; and I think
they will, if they do not now, agree
with me in saying, that we can do no
better, than adopt the best construc-
ted reel of Italy for our model, par-
ticularly for raw silk.

I would have it understood here
and elsewhere that my remarks re-
late to the production of a merchan-
table article of raw silk. Of the do-
mestic manufacture of sewings on
any machine I have nothing to say,
other than that to spin the cocoons,
without selection, into sewings, is
the greatest extravagance, as the raw

66

FEEDING.

material is worth more than the
manufactured. But in regard to the
reeling of silk I am sure I cannot be
too urgent in insisting upon a unifor-
mity of style from one end of the
Union to the other.

When American raw silk is offer-
ed in Europe, let it be understood
that it will fit the machinery used
for the Italian silk, and that a bale
of a certain number may be depend-
ed on. None but manufacturers can
appreciate the evils of five or six
qualities of silk in the same bale and
as many sizes in the skeins. The
reeling is the foundation of the whole
business, and on its good or ill per-
formance, will depend the value of
the silk.

FEEDING.

67

Of such importance do I consider
it, that I shall propose in another
place, or at another time, a plan for a
filature, open to all who would learn
it. The art is simple and may be
acquired by a few lessons. But
practice makes perfect, and when the
first principles are understood, time
and practice only, will perfect it.

It is, and ever will be, in vain to
talk of “ the inventive genius of
Americans, doing away with the dif-
ficulty of reeling.” This we are
told is already accomplished, and we
are told that still greater improve-
ments may be expected.

Now, the only difficulty that ex-
ists, or ever has existed in reeling is
to keep up the uniform size of the

68

FEEDING.

threads ; which difficulty arises from
the fact, that the silk worm makes a
difference of full one half in the size
of the thread, from the commence-
ment to the finishing of the cocoon.

Unless we can teach the worm a
new lesson, we may rest assured
there will be no machine to reel
silk, other than the simple reel, and
the nimble fingers, of the most beau-
tiful machines in the world, — our
own fair country-women.

The reel itself is but the common
cross band reel. The traverse bar is
the principal thing, which is design-
ed to imitate the motion of the worm
in winding the cocoon. There are
various ways of obtaining that mo-
tion, but experience has proved that

FEEDING.

69

the proportions and principle of the
best Italian reel, should be our
model.

The reel of Italy is all I would
imitate in the silk culture of that
country. I shall not presume so far
to libel the good sense and intelli-
gence of my readers, as to give the
numerous details which regulate ev-
ery movement of French and Italian
culturists in every age and change
of the worm, and on which their au-
thors insist, but which experience
has proved to be useless to us. Er-
rors have been committed, and use-
less expense has been incurred, by
following directions which were in-
tended for quite a different world
7

70

FEEDING.

from ours, so far as the culture of
silk is concerned.

As the mulberry leaf is the foun-
dation, so will the well reeled, beau-
tiful bale of raw silk be the cap
sheaf, of our labors. And I trust I
may be borne with, if I should be
thought to dwell too long on both,
or if in these pages, I often repeat
the same things in different connec-
tions. I shall trust to a few sim-
ple directions, given to those who
are ever ready to comprehend them,
and able to fill up the outlines.

To return then, to the importance
of good reeling, I will here mention
the evils that attend bad reeling, and
that exist in most of the foreign

FEEDING.

71

silk, particularly China, Bengal, and
Broussa, and some Italian.

One great evil is, that the threads
are permitted to run nearly out
before other ends are joined, so
that in an ordinary skein, there are
some threads of from three to jive and
others of from twenty to twenty-jive
cocoons, which it is impossible to
separate, and of which it is impossi-
ble to manufacture a good article.
Consequently the silk commands but
a low price, and perhaps, would not
sell at all, if better could be had. It
must be evident then, our labor is
thrown away, if we allow the silk to
be carelessly reeled, as the best co-
coons are on a level with the poorest,
if thus thrown together.

72

FEEDING.

I would not make the reeling diffi-
cult. It is not so — far from it. But
I would represent the evils of bad
reeling, that we may avoid them.
Let us take a high stand at the out-
set, and aim to equal, if not excel,
the best. If we come short, I shall
be disappointed.

Another evil to be avoided is the
throwing on of ends or rather not
joining them in reeling, which makes
the spooling troublesome and liable
to waste.

Good bright, smooth silk, is known
by looking down the skein against
the light. Every imperfection will
be seen. And if a roughness appears
in the raw silk, it will be more ap-
parent when the gum is boiled out.

FEEDING.

13

The roughness is caused in some
cases by too hot water in reeling, but
oftener by the soil on which the tree
is grown. A rich moist soil will
produce it, or a too luxuriant growth
on any soil. I have seen silk from a
moist soil, which has baffled all the
art of the dyer. No good color could
be fixed on it ; nothing but a dull
brown. The silk had the appear-
ance of cotton. My readers will
here perceive the importance of a
dry soil for silk, and a dry leaf, — dry
in its nature and free from external
moisture.

After much wandering, we will
return to the feeding. We are di-
rected to “ chop the leaves small for
the worms.” For this I can see no

74

FEEDING.

good reason, but rather many against
it. I do not practice it myself, nor
do I recommend it. On this point

all can decide for themselves. My
worms chop the leaves quite fast
enough, and I think do better on en-
tire leaves or twigs.

When the mulberry branches
cease to be worth six cents an inch, I
propose to feed with branches, as
they come from the tree. I am per-
suaded that this practice will be gen-
erally adopted in this country. It
has many advantages, some of which
I will enumerate.

In the first place the foliage may
be gathered in much less time. It
will keep better till consumed. The
same saving of time is gained in feed-

FEEDING.

75

mg, and much more in cleaning off
the frames. The worms mount the
twigs while feeding, and remain aft-
erward, having more advantage of
the air and more space than on a flat
surface. The leaf will be entirely
consumed, leaving nothing but dry
branches to remove. The ordure
of the worms will fall through to the
shelf, themselves entirely free from
it on the branches. They will have
a better qhance to be equally fed ;
and if this be not attended to, the ill
fed ones will lag behind. But the
greatest advantage of all is, that they
need not be removed from the frame
from the time they are put on to it
till they mount to wind the cocoon.
This will be a vast saving of labor,

76

FEEDING.

and prevent the handling of the
worms, which is always to be avoid-
ed. As the branches are laid on,
they should be laid first crosswise
mid then lengthwise with the frame,
making thus a sort of net-work,
which can be easily separated in lay-
ers when you clean them off. The
worms will be more healthy, partic-
ularly in moulting time, as in the
usual way of feeding with leaves,
they retire under the Utter, and re-
main there till they change, where
they must breathe a bad air, and in
many cases be smothered by the ac-
cumulation of matter.

I may as well mention here the
system of cutting the branches. Sup-
posing your trees to stand ten or

FEEDING,

77

twelve feet high at the feeding time
— cut them within three or four feet
of the ground, making clean work as
you go, cutting the branches within
two or three inches of the body.

The tree thus trimmed must be
left to itself the remainder of the
season. It will produce a new head
to be taken off* the next spring or
feeding time. They will be thus
kept within reach, and always hand-
somer and better than when stripped
of their leaves. If cut too low, the
lower leaves are useless, from sand
and dirt thrown up by showers.
The branches when cut should be
laid in the cellar, where if wet they
will soon dry. After being fed from

78

FEEDING.

they may be planted in furrows, and
will, many of them, grow.

I have before expressed my views
on frequent feeding and on the ad-
vantage of feeding in the night. I
shall conclude all I have to say on
this subject in a few words. Feed
the worms regularly, frequently,
and as abundantly as circumstances
require. Let them always have as
much as they will eat with a good
appetite, always observing that when
the time of moulting arrives, they
will cease to eat and retire among
the branches or leaves. They must
then be left quiet till they revive,
which will be in about twenty-four
hours. When well aroused, clean
them off and feed as before, and con-

FEEDING.

79

tinue to do so through every age.
But for the last week make your cal-
culations for leaves, as for several
yokes of oxen, as more will be re-
quired than in the whole previous
ages. And now for a week or ten
days you must be active, for your
own labor is nearly over, and that of
the worms about to commence. You
will soon see them looking about for
a room to retire in, as they do not
like to be seen making their cocoons
in public. You will therefore pro-
vide for them when you see them
raise their heads from the fresh
leaves and move about.

The silk worm has a very useful
peculiarity, that it never wanders
from the shelf on which it is first

so

FEEDING,

placed, except in case of disease, or
when ready to moult. It never
moves but to its food. Perhaps dur-
ing its life it does not move over
three feet of space. What could we
do with them, did they wander about
like other caterpillars ? — But we left
them looking for a frame, or bundle
of clean straw, which is quite as
good, and more convenient ; and al-
though I shall show in a plate how
to arrange them, 1 will say here, that
good clean rye or wheat straw, with
the heads cut off, and tied in bun-
dles as big as your arm, placed along
the shelves, reaching from the top to
the bottom, will be well filled with
cocoons, which will be easily gath-
ered.

FEEDING.

81.

I have seen many kinds of mounting
frames recommended, one of which
is made by boring holes in a plank,
with a two inch auger. But I think
I see you with one thousand bushels
of cocoons to gather, punching them,
out one by one with your finger, and
I think you will get through about
the time of feeding next year ; per-
haps some of them will be out of
shape, and flat cocoons will not reel
well. Every thing in the way of
mounting frames, should be calcula-
ted for facility in gathering the co-
coons. More time will be required
to gather, than to raise them accord-
ing to some plans. If you must have
a frame, there can be none better

8

82

FEEDING.

than one I have described in the co-
coonry.

As we left the worms going up in-
to the straw, we will leave them
there about eight days after they
have finished the cocoon, when they
may be taken down and reeled im-
mediately, or put in the sun to stifle
the chrysalis. Two or three days
exposure to the sun will be effectual,
and dispel the moisture ; which is
essential, as they will heat and spoil
if put away damp.

There are various means of stifling
the chrysalis, but the sun is the best,
and is happily free for the use of all,
as it is the safest. In unskilful hands
the cocoons may be, and often are,

FEEDING.

83

spoiled by too much heat. I could
mention other ways of doing it, but
I will not. The sun’s warmth is
good enough and I shall not attempt
to suggest any thing better.

Before putting the cocoons in
the sun, you should gather a suffi-
cient number of the best for eggs.
Two hundred and fifty will produce
one ounce of eggs, or forty thousand.
We cannot distinguish with exact-
ness the male from the female in the
cocoon. That pointed at one end
and drawn in at the middle contains
the male ; — that which contains the
female is nearly alike at both ends.
Lay them away where no mice can
come. Mice destroy from the egg to
the miller, cocoons and raw silk not

84

FEEDING.

excepted. In about fourteen days
the millers will come forth and cou-
ple. They should not be left togeth-
er more than twelve hours. Sepa-
rate them gently, and after the fe-
males have discharged the brownish
substance, put them on a clean white
paper or cloth in a dark place. Af-
ter laying the eggs, the millers die,
and thus ends this wonderful insect,
— ends but to begin again its course
another year.

Is it not curious and wonderful,
that the worm, after its feeding and
changes should wind itself into its
air-tight tomb, and then undergo a
complete change and come out white
and pure, and after providing for the
continuation of its species, should

FEEDING.

85

die, without taking food from the day
of commencing the cocoon ?

You have followed me thus far,
with some skipping, and I have said
nothing of the manner of cleaning
the frames. They certainly should
not have been left all this time with-
out cleaning ; — so if you will just
lift up the top layer of branches, or
leaves, where the worms are, I will
pull out the remainder and put un-
der a clean newspaper, and you will
now let them down again without
disturbing them. The next shelf
you musb have some other person to
help you clean, as I have a cocoon-
ry yet to build, and some other mat-
ters to attend to.

8*

86

COCOONRY.

As we have been some time feed-
ing worms, we will take a view of
the buildings, previous to reeling
our cocoons, and although any vacant
room will answer a good purpose,
yet I hope some of my readers will
need extensive accommodations for
worms. A cheap rough building
will answer, but it should be conve-
nient and planned with reference to
ventilation.

I have one two hundred feet long
by twenty -six feet wide and two sto-
ries high, which will accommodate

COCOONBY.

87

two millions of worms. It is set on
brick pillars of three feet high, ex-
cept the ends, which have cellars for
the leaves, and a furnace. In the
floor under each frame, a board is
sawed out, eighteen inches by
twelve, with a strip of board for a
handle. These are easily removed.
The use of them will be apparent
before we get through. The point
of the roof is raised about eight inch-
es,— making a projection of three
feet, and has the appearance of a
double roof. Lids are hung with
leather hinges every three feet, to
be opened and shut by cords. The
holes in the floor being open, and
those in the roof — a free circulation
goes on, aided by another row of

COCOONRY.

holes about midway, or even with
the second floor. These are made
by pressing off a board about three
inches from the side. Let this space
be closed with lids, which by means
of buttons underneath, may be raised
in a moment.

I have said that it was two stories
— it is so, as far as two rows of win-
dows make it so. The rafters are
laid across for a second floor, but
they are only boarded, six feet wide
in the center, and three feet at the
sides, making a walk, or gallery for
coming at the frames, which must never
touch the side walls. The object of
this arrangement is to have as much
room as possible under one roof. A
lower room is apt to contract damp-

COCOONRY.

89

ness. Uprights are made of slit-
work, three inches square, and as the
frames are three by six feet, the up-
rights are six by six feet apart, with
slats nailed across, and accommodate
two rows of frames drawing out each
way.

I have used netting, and have all
my frames fitted with it ; but I do
not now use it.* The same frame,
with millinet or grass cloth, drawn
on at the corners, is better, and may

# Netting is convenient when the worms are
to be thinned out or spread on clean frames.
Lay a netted frame over the worms, on which
spread leaves. A sufficient number will ascend
to remove to another place. The net should
lay flat on the shelf. Beyond the above pur-

90

COCOONRY.

be taken off and washed and put
away for another season. Frames
covered with cloth are lighter than
boards and quite as cheap, and the
open spaces of the cloth admit the
air to the litter beneath and prevent
its gathering dampness.

I have mounting frames, but were
I to erect another cocoonry, I would
use straw in preference. The
frames are three feet long, one and
a half wide, made of inch stuff. Two

pose, netting is of no use whatever. As the
worms will not all go up when you would
change them, you must gather the remain-
der by hand, as you would blackberries.
They should never be touched by the hand
if it can be avoided.

COCOONRY.

91

of them are joined together, as the
leaves of a book, leaving a space of
one inch between them for the co-
coon. The outside of the frames are
covered by common lath, with spaces
of half an inch. These are placed
upright across the frame, about four
for each frame. A large cocoon-
ry requires a large number, in-
stead of which straw may well be
used.

In so large a building there should
be a partition across the center,
making the rooms one hundred feet
long. A room twenty-six by twen-
ty feet should be finished off under
the roof for a hatching room, for the
first week’s feeding, and for millers,

92

COCOONRY.

and should be lathed and plastered.
In the cellar under each end is a fur-
nace for hot air, made by enclosing
a common box stove in a brick cham-
ber, six inches larger than the stove,
with spaces at the bottom for the ad-
mission of cold air, which is admitted
into the room above by a hole in the
floor of two feet square. The object
of this furnace is explained in anoth-
er place. A thermometer will be
useful to indicate the changes. A
plate of common salt will detect
dampness, and one of chloride of lime
will correct bad air or smell in the
cocoonry. If properly cleaned it
will smell of nothing but the whole-
some mulberry leaves. You must

COCOONRY.

93

not mention Tobacco in the presence
of silk worms. In regard to this
drug they show good taste ; they had
rather die than smell it.

94

REELING.

I have in another place expressed
my views of the importance of per-
fect reeling, and I have said that it
must be acquired by practice. A
few general directions are all that
will be necessary here. I hope at a
future day to point out a method, by
which persons from all parts of the
country may be instructed practical-
ly and be qualified to teach others.

As this little work is calculated for
general information on the subject of
silk culture, it will be expected that
some directions will be given. So

REELING.

95

far as our own manufactures are con-
cerned, silk is now sufficiently well
reeled ; and I trust it will be suita-
ble for exportation, with a little more
experience and practice.

The water for reeling must be soft
and free from sand or dirt. The de-
gree of heat must be graduated by
the state of the cocoons ; no definite
rule for it can be given. As a gene-
ral rule, the water should not boil,
but be kept nearly at the boiling
point. If the water is too hot, the
silk will come off in burrs, and it
must be cooled ; if too cold, the co-
coons fly up to the guide wires.

Press the cocoons gently under the
water with a bunch of twigs or
broom corn ; the ends will adhere to

96

REELING.

it. After collecting a sufficient num-
ber, pull off the coarse silk till it
runs clear. When another thread is
collected in the same way, cross
them eight or ten times, before going
to the reel. You will then pass the
the threads through the guide wrires
to the reel, attaching them in two
places for two skeins. Turn the reel
steadily and rapidly. Join the ends
constantly as some run out or break.
Keep the water clean by taking out
the skins with a skimmer. The wa-
ter must be changed twice a day.
The silk should be left on the reel
to dry rapidly.

The most convenient way to heat
the water is by steam. Make the
basin double, one within the other,

AN ACRE.

101

ion with the business of the farmer.
I will leave that subject to be con-
sidered hereafter, when we shall
have raised sufficient materials to
keep them employed. Of this I am
sure, manufactures will spring up
all around us, when we turn out the
hales of raw silk.

102

DO THUNDER STORMS AF-
FECT THE WORMS ?

This is a question often asked and
I will venture to answer, that so far
as my experience goes, they do not
— although they are thought to do so
by some cultivators in Europe. I
have carefully observed them during
repeated severe thunder storms, and
have tried experiments which prove
to my mind, that the ill effects
which have been supposed to be
caused by thunder, have arisen from
suffocation.

It is natural for any one on the ap-

DO THUNDER STORMS

103

proach of a thunder cloud, to fly to
the windows — like sailors in a squall
— to make all snug before the show-
er comes ; and as all thunder storms
are preceded by hot sultry weather,
it follows that the worms, having
had a free circulation of air during
the day, are suddenly shut up close
in the sultry air of the cocoonry
while the outward air is becoming
purified by the storm. Worms near-
ly or quite ready to mount, will
perish under such treatment.

I have tried a part of the same lit-
ter of worms, shut up under the cir-
cumstances as above, and the other
part with the doors and windows all
shut as before, — but with the ventila-
tors in the floor and roof open. Those

104

AFFECT THE WORRMS.

in the close room nearly all perished
before morning — (the storm was at
6, P. M.) — while those in the venti-
lated part were not affected in the
least. You will therefore look well
to the ventilators.

105

TO LANDHOLDERS.

To landholders throughout the
United States, I would particularly
address this chapter, and urge them
by all means to plant mulberry
trees. Your land will increase in
value with the increasing growth
of the trees.

Many large tracts of light uplands
may be made, in a few years, more
productive to the proprietor than the
richest meadows. I have in another
place mentioned the means by which
they may be brought into a luxu-
riant growth of the mulberry.

10

106

TO LANDHOLDERS.

Have you many poor families in
your neighborhood to whom you
would be benefactors and friends'?
Plant mulberry trees — provide silk
worm eggs, and let each family have
a part to raise at home — furnish them
with leaves — take a portion of the
produce as your share, leaving them
an abundance for their support and
yourself one hundred per cent on
the investment in dollars and cents,
and one thousand per cent in the
satisfaction of having contributed to
the comfort and happiness of your
poor neighbors.

You enable the farmer of small
means to keep his children at home,
away from the factories — attending
school— cultivating their immortal

TO LANDHOLDERS.

107

minds, yet assisting in the cultiva-
tion of the richest of all the products
of the soil — providing the comforts, if
not the luxuries of life, and you thus
remove many temptations from the
path of the indigent. Many a lad in
any part of the country would re-
joice at the prospect thus held out to
him of educating himself at our best
colleges, by a few weeks industry in
each season, aided by those who have
now lands lying waste.

This is no idle speculation. Try
it even in a small way till you are
satisfied. If you set about it in ear-
nest, you will be satisfied that you
are enriching yourself, your neigh-
bors, and your country.

TO THE OVERSEERS OF THE
POOR IN TOWNS AND CIT-
IES.

I would ask you gentlemen, if the
poor-houses under your charge are
not felt to be odious public burdens 1
Are there not in all these poor-houses
many, who by adverse fortune have
been driven, as a last resort, to place
themselves under your care, but who
are still possessed of the finer feel-
ings of our nature, to whom this feel-
ing of some of your boards (to this
character of overseers there are

TO OVERSEERS OF POOR.

109

many honorable exceptions) is like
gall and wormwood 1

I think I can answer for some of
you, that such is the case. Would
you relieve your towns from these
burdens ? Plant mulberry trees on
the farms that are connected with
many, and may be with all. The
gathering of trees and feeding worms
will be but pastime for the children
and aged persons, on whose hands
time now hangs heavy.

There are but few in our poor-
houses who are not able to perform
the light work of raising silk, and
but few who would not prefer it,
rather than idleness. And I will
venture the assertion, that there are
but few, if any towns, that may not
10*

110

TO OVERSEERS OF POOR

thus enable the poor to support them-
selves and enjoy the satisfaction at
least of knowing, that they are not
entirely objects of charity, but rather
earning their own living under the
direction of those who are more ca-
pable of guiding the helm than
themselves. Thousands might be
kept from the poor-house, had they
kind friends but to advise and direct
them, in cases, where, want of judg-
ment and tact is the principal obsta-
cle to their advancement in the
world. Do, gentlemen, try the ex-
periment. I am sure your towns
can lose nothing by it. If they do
not more than support their poor, it
will be for want of interest and at-
tention on your part. In. the first

IN TOWNS AND CITIES. Ill

place, plant a few acres of mulberry
trees. Your housekeepers can di-
rect all the management of the
worms, and there are always some in
the house who can reel the cocoons ;
— if not, sell them ; and if you will
not raise the worms, raise the leaves
and sell them. I am perfectly wil-
ling you should have it your own
way, so that you plant mulberry trees.

STATE BOUNTIES.

We are often asked, “if the silk
business is so profitable, why do you
ask for state bounties'?” I would
answer, that it is the great body of
farmers whom we would engage in
this business.

Farmers in all countries are slow
to adopt improvements, and are par-
ticularly averse to any cultivation,
that will not yield an immediate re-
turn. The very nature of the silk
culture, requires time for the growth
of the trees, and although our Amer-
ican system reduces the time former-

STATE BOUNTIES.

113

ly required to bring a plantation into
profitable use, still we must have a
year or two for the trees to become
established. Besides, no one can ex-
pect to raise five or ten pounds of
silk, at the same rate that he can
raise fifty or five hundred.

A state bounty of twenty cents
per pound on cocoons and fifty cents
per pound for reeled silk, continued
for a few years, will induce our far-
mers to engage extensively in the
culture, and when it is once fairly
established, I have no fears for the
result. The state may then venture
to leave the silk culture to rise on its
own merits.

In all countries the culture of silk
has engaged the particular attention

114

STATE BOUNTIES.

of governments and every encour-
agement has been given to increase
its culture — and with success. In
Germany it was undertaken to do it
by compulsion. Laws were enact-
ed compelling every owner and oc-
cupier of land to plant mulberry
trees and feed silk worms. The re-
sult might have been anticipated.
The people would not be compelled
to do it, and sought every opportuni-
ty of destroying the trees.

I would compel our farmers to
cultivate silk in quite another way.
Induce one enterprising individual
to clear five hundred dollars from an
acre of ground, and the business is
done for that neighborhood. If the
enterprising farmer engages in ear-

STATE BOUNTIES.

115

nest, the five hundred, or a thousand
dollars, per acre, will follow. Now
they cannot know this till they try
it, and will our legislatures induce
them to try it 1

MANUFACTURE OF SILK.

I had intended to omit the subject
of the manufacture of silk, but as our
ability to manufacture silk in this
country is doubted by many, and the
question is so often repeated in the
numerous letters of inquiry which I
receive, “ Can we manufacture silk
in this country in competition with
China and Europe V’ that I am in-
duced here to say, that in some arti-
cles, we can, but that we must yield
the palm to the F rench on the score
of taste in design in the fancy trade.

11

118

MANUFACTURE

They certainly excel in that. But
in the plain staple articles of silk
manufacture, we can compete with
Europe and in some articles even
with China ; but not from imported
silk.

I have given my views in another
chapter of the superior quality of
American silk, and I hazard nothing
in saying that when we are suffi-
ciently established in the production
of raw silk to insure a constant sup-
ply, manufactories will arise in eve-
ry part of the country. There are
already many in operation, which
depend almost entirely on foreign
silk. My own manufactory may be
named as one, for which there is not
yet silk enough raised in the coun-

OF SILK.

119

try. We have power looms for rib-
bons, including those now in opera-
tion and those in the hands of the
machinist, sufficient to turn off 4,000
yards of ribbon daily, of widths vary-
ing from half an inch wide to four
inches, — besides machinery for sew-
ing silk and braids. Another facto-
ry in the same town will require
from two hundred to six hundred
pounds per week, which must at
present be imported.

The day will soon come when we
can produce our Sinchews and Pon-
gees in competition with China.
You will ask, “ How can this be ?”
How was it with cotton 1 Have not
some of my readers samples of the
“ India cotton” as it was formerly

.-w. •

120

MANUFACTURE

imported 1 Is not the scale com-
pletely turned now 1 There is
scarcely a ship that does not take a
part of her cargo in “ Domestics” for
Canton, and even printed, silk hand-
kerchiefs, from their own silk. The
weaving of a piece of Sinchew, costs
in Canton two dollars. It may be
done by power looms in this country
for fifty cents, from American silk,
of course ; we cannot do it from im-
ported.

In any article of silk manufacture
to which we can apply machinery,
we can now even compete with Eu-
rope,— duty free. But when our
own raw material is abundant, we
shall be perfectly independent. We
shall possess advantages which the

OF SILK.

121

cotton and woolen manufacture does
not. Why ? Cotton and wool must
be prepared by, expensive machine-
ry and by an expensive process, be-
fore it can be spun. The silk worm
does all this, and it does it in better
style in this country than in China
or Europe. A vast deal of the la-
bor which is there required, may be
dispensed with here.

It is not my intention to enter into
the details of manufacturing. I am
very certain that it will keep pace
with the production of the raw ma-
terial.

I might amuse my readers, per-
haps, with the calculation of the
number of pieces of Sinchews and
Pongees an acre will produce, in-
11*

122

MANUFACTURE

stead of pounds of silk ; but I will
omit it for the present, and in con-
nection with this subject will make
some extracts from a work recently
published in England by Doct.
Ure,* shewing the extent and im-
portance of the silk manufacture of
England and France, in which a par-
ticular account of the schools of De-
sign is given. Both of these topics
I think are intimately connected
with my subject and will prove in-
teresting to my readers.

“ The average produce of silk in
Italy for the years 1829, 1830 and
1831, was from 5,000,000 to 6,000,-

* Philosophy of Manufactures, by Doct. Ure ;
London ed.

OF SILK.

123

000 of English pounds ; of which the
Tyrol, Friuli and Lombardy, fur-
nished 3,000,000 pounds ; the Ro-
man States, Naples and Sicily, 600,-
000 pounds ; and Piedmont, 1,250,-
000, and this quantity is very capa-
ble of increase. From the Lombar-
dy States, the export in 1831, was

335.000 pounds to Berlin and Vien-
na ; 120,000 to Russia ; 200,000 to
Switzerland ; to the Rhenish manu-
factories, 500,000 pounds ; to Eng-
land, 2,250,000 ; making altogether,

3.405.000 pounds, exported.

“ France employs about 700,000
pounds, or three fifths of the organ-
zine silk thrown in Piedmont ; and
England, the remaining two fifths,
very nearly.

m

MANUFACTURE

“ The duty on foreign raw silk in
France is about 8 d. the English
pound ; except on India silk, which
is only 2 id. per pound. The prices
of the best French silks are general-
ly ten per cent higher than those
of similar Italian silks. In Zurich,
where thrown silk is duty free, there
were only 1000 looms in 1792, and
there are 12,000 at present.

“ The silk trade of Great Britain
at present may be valued at £ 7,000,-
000 sterling; the silk importations
from France through our custom-
house amount to £ 450,000, and by
smuggling to ,£300,000 more. The
ribbon manufacture of England
amounts to £ 1,000,000 annually ;
and that of France to £ 1,300,000.

OF SILK.

125

“ The value of 4,200,000 pounds
weight of raw silk manufactured in
France, has been estimated at <£5,-
600,000 sterling ; of which goods
equal to £ 5,400,000 are exported
and only £ 1,200,000 worth retained
for internal use ; being probably not
more than one fifth of the home con-
sumption of the United Kingdom.
The declared value of all our ex-
ported manufactured silks last year,
was only £636,419 ; if this sum be
deducted from our total manufacture,
£ 7,000,000, the remainder £6,363,-
581 will denote the value of the silk
goods retained for use, — a value
which may, in round numbers, be
rated at six millions sterling.

“ Thus it would appear that the

126

MANUFACTURE

females of this country can afford to
spend five times more money upon
the luxury of dress than those of
France, who are one half more nu-
merous and not less vain.

“The great developement of the
silk manufacture in France is mainly
owing to its being the least protected
interest in the kingdom. Its spon-
taneous growth, being fostered by
the natural taste of the people, has
given it a stability at home and a
steady demand over the whole
world. As foreign silks are admit-
ted at a moderate duty they stimu-
late to fresh improvement and sug-
gest endless variations of style.'

“ The opinion generally entertain-
ed of the superiority of French figu-

OF SILK.

127

red silks, and which may depend for
their beauty on tasteful arrangement,
is no more a prejudice of mankind,
than the feeling in favor of the
works of Raphael and Titian.

“ In the manufacturing texture the
prepossession however is in favor of
Great Britain on account of superior
machinery. Taste descends to the
lowest classes of the community in
France, in remarkable contrast with
the neglect of it among the lower or-
ders of our countrymen (England.)
Taste is in fact a cheap commodity
across the channel, it is rare and
costly on this side of it ; a circum-
stance due very much to the pains
taken by the French government for
a century and a half to encourage

128

MANUFACTURE

the fine arts and to exhibit speci-
mens of them freely to the people,
in public buildings, all over the
kingdom.

“ Gratuitous schools of design also
are established at Paris, Lyons, and
many of the principal towns. Taste
is displayed both in the forms and
grouping of the figures and the dis-
position of the colors.

“ The history of the introduction
of the Jacquard loom, is a most in-
structive lesson on the advantage of
free intercourse and rivalship be-
tween different countries. The in-
ventor of that beautiful mechanism
was originally an obscure straw-hat
manufacturer who had never turned
his mind to automatic mechanics, till

OF SILK.

129

he had an opportunity by the Peace
of Amiens, of seeing in an English
newspaper the offer of a reward by
our Society of Arts, to any man who
would weave a net by machinery.
He forthwith roused his dormant fac-
ulties and produced a net by mecha-
nism ; but not finding the means of
encouragement in the state of his
country, he threw it aside for some
time and eventually gave it to a
friend as a matter of little moment.
The net however got by some means
into the hands of the public authori-
ties and was sent to Paris.

“ After a considerable period,
when Jacquard had ceased to think
of his invention, the Prefect of the
Department sent for him and said,
12

130

MANUFACTURE

“ You have directed your attention
to the making of net by machine-
ry.” He did not immediately recol-
lect it, but the net being pro-
duced recalled every thing to his
mind.

“ On being desired by the Prefect,
to make the machine which had led
to the result, Jacquard asked three
weeks time for the purpose. He
then returned with it and requested
the Prefect to strike with his foot on
a part of the machine, whereby a
mesh was added to the net.

“ On its being sent to Paris, an
order was issued for the arrest of its
constructor -by Napoleon, in his usu-
al sudden and arbitrary way. He
was placed immediately in charge

OF SILK.

131

of a gendarme , and was not allowed
to go to his house to provide himself
with necessaries for his journey.
Arrived at the metropolis he was
placed in the Conservatorie des Arts,
and required to make the machine
then in presence of inspectors,; an
order with which he accordingly
complied.

“ On his being presented to Bona-
parte and Carnot, the former ad-
dressed him with an air of increduli-
ty in the following terms — “ Are
you the man who pretend to tie a
knot in a stretched string V’ He
then produced the machine and ex-
hibited its mode of operation.

“ He was afterwards called upon
to examine a loom, on which 30,000

132

MANUFACTURE

francs had been expended, for
making fabrics for Bonaparte’s use.
He undertook to do by simple me-
chanism, what had been attempted in
vain by a very complicated one ;
and taking for his model a machine
of Vaucanson, he produced the fa-
mous Jacquard loom.

“ He returned to his native town,
rewarded with a pension of 1,000
crowns ; but experienced the utmost
difficulty to introduce his machine
among the silk weavers ; and was
three times exposed to imminent
danger of assassination. The Conseil
des Prudhomm.es, who are the official
conservators of the trade of Lyons,
broke up his loom in the public
place, sold the iron and wood for old

OF SILK.

133

materials, and denounced him as an
object of universal hatred and igno-
miny. Nor was it till the French
people were beginning to feel the
force of foreign competition, that they
had recourse to this admirable aid
of their countryman ; since which
time they have found it to be the
only real protection and prop of their
trade.*

“ It is in the production of the pat-
terns of silk goods that the French

# It may not be generally known that the
Jacquard loom is the machine by which all fig-
ured goods are now made. It is really a won-
derful machine, by which a novice in the art
of weaving may execute the most beautiful pat-
terns when once mounted. The pattern is cut
12*

134

MANUFACTURE

have a decided advantage over the
British ; — they have probably little
or none after the design is put into
the loom.

- “ The modes in which taste is cul-
tivated at Lyons deserve particular
study and imitation in this country.
Among the weavers of the place, the
children and every body connected
with devising patterns, much atten-
tion is devoted to every thing in any
way connected with the beautiful

on cards which are overhead and so arranged
by cords that by moving the treadle the pattern
proceeds. This machine has caused a great
revolution in the fancy silk trade. It is also
applied to all kinds of figured goods, silk, cot-
ton, woolen and linen. W.

OF SILK.

135

either in figure or color. Weavers
may be seen in their holiday leisure
gathering flowers and grouping them
in the most engaging combinations.*
They are continually suggesting new
designs to their employers ; and are
thus the fruitful source of elegant
patterns. There is hardly any con-
siderable house in Lyons, in which

# It is certainly much to be regretted, that so
little taste for flowers and all that is beautiful
in nature, is manifested by the majority of our
farmers, and consequently of their children.
Who but they should cultivate a taste for these
things ? Are they not in the midst of them ?
Were they made only to be trodden under foot
and despised ? I trust not. And if our farm-
ers generally would take a little pains to culti-
vate the tasteful ornaments of the earth, as well

136

MANUFACTURE

there is not a partner who owes his
place in it to his success as an artist.

“ The town of Lyons is so con-
scious of the value of such studies
that it contributes 20,000 francs per
annum, to the government establish-
ment of the School of Arts, which
takes charge of every youth who
shows an aptitude for drawing or im-
itative design of any kind applicable
to manufactures. Hence all the em-

as its substantial productions, there would be
nothing lost, but much gained. It would lead
to refinement of mind and manners, and should
not the farmer be refined ? Is there any thing
in the employment and life of a farmer to pre-
vent the cultivation of a taste for the “ sublime
and beautiful V9

W.

OF SILK.

137

inent painters, sculptors, even bota-
nists and florists of Lyons become
eventually associated with the staple
trade, and devote to it their happiest
conceptions.

“ In the principal school, that of
St. Peters, there are about one
hundred and eighty students ; every
one of whom receives from th$ town
a gratuitous education in art for five
years ; comprehending delineations
in anatomy, botany, architecture and
loom pattern drawing.

“ A botanical garden is attached to
the school. The government allows
3100 francs a year to the school of
Lyons. The school supplies the
scholars with every thing but the
materials and allows them to reap

138

MANUFACTURE

the benefit of their works. The
professor of painting is a man of dis-
tinguished talent, well known to
connoisseurs.

“The French manufacturer justly
considers that his pattern is the prin-
cipal element of his success in trade ;
for the mere handiwork of weaving
is a simple affair with the improved
Jacquard loom. He therefore visits
the school and picks out the boy who
promises by taste and invention to
suit his purposes best. He invites
him to his house and gives him a
small salary to be gradually ad-
vanced.

“ After three or four years, if the
young artist’s success be remarkable
lie may have his salary raised, and

r

OF SILK,

139

when his reputation is once estab-
lished, he is sure of the offer of a
partnership. Such is the general
history of many of the school boys
of Lyons.

“ Even the French weaver, who
earns Ihd. or 20 d. a day, prides him-
self upon his knowledge of design ;
he will turn over several hundred
patterns in his possession and dis-
course on their relative merits, sel-
dom erring far in predicting the suc-
cess of any new style. By this dis-
position the minds of the silk wea-
vers in France become elevated and
refined, instead of being stultified in
gin shops, as those of the English too
frequently are.

“ In flower patterns the French

140

, MANUFACTURE

designs are remarkably free from in-
congruities, being copied from na-
ture with scientific precision. They
supply taste to the whole world in
proportion to the extent of their ex-
portations, which amount to one
hundred and ten millions, out of one
hundred and forty.

“ In the Lyons school, collections
of silk fabrics may be studied ex-
tending over a period of four thous-
and years, with explanations of the
modes in which every pattern was
produced, from the rude silk of the
Egyptian mummies to figured webs
of the last year.

“ There are also weaving schools,
containing from sixty to eighty
scholars. In these a pattern being

OF SILK.

141

exhibited, they are required to ex-
ercise their invention immediately
as to the best means of producing
the design on a piece of silk goods.
The master removes such difficulties
as are occasionally encountered, and
leads them on to a successful accom-
plishment of the task.

“ Within a few years, a large lega-
cy has been left by Gen. Martin for
the purpose of establishing another
institution similar to the school of St.
Peters.

“ Their superiority in art is turn-
ed to good account in many other
French manufactures, notwithstand-
ing the double price of the raw ma-
terial in France. Their fancy arti-
13

*

1 42 MANUFACTURE

cles in iron and steel are exported in
large quantities. Their bronze fig-
ures have made their way into all
parts of the world, along side of their
silk goods ; both being equally pro-
ductions of fine taste and therefore
yielding profitable returns.

“ The establishment at Lyons,
which takes charge of the interests
of its trade, and is called the “ Con-
seil des Prudhommes ,” noticed above,
is of a very useful nature.

“ When a manufacturer has in-
vented a new pattern, he deposits a
specimen of it, sealed, in the archives
of that body, on which he pays from
two to ten francs, according to the
desired duration of his copy-right.

OF SILK.

143

The Conseil can seize * all pirated
imitation goods, fine the offender,
and even imprison him for ten days.

“ There is found to be practically
very little difficulty in a man’s vin-
dicating his patent right before this
equitable tribunal which is one of
the most popular and best organized
institutions of France.

“ It originated in a decree of Bo-
naparte in 1806 for the reconstruc-
tion, throughout the kingdom, of the
old manufacturing tribunals called
the “ Maitre gardes” It is com-
posed at Lyons of nine master manu-
facturers and eight weavers, one of
the former being President ; each
party being elected by the general
votes of its own body respectively ;

144 MANUFACTURE

every weaver who possesses four
looms being entitled to vote.

“ This court decides all questions
connected with the manufacturing
interests of its particular district.
Their proceedings are distinguish-
ed for temperance and sagacity.
The men who represent the opera-
tives, display sound sense and join in
the discussions of the open court
with equal propriety as their em-
ployers. All questions between
masters and men — between men and
apprentices, and in fact all which
bear in any degree on the silk
trade, are referred to the Conseil
des Prudhommes. Their disposi-
tion seems always to be conciliato-
ry. They examine parties, summon

OF SILK.

145

witnesses with the power of com-
pelling their attendance, and gire
awards from which there is no ap-
peal, in reference to any sum less
than one hundred francs. The
number of appeals from this tribu-
nal are very few.”

13*

FACTS FROM DANDOLO.

I shall also make a few extracts
from a work of the Count Dandolo,
both because the facts are curious,
and to show the importance of at-
tending to a thorough ventilation of
rooms where silk worms are fed.

First, on the “ quantity of gas and
excremental substance emitted by
the silk worm.”

“ I here offer the calculation, re-
sulting from facts, by which I have
been able to ascertain the quantity
of substance which issues from the

148

FACTS FROM

silk worm towards the close of the
fifth age — that the calculation may
show the evils which are constantly
likely to attack a laboratory (or co-
coonry.)

“ It must be well observed, that I
only allude to the noxious emana-
tions exhaled by the silk worms, and
not of the leaves, fibrous fragments,
and excrements, all which substan-
ces deteriorate the air, and are inju-
rious to the silk worms if not re-
moved.

“The result of my experiment
proves that 360 worms, which pro-
duce about one pound and a half of
cocoons, weigh, when at their high-
est growth and size, three pounds,
three ounces and a half.

DANDOLG.

J49

“ The silk worms, after this, are
ready to begin their cocoons, in the
course of two or three days, and
then only weigh about two pounds,
seven ounces.

“ When the silk worms begin to
rise, they void a quantity of nearly
pure water, part of which is some-
times discharged through the silk-
drawing tubes and by transpiration.
They also evacuate a small quantity
of solid substance, and then form the
cocoon in three or four days.

“ These cocoons altogether weigh
about one pound and a half. Five
ounces of eggs will produce six
quintals of cocoons.

“ If 360 worms weigh three
pounds, three ounces and a half,

150

FACTS FROM

when in their utmost growth, it most
clearly appears that the whole num-
ber which produce 600 pounds of
cocoons, will weigh 1285 pounds,
three ounces, when they reach their
utmost growth.

“ And if the worms previous to
beginning their cocoons, only weigh
42 ounces, it must appear equally
clear, that the whole number will
weigh 10 quintals and 50 pounds;
and therefore in three days, they
must have lost 237* pounds weight
of substance, either solid or liquid,
from exhalation or steam. And if
after two or three days, they are
changed into 600 pounds of cocoons,
it is evident, that in three or four
days, they must have lost 450

DANDOLO.

151

pounds weight of substance either
in liquid or in vapor and gas.

“ In the space of six or seven days
therefore, the bodies of the insects
requisite to produce only 600 pounds
cocoons must have lost 700 pounds
weight of vapor or gas, solid and
liquid excremental substance ; this
astonishing quantity of substance ex-
creted from the bodies of the silk
worms in so short a time, is of great-
er weight than the whole of the co-
coons and aurelias, which only weigh
600 pounds. It is scarcely credible
that they should yield so much nox-
ious matter in a few days, were it
not demonstrated by positive facts.
It is needless to add that ventilation

152

FACTS FROM

will prevent the ill effects of so
great a quantity of moisture.

“No branch of information how-
ever minute, can be useless when it
can in any degree contribute to im-
provement, when it diminishes losses
and when it increases the profits of
any art whatever; and as my object
is to enable any body to rear silk
worms and to draw from them every
possible advantage they can offer, I
have even tried to ascertain the ex-
act loss of weight of the cocoon each
day.

“ I carefully weighed every day
1000 ounces of cocoons, reckoning
from the moment they completed
their formation until I perceived

DANDOLO.

153

that some moths wet the cocoon a
little and were preparing to come
forth.

“ The following is the result of the
daily decrease of 1000 ounces of co-
coons in a temperature of 71 degrees
and 73 degrees.

Gathered from the fagots and clean-

ed, the cocoons weighed 1000

ounces.

First day following,

991

66

Second

66

982

66

Third

66

975

66

Fourth

66

970

66

Fifth

66

966

66

Sixth

66

960

66

Seventh

66

952

66

Eighth

66

943

66

Ninth

66

934

66

Tenth

66

925

66

14

154

FACTS FROM

“We find by this that the cocoons
lose in ten days seven and a half per
cent, by the desiccation of the chry-
salis alone. The first four days they
lose three per cent, or three quarters
per cent a day ; in the last days they
lose rather more, because as the for-
mation of the moth approaches, a
greater quantity of humidity evapo-
rates.”

“Facts relative to the increase and
decrease of silk worms in weight and
size.

Progressive increase.

One hundred worms just hatched
weigh 1 grain.

DANDOLO.

155

After the first moulting 15 grains.

“ Second “ 94 ' “

“ Third “ 400 «

“ Fourth “ 1628 “

On attaining the great-
est size 9500 u

“ Thus have they in thirty days
increased 9500 times their primitive
weight.

“ The worm diminishes gradually
in weight during the last twenty-
eight days of its existence ; — that is,
from the moment of attainfng its per-
fection as a worm, until its death in
the form of a moth. It eats nothing,
is supported by its own substance,
and yet accomplishes in that period
14#

156

FACTS FROM DANDOLO.

the most important functions of its
life.

“ The facts I have stated demon-
strate the strong vitality of the silk
worm and what pains and errors
must be adapted to disease and
kill it.”

WAITED,

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