1354

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

manufactured in the country, from 600,000/. to 700,000/. worth were im-ported annually. In 1719, the first silk mill was erected at Derby. Aftertlie failure of James I.’s attempts to establish the silkworms and themulberry, no effort of any importance seems to have been made for manyyears; though several individuals had, at different times, reared the worms,and produced silk. In 1825, however, a company was established, under thename of “ The British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company,” with a large capital,and under the direction of the celebrated Count Dandolo, whose treatise onthe management of the silkworm, &c., is considered the best work extant onthe subject in Italy. This company formed extensive plantations in England andIreland, particularly near Slough, and near Cork; and Mr. John Heathcoat ofTiverton, Devonshire, one of its most influential members, invented a method ofreeling which was attended with the most complete success. The companyalso formed plantations in Devonshire: but, after numerous trials, it was foundthat the climate of the British Isles was too humid for the production of usefulsilk ; and the company was finally broken up, and its plantations destroyed,in 1829. For further details respecting this company, and its operations,see Encyc. of Agric., 2d edit., p. 1105. The cause of the entire failure ofthis spirited undertaking, as well as that of James I., will, we think, be foundin the following very judicious observations from the Journal d'AgriculturedesPays-Bas ; which will show the impracticability of any future attempt to rearsilkworms as an article of commerce in Britain, or in any similar climate :—“ The mulberry tree is found in different climates ; but the juice of the leavesgrown in the north is much less suitable for the production of good silk, thanthat of the leaves of the south. In this respect, mulberry leaves and silk differas much as wines, according to the climate and soil in which they are pro-duced. In general, every climate and soil that will grow good wheat willproduce large succulent mulberry leaves; but these leaves will, in many cases,be too nutritive; that is, they will have too much sap, and too much substanceand succulency. The wild mulberry, with small leaves, answers better, for sucha soil, than the grafted mulberry, with large leaves. A general rule, and oneto be depended on, is, that the mulberry, to produce the best silk, requires thesame soil and exposure that the vine does to produce the best wine. Expe-rience has proved that silkworms nourished by leaves gathered from a drysoil succeed much better, produce more cocoons, and are less subject to thosediseases which destroy them, than those which have been nourished by leavesproduced by an extremely rich soil.” ( See Gard. Mag., vol, iv. p. 52.) Thesilkworm was introduced into America by James I.; who, at the same timethat he published his edict for the planting of the mulberry tree in England,sent over mulberry trees and silkworms to Virginia, accompanied by a book ofinstructions for their culture, and exhortations to the inhabitants to pursue itinstead of that of tobacco. The worms thus introduced were partially culti-vated ; but, not being so lucrative as tobacco, rice, and indigo, they made butsmall progress till the time of Dr. Franklin. That truly great man establisheda silk manufactory at Philadelphia, which was put a stop to by the war ofindependence. Silk has still continued to be raised in some remote parts ofthe country; but it is only since about 1825 that any establishments havebeen formed on a large scale. It is now produced extensively through all thesouthern provinces of the United States; and it seems probable, from the heatand dryness of the American summers, that it will equal the silk of Italy.Since the introduction of M. a. multicaulis into America, which took place in1831, an attempt has been made to obtain two crops in one year, which, it issaid, is attended with every prospect of success. The same may be observedof the culture of silk in South America, in which it has been commenced atltio Janeiro, the Caraccas, Buenos Ayres, and other places.

In India, the culture of the mulberry and the silkworm continues to bepractised ; but how far it will be promoted or retarded by the progress of thisculture in Europe and America remains to be proved. It appears probable,however, from the superior climate of Eastern Asia, that, when general com-