The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-31 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 31. 1833.

CULTIVATION OF SILK.

TO THE RIGHT HON CHARLES GRANT,
President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of
,India.

Nottingham, April 24, 1832.
SIR; In availing myself of permission to address
further communications to the Hon. Board over
which you preside, upon the growth of silk, I shall
notice some objections which Mr. Villiers did
me the honour to communicate some time since, re-
lating to my memorial presented to you on this sub-
ject, and I also propose, with your permission, to
append certain rema, ks which I think are calculated
to illustrate and enforce some of the statements
before made, and which, if transmitted to parties in
India competent to enter into the details, may afford
some useful hints towards improvement in this im-
portant branch of industry.
It is urged as an objection to making the experi•
merit I have desired, viz., that of introducing Euro-
pean worms into Bengal, that, " although valuable
as the means of ascertaining a fact, yet it would be
useless even if successful, while the existing law of
India precludes Europeans possessing the fee-simple
of the land, and thus interferes to prevent any ex-
tensive practical result in the case supposed."
It is also urged, '' that the leaves now used i
India are not those of the white, but of the India
mulberry; and that the former must be used to oh.,
tain good cocoons ; yet it is assumed that the latter_
only will admit of slip or layer planting, and early
plucking ; and as ii is said that the former takes
five toseven years' growth before it could he plucked,
it is beyond the mesas of the Indian peasant either
to plant or employ." Upon these passages, which
appear to be the substances of the objections alluded
to, I would offer the following remarks for your con-
sideration.

In my memorial I purposely avoided any reference
to political impediments, as well as to those arising
from the habits, character, and circumstances of the
natives of India, which might be supposed to stand
in the way of improvement in the culture of Bengal
silk; presuming then, and still believing, that none
of these would prove more formidable barriers to
improvement than they had been found to present
in the growth of Bengal indigo. The Indian Go-
vernment has invited suggestions of improvements,
and has thereby virtually given a pledge to afford
every facility for carrying them into effect, so far as
can be granted consistently with the general good.
It is probable that the free settlement of Euro-
peans, and the use of their capital and skill, will be
necessary to insure the highest amount of excel-
lence in this or any other product of India. Never-
theless, if it were proved that as good cocoons could
be obtained there as in Europe and at much less
cost, what is it that should impede an immediate
effort to commence the course of improvement ?
Although all the writers I have consulted* have
made the assertion, that the white mulberry leaf
was used in Bengal as food for the silk-worm, and
not the Indian variety, yet it is probably true, as
stated by Mr. Saunders,± that the leaf of the latter
is alone used. It must, however, be remarked, that
the white mulberry grows in India, indeed it will
grow very well in the hottest and the coldest cli-
mates ; and a multitude of French works prove that
for ages this species was often planted in France in
somewhat the Indian manner, was cut annually to
the ground, and plucked even the first year. It will
bear this as well as the Indian (which with every
other known variety of the mulberry is cultivated in
the botanical gardens of Paris and Lyons), and the
shoots of the white are, of the two, most rapid in
growth, and equally garnished with leaves. I has e
therefore no doubt it might be substituted at once
for the Indian variety in the plantations of Bengal.
But it is justly supposed in the objection that the
white would not bear much plucking before five or
seven years of age, if intended for a standard tree—
neither would the Indian ; and it may well be que-
ried if any species of trees would thrive and become
randards if plucked very early. The French have
found long since that standard mulberry trees are
eventually more useful and economic than the bushes,
hedgerows, or layers—they take up less ground, as
they may be planted at certain distances in common
fields or meadows, and the intermediate spaces (ex-
cept plots of three or four feet round the bole) mey
be used for any other agricultural purpose; or,
which is more important, they may be and often
are planted in the mountains, where scarcely any
other use can be made of the ground they occupy;
or by the roads ; and indeed in any vacant space.
Thus, in a few years, they become the means of sub-
sistence to the poor at a must trifling expense.
Now I humbly submit that it is quite as practi-
cable, and would be found as profitable, for the
Hon. Company to make an outlay by causing white
mulberry trees to be planted, as by making advan-
ces in money to the breeders of worms ; and this
is especially worthy its notice, because on this plan
the hilly districts of India—where hitherto, I be-
lieve, this production has not been attempted, but
which certainly are well adapted for its extension—
might soon be stocked with trees enough to supply
food for silk-worms for centuries to come. The first
white mulberry-tree ever planted in France flou-
rished near Montelimart till towards the end of the
last century; and they would grow with as much
luxuriance, arid attain as great longevity. after yield-
ing the same portion of leaves, en: the plains of
Bengal as on those of Dauphiny.
It appears that for a series of years the price
paid by the agents of the East India Company for
cocoons, and by consequence the prime cost of their
silks, have borne, in fact, no relative proportion to
the cost of leaves or of rearing silk-worms. Such
a state of things calls for, and admits of, beneficia
alteration. No ptoduction can ever succeed or ex.
tend as it ought while in such an extraordinary pre,

dicament. The Hon. Company will no doubt look
to this, and any further reference by me to the
question would be, I conceive, impertinent to the
present inquiry; which la simply to ascertain in
what manner, with ordinary facilities, good cocoons,
and of course good silk, may he produced in India.
I shall merely add, that it is uncertain from whence
the annual worms came which are said to have been
recently introduced: but from an inspection of
their cocoons, I am fully assured they were not
brought from Europe. I therefore still humbly
hope for the approbation of your Hon. Board to my
first suggestion of an experiment, by the importation
of properly chosen European eggs, and breeding
worms from them. But I would prefer the sup-
plementary request, that part of the worms hatched
from the eggs be fed on white, and part on Indian
mulberry leaves.
I now respectfully offer the additional details in
explanation and confirmation of my former memo-
rial, being Remarks on tlw production of European
Raw Silk, written in 1826, to which praying your
attention, I am, &c.
W. FELKIN,

REMARKS ON THE PRODUCTION OF EUROPEAN RAW
SILK, WRITTEN IN 1826.
In inquiring into the production of raw silk, at-
tention may be properly directed to the cultivation
of the mulberry trees, the care of the worms, and
the amount and quality of their produce, the wind-
ing of the cocoons, ameliorations already introduced,
4' See Maya, Rozier, PuHein, l'Abbe. des Sauvages,
and Lardner's Cyclopcedia, brticle Silk Manufacture,
pp. 95. - -

fi See Evidence of this gentleman and others on East
India Affairs, before Committee, 1831.

existing prejudices and difficulties, and proposed
improvements.
European silk may .b 6 properly classified as pro-
duced in the following districts, viz.:—Mountain-
ous France, the plains of Dauphiny, &c., Piedmont
and Nice, the Milanese, Tuscany, Roman States,
Neapolitan States, Spain.
The Morns Alba, particularly that preferable
variety Morus Italica—Murier d'ltalie—rose mul-
berry, is almost the only kind planted throughout
Europe for producing the food of silk-worms. In
its culture, the principal objects are the quality and
quantity of leaves. The coldest districts seem,
from various causes, to be most remarkable and ap-
propriate for its growth, whether as it regards skill
and care in planting and pruning the trees, or the
relative quality and quantity of leaves produced.
The greatest amount of success has attended the
cultivation of the mulberry tree in mountainous,
dry, and barren districts. The following propor-
tion may be stated as near the truth in reference to
the produce of the mulberry tree in the following
European silk districts :—A given number of trees
produee-irt mountainous Prance 1001 b. leaves, Peid-
tnont and Nice 851 b. ditto, Plains of France 751 b.
ditto, Milanese 751 b. ditto, Tuscany and Roman
States 651 b. ditto, Neapolitan 60Ib. ditto. Of
these mountainous France and Piedmont produce
leaves in the highest degree nutritious. Those of
the plains of France, and of the Milanese, seem to
possess the necessary silky aliment in 10 or 15 per
cent. less amount than the former, while those of
Tuscany, Naples, &c., are 20 to 30 per cent, less
nutritious than the former. A certain proof of the
difference in the quantity of leaves produced by trees
in these respective districts is found in the greater
or less number of trees necessary to feed a certain
number of worms ; and we have a proof of differ-
ence in the the quality of the leaves, in the greater
or less weight consumed in producing a certain
quantity of cocoons. The causes of these differences
probably are, that trees succeed well in proportion
to the purity of the air, the soil on which they are
grown being more or less light and dry, and kept
free from weeds or other vegetable matters. Each
plucking of the leaves should be succeeded by
careful pruning; and as standard trees are prefer-
able on account of longevity, productiveness, and
the greater adaptation of their leaves to the health
of the worms, they should be kept quite open in the
centre of the head of the tree, by which mainly
they are preserved from disease.
Human labour and skill are most easily obtained
and applied to this cultivation, following the grada-
tion above marked out in the respective silk districts.
France had, in 1825, sufficient young mulberry
trees planted to double its supply, if necessary, in
ten years. Piedmont might increase in one-half in
ten years; and the Milanese the same, from trees
already planted. The rest of Italy was stationary.
It is found in France, that the graftieg on the
wild stock tends much to the superiority of the
leaf, both in respect to the health of the worm and
the quality of the silk. The two most fatal diseases,
with which when worms are affected, they are called
the " gras," or the " jaune," may usually be traced
to gross, overheated, or damp leaves.
For every 1,000,0001 b. weight of raw silk pro-
duced in France, it is calculated that 250,000,0001 b.
weight of leaves are consumed, and that 5,000,000
trees of the average age of 30 years are stripped
once each year to furnish them.
In breeding silk-worms, the essentials are, a suffi-
cient supply of heat, fresh air, and recently gathered
dry mulberry leaves. European recolts succeed best
in the hands of persons who invest money in them
for the sake of profit; but the largest proportion of
the worms are fed by peasants on their own account,
as an additional means of support ; and owing to
the little space their dwellings afford, they only get
to spin, on an average, as follows—upon the scale
of an ounce of eggs hatched, or 33,000 (more or
less)

In mountainous France, in which one half are
chamber recolts, and in these for each ounce hatched,
2p,000 worms spin 851 b. cocoons, and one-half
cottage recolts, in which 12,500 worms spin 551 b.
cocoons.

In Piedmont, in which one-fourth are chamber
recolts, and in these for each ounce hatched,
18,500 worms spin 801 b. cocoons, and three-fourths
cottage recolts, in which 11,500 worms spin 501 b.
cocoons.

In plains of France, in which one-fourth are
chamber recolts, and in these for each ounce
hatched, 13,500 worms spin 601 b, cocoons, and
three-fourths cottage recolts, in which 10,500 worms
spin 451 b. cocoons.

In Milanese, in which one fourth are chamber
recolts, and in these for each ounce hatched, 16,500
worm spin 70Ib. cocoons, and three-fcurths cottage
recolts, in which 10,500 worms spin 451 b. cocoons.
In Tuscany and Roman States, in which one-
fourth are chamber recolts, and in these for each
ounce hatched, 11,500 worms spin 50Ib. cocoons,
and three-fourths cottage recolts, in which 9,300
worms spin 401 b. cocoons.

In Neapolitan Scares, all cottage recolts, in which
9,200 worms spin 401 b. cocoons.
The price of cocoons is highest in those countries
were the recolt is best. The respective prices of
the recolt of 1825 (which was below an average
one), for of dinary fair parcels, Doppions and
Chiques inclusive, were—
_

Mountainous France
Piedmont, Pitting? of France, and

Milanese
Tuscany, Roman Sates, and
Naples
Calabria ditto 10,1,
Spain ditto Is. 2d.
The weight of silk produced in the year 1825, in
the respective districts, and the average prices of
fair silks, were as follows :--

ditto le. 4d,

Mountainous France 150,000 of 16 oz. English at 245.
Piedmont 1,440,000 ditto at 235.
Plains of France 850,000 ditto at 20s.
Milanese
Tuscany lOO,OOO ditto at Ms.
Roman States (supposed)
Ditto, Eastern ditto
Naples
Calabria
Spain, amount unknown to me.

In consequence of new light being thrown upon
the management of recolts within a few years, those
of mountainous France and of the Milanese have
been much improved,and are increased full one-third;
those of Piedmont and of the plains of France are
stationary; the production of silk in the other districts
seems to have somewhat declined, probably owing to
political causes.
In the reeling of cocoons, care and skill produce
the chief difference in the value of the silk; it is,
however, to be remarked, that the best cocoons are
certainly the Piedmontese; those produced in the
mountains of France are scarcely inferior; the other
districts produce them of nearly equal quality to
each other, but all are inferior to the above. The
excellence of the silk reeled in the higher districts
of France has obtained for it a great demand in the
French market, and this would probably be much
larger were the English market open for its sale.
The nerve of Piedmontese silk, and that of Fosson?-
brone, has mainly contributed to keep up their
price; this quality is, however, shared by the silk
produce!' in all mountainous districts. The high-
priced silks are principally reeled in filatures, the
lower by the peasantry.
Improvements have taken place in reeling cocoons
in the higher parts of France within the last 20
years, which surpass the progress made in the pre-
vious two centuries : these consist principally in the
increase of filature reeling, and carefully sorting the