Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1851-11-14
Tea aud Cofree-1Vimc and silks.

Tea and coffee, wine and silk from having been at
one time Injuries rapidly coming to be regarded
as among the necessary comforts of civilized life.
and from their general and consequent consump-
tion enter largely into the commerce of the world
1t is natural that in the race for wealth and COM
mercial Importance in which we are engaged the
production of these articles should have attracted
our attention, or that in usual go-ahead way we
should have gone into the business without duly
counting the COST
Almost everybody can remember the Morus Multi
caulus mania, when nothing but mulberry trees and
silk-worms were deemed worthy of thought. Well,
that bubble burst and why? Not because the trees
did not thrive or the worms did not live and make
cocoons. The trees were as as green as their own
and the worms as busy politicians about
election time but the fact that it cost much
time and labor to produce fifty cents worth of raw
silk as it would to make a dollar at other employ
ments. and so Italy and France safe from our
competition. The great expense in the culture of
raw silk is that the worms have to be tended by
hand. In the countries where it is produced the
price of labor, especially that of women and boys,
is almost nominal. So we could not compete, nor
begin to compete.
Again the discovery has been made that we can
grow the tea plant, and gentleman in South Caro-
lima has been importing and naturaizing it, but to
what purpose! The native land of tea is densely
populated country where the labor requisite for pre-
pairing it for market, be obtained at four cents
day, at the utmost. The British East India company
cultivating it in portion of their territories,
where Hindoo labor be got for three cents and
they can hardly enter into rivalry with China in
cheapness. Is il possible that can when labor is
thirty times dear.
We can grow coffee. We see no earthly reason
why we should not grow coffee, but we cannot grow
it proftably. Even Cuba with soil and climate
especially fitted for it, and with system of slave
labor which could not and would not be adopted in
this country is almost out of tbesmarkets of the
world by the superintendent labor of Brazil and the
Dutch Colonies. South Carolina grew indigo,
but she abandoned to the cheaper labor of other
parts of the world
As for Wines with all due respect to DR.. Togno it
will be century before we be a wine growing ma
ton to any extent. It is pleasant enough to talk
about making own wine, and thereby saving the
money pay to Europe for what We get. But if
while saving one million in this way, we divert mil
lion and half worth oflabor from other empoyments
just half million poorer by the operation
dollars worth of gold is not worth one hun
dred and one cents worth of labor. While we have
immense resources undeveloped- to be mined
and fields to be proftably cultivated We will not be
apt to settle down into culture at which the
swarming peasantry of the Rhine land barely make a
mere subsistence
To be it is said that the wine producing coun-
tries generally sober itcoud totally of
drinking it might be some inducement, but in this
hard working world brandy is preferable to wine
the score of economy. get drunk in half
the time, which is great saving.