SILK CULTURAS A DOMESTIC INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7005, 30 April 1884, Page 6

SILK CULTURAS A DOMESTIC INDUSTRY.

Ov this eobjeot Mr. U. A. Ifokook. of Amokland, writ** a« follows :—I h«g to draw your attention t« * report seat by Mr. U. F. Peixotto, Uaited States Comul at Lyons, dated 20th October. l«8l, to the department ef State at Washington. It u ealitled "The Future of Silk Culture ia tbe UnitW States." Many of Mr. Peixotto's reflations and suggestions wUJ be very interesting aud useful at the present memsnt. Will you kiadlj grant me spaoe for a few extracts from that leagtby and elaborate report, whiob I tkink apply to New Zealand as well as to the United States ; " Pur tbe anocess of ailL culture ia oar country (says Mr. PeixoUo) two thiagt are now required—the acquisition on the part of thp#» about to «ai|aye in it of sound knowledge of its processes aud requirements, and proper organisatii n. The details of tbe work of silk culture are of such a nature that they may be readily understood, and I think that there wilt be little difficulty found in mastering them, after some little experience. The most danger is at the very beginning. In order to avoid delays and losses, the person who begins Bilk culture should have a pretty clear idea of the scale of operations which are likely to be most profitable, of the trees or shrubs which must be obtained, of the apparatus and fixtures necessary, and of the results which may be reasonably expected from the labour and expense required. I fear that general rules, broad deductions, and such information as would apply under all circumstances and in all places, would be extremely

difficult to formulate, aad too vague for praotical use at aay givan paint. The as* of reel* at present employed for the filature of silk is entirely impracticable in our coonfcrv ; the rataar wast sail kis coooons. I ihouU esteem it as wasteful, evea if possible, for each grower to attempt to reel his own ooooona, as for each farmer to griad his owe wb,«at upon his farm, aud endeavour to sell the floup. It if therefore clear, that the object of to,*, eerieulturut should be to raise and market as good a crop of cocoons as possible te the best advantage and with the least possible-expense and risk. Although labour and tisie are required to raise ooooons, I am convinced that the labour and time of tbe kind necessary will not be found more expensive in our country than in Europe for tbe following reasons : The work is a home industry ; it can be o arried on without severe manual labour, except for a fen days at th« end of tbe season when large crspa are raised. Now nothing is better known than that therj exist in ma»y of our States an euormeue number of wives and daughters of country people of a class entirely different from any to be found elsewaare, except, peraapa, to a limited extent m England. I refer to the well-to-do but not wealthy agricultural and manufacturing classes in snail Tillages. One or two generations ago the larmere' and mechanic*' wives and daughters found plenty of work ia spinning, weaving, cutting and making the linea and clothes of the family. This has entirely ceased as a domestic industry. As a consequence the women ef the family are condemned to idleness or to the drudgery of the whole household work. Upen a proper occasion I think that much might he said of the evils and dangers which are likely within a short time to arise from the fact that perhaps a large majority of American women find themselves, because ef the present organisation of society and industry, almost unable to contribute to the family income except by going away from home, or in doing the most menial and severe labour as household workers, from one end to tbe other of the year. I shall at present, however, only I point out that in hundreds of thousands of homes in the country an opportunity of ' gaining a very moderate sum in addition to i the present income, by the expenditure of some weeks of care and light work would be hailed as a cod-send, and thattoo in families where the feeling of self-respect and the desire to keep the family together are far too strong to penrut the women to go away from home in any way to earn money. There are very large masses of inhabitants who »re unable to work in the fields—both men and women—and who would also find in a yearly crop of silk worms a very comfortable addition to their yearly gains, and one which would be derived from time, not I otherwise convertible into money. Land ia very much dearer, and taxes are higher in the European silk districts than with us. The building? possessed bv peasants, and used for the raising of silkworms, are in general small, close, and miserable. Throughout AB»tthca the roomy barns which are tiupty at the cocoon season, will, with ! little preparation, be aiucb preferable, and ; enable the raisers to work to i&cj much better advantage. In Europe, diseases of the silkworm have become more or lese preI valent. In America, and in Georgia par- ; tieularly, ailk has been raised continuously J for ever a century, but these diseases have j never made their appearance. The people of our country are, as a rule, much better educated thaa those in Southern France and Italy, and will undoubtedly uie their intelligence in such a way as to derive a benefit f recti it and economise their labour by proper appliance*, etc. Taking these fact* into consideration, I am convinced that there will be no difficulty in raising cocoons for the same cost in labour ia the U.S. as in Europe, and 1 am inclined to think that the work can be much more cheaply done. As to whether it will be wortn while for our people to raise ailkwarms, I should say th<U though the amount of money to be made by any one family is certainly not very large, it is nearly all clear profit, and under the circumstances which I have above pointed out, and which exist so generally, I am sure that the sum to be realised will be regarded as very important by a vast number of people. I am inclined to think, however, that were the members of au average family, under average circumstances, to raise a crop of cocoonf, the amount which ccald be advantageously reared should produce from £15 to £40. .No b;g results can be hoped for, however, without more or leas organisation of the work. The product of two or thr e isolated families in the interior could not be marketed to advantage. Whereas, were seteral hundreds engaged on the work, the charge of marketing their joint crop would be only a email percentage of its value. What ia required ie a system of nuclei in towns or large villages which may serve as centres of information, and a gathering receptacles for the crops of surrounding producers. The details of organisation may be left to the good sense of the people of different sections, who will work out the problem in different ways, accoisling to their different circumstances. I am informed that there exist already in the United States several associations devoted to acquiring and disseminating knowledge about sericulture. This ia a very great step in the right direction, and cannot be too heartily commended. I would respectfutly suggest that auy encouragement which the Government may think proper to afford would in all probability i>e extremely useful, and profitable to the country in the future. It would, I think, be of impoitance so far aa passible to direct the attention of county and State agricultural societies, and in general the intelligent aud careful portion of our rural population to this matter. It i» beyond doubt, that the time when sericulture can be begun and carried on profitably in our country h»s arrived. Its successful introduction would result in a very important yearly revenue and increase in the public wealth, for it think that within a comparatively few years 1 could be made to be worth at least 50 or 60 millions of dollars per annum, and perhaps much more. This, however, is a less advantage than the fact that by supplying a new home industry it would do much towards conserving home ties and mtereste and thereby help to strengthen and perpetuate good morals and home living among our people." • s>