Litchfield enquirer., 1832-05-10

not be improper again to present it to the co nsideratiOn of the Legislature.
 From a recent report of committee, ap- pointed by the friends of domestic industry to
 obtain information on the subject ofth man. Uiacture of cotton, it appears that in this 1 State there are ninety -four cotton manufactO- 1 ries of which the fixtures cost about three
 millions of dollars, to which may be added
 from one fourth to one third, as the cost of the machinery. The number of spindles in
 operation in these mills. is 115,O00, and the number of looms is 260O-all giving ilnmedi- ate employment to 4S39 ofour citizens. There are annually sold, 4S8,OO pounds of cStton yarn, and not less than twenty millions Ot l yards of cotton cloth, of our own Inannfac- l tnre.
 The manufacture Of wool into various fa
 brics, as brOadcloths, fannels, sattinets, and carpets; of iron into axes. scythes, machine ry and other articles; of leather into boots, shoes and harpess, givas employment to thousands of our population, and has furnish ed an opportunity for large and profitable in- l vestments of capital. The amount of funds and labor employed in the manufacture of clocks, buttons, and various other articles, is also very considerable.
 1 All these great channels of enterprise and industry are continually enlarged and increas- 1 quality of the manufactured articles is a lso ] improved from experience, and their quantity is greatly increased. Whenthi system shall be carried to it's more perfect state, and our energies shall he more fully developed, Con- necticut will be able to support million of { inha abtants, and sustain them, from her own soil, with all the necessares of life bread stuffs and fuel only excepted. s The prosperity and success of manufac 1 lures have become identified with the vital 1 interests of our country, and cannot now be ] abandoned without the sacrifice of some of 1 our dearest rights, and rendering the fairest portions of our land widespread fields of poverty and desolation. If Connecticut would stop the tide of emigration which has rolled so rapidly to the West, for nearly half a century; ifs she would develope, and call in- to active employment, all her own extensive ] resources; aud above all. if she would save her population from the bankruptcies and ru- in which must inevitably follow a change in the course oftheir industry and pursuits, she must regard with anxiOns solicitude, and op- pose with all the energies of which she is ca ] pable. any effort which has for it's object the abandonment of her manufactures.
 It is believed that the manufacture of silk may we'll be considered as presenting a field for enterprise, and an opportunity for the in- vestment of capital; which may be occupied and improved with great advantage and profit. The importance of the article will fully ap- pear from the fact, that the cost of the silk now annually imported and consumed within the United States, is not less than seven mil lions of dollars. The subject of its manufac- lure has attracted the attention of the govern ment of the United States, and in compli. ance with resolution of Congress, the Secretary of the Treasury. in 1923, made a report. containing the natural history of the silkworm or caterpillar, and showing the man ner of cntivatiDg silk. The silkwOrm is a na- tive of China, of whose history, anterior to the Christian era, we have little knowledge. Before that period, and for many centuries after, :he whole business of manufacturing silk was monopozeG by the Chinese govern ment, and that monopoly was most rgidly guarded by penal enactments. In the year 555, however, those laws were evad.d by the ingenuity of two missionaries, who had the address to secrete some of the eggs of the silkworm in their slaves. (made hollow fnrthat purposc.) which they carried to Byzantium, where the Emperor JustiQ gardcd them for their success, in this Us and i'm portant enterprise; and froh E small arks of eggs.' have sprung all the silkworms in Europe, America, and the western part of
 
 Asia.
 The first attempt at the culture of silk in America, was made in Virginia, in the year 1928. The silkworm was introduced into the town of Mansfield, in this State, and the white mulberry tree, (he leaf of which fur nishes the best food for the insect.) transplan- ted from Long Island, in the year 176O, by MT. Nathaniel Aspinwall.
 l Immediately after the establishment of the ] mulberry orchard in Mansfield. nursery of trees was raised in New Haven, which were afterwards scattered through the state and in 17S3, the Legislature of this State passed l a law, encouraging the growth of mulberry trees. and the production of silk. It was enacted that " for every one hundred trees. well set out in an orchard, the owner shall re- ceive from the Treasurer ten shillings;" and "for every ounce of raw silk produced. three pence."' The first section was limited to ten. and the second to fifteen years. In the town l of Mansfield and its vicinity, silk has been raised and manufactured into sewing silk, ev- CT since its first introduction into that town, in l760, and the amount or the article produ- ced has continued gradually to increase, until silk has become an important item in the pro- ductions Ofour State. In the year 1881. the quantity of silk raised in Windham and Tol- land counties was sufficient to give constant employment to fifty looms, which would
 weave five yards each per day or in all, about