The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

136 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK.
tender, that in some measure it is hoped, they may answer the
purpose of seedUng foliage, so highly recommended by M. Fras-
sinet, who has the following encomium on seedling foliage :
' that 100 pounds of such foliage is worth near 200 pounds of
old leaves to make the same quantity of cocoons ; or in fact,
equivalent in value to nearly double the stock of other foliage.'
I have caused considerable bark to be stripped from the Asiatic
trees cut away for manufacturing purposes ;
and M. Rouviere,
of Lyons, has proved that the bark of young shoots, submitted
to the same process as hemp, yields abundant silk-fibre to make
beautiful tissues (noticed at the close of Chapter XL). I should
advise silk growers to preserve the shoots, have them barked
in the best way, and the silky fibre rotted, carded, spun, and
wove. M. Rou\iere asserts that it will be not only fine and
strong, but take the most beautiful colors. Of the bark, ropes
and nets are made in the Morea, and may be applied to great
advantage m the manufacture of paper, together with the
foUage.
" The Canton and Asiatic seed sown this year are in a floiu"-
ishing condition for plantation use, exclusive of several midber-
ry plantations which will be for rent, or growing silk on shaies,
next spring. Up to the first of July, worms have been uncommonly
healthy—the probable effect of more open ventilation
than in former years.
" Mr. Dabney, consul at Fayal, (now in Boston) has two mil-
lions of worms at present on feed. S. Whitmarsh, at Jamaica,
has 360 of what he calls creoUzed native eggs, in constant
feed, which go through the whole course to the cocoon in 24
days. The eggs hatch in 10 days after being laid. He has
received the silk report, and made such improvement as to
save, in all, nine-tenths of the usual labor. The silk cause at
Jamaica occasions great mterest in England for its prosperity
and success."
Northampton, Mass., July, 1844.
D. Stebbins.
We will now conclude this Chapter with Dr. Bowring's ad-
mirable illustration, of the mutual dependence of the arts upon
each otlier :
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