The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-24
"HARPHRsS.o -

From Turner a. Co. and from ClaXton,
Remsen & Haffelfnger, we have received the
April number of Ha1pc1's Mag0zjRe, which
has the following articles
''Ihe War in Paraguay" General NJ. T.
Mcmahon, with fourteen illustrations; Lost
Days. Count Otto Won Bismark, S. S.
Conant, with nine illustrations; Among the
Silk-worms and Velvet Looms" o. NJ. Spen-
Ger, with twenty-one illustrations; "Beaut-
full Child w. A. II. Sigourney; Frederick
the Great, V. The Death of Frederick Will
liam, and the Ascension of Frederick
the Second, with five illustrations;
"Around the World on Skates, L.
b. Thorpe, with one illustration;
'Lindas Young Lady," d. II. Castleton;
Together" Carl Spencer; GA Brave Lady
(concluded), by the author of John Halifax,
Gentleman with two illustrations; 'Re-
vealed in Song" Justin Mccarthy; ''The
Indian-What We Should Do with Him, :"
Colonel George Ward Nichols; "Bathsheba
Carew's Curse" Jane G.. Austin: THE Great
Gold Conspiracy, John Bonner; ''Anteros, ="
by the author of "Guy Livingstone;" ''Bor-
der "reminiscences, General r. II. Marcy;
Editors Easy Chair; Editors Literary
Record; Editors Scientific Record; Editors
Historical Record; Editors Drawer.
From the article entitled "Among the Silk
worms and Velvet Looms" we quote the fol-
| lowing
Count Dandolo estimates that the silk
| worms from an ounce of seed 40, ,000) require
eight hundred aud eighteen Kilograms, or
about eighteen hundred pounds, of leaves for
| their consumption. Other bGcOl0giStS place
| it as high as nine hundred and seyenty-fve
Kilograms. OF this amount they will con-
sumo less than the 1-227th part in the first
| period, and about 7'9 in the fifth or last pc
riod Forty thousand silk-worms, with skilful
culture, should produce ninety kilograms OIL
about two hundred pounds of cocoons.
The average price of cocoons of all
qualities throughout Italy for 1868, as taken
from the official statistics, was seven francs
and twenty-eight centimes a kilogram, oil
sixty-six cents per pound. From this it will
appear that the silk-worms arising from ar
ounce of seed costing from twenty-five tc
thirty francs an ounce, and consuming some
thing less than two thousand pounds of mul
berry leaves, will produce about two hundred
pounds of cocoons, worth in Italy, on an ave
rage, six hundred and seventy-five francs, o.
one hundred and thirty-fve dollars in gold
and, judging from the relative cost of silks
worth two or three times that amount in tin
United States.
The production of silk in Italy, though still
one of the principal branches of Italian in
dustry. has of late years, owing to the dis
! ease of the silk work, considerably dimin
ished. 1t is estimated that Lombardy alon
has fallen off during the last eight years t.
the amount of four hundred millions of francs
In Piedmont, which may, perhaps, be take
as fair sample of the rest of Italy, the pre-
duction of cocoons, which in 1861 amounte
, to 3,934010 kilograms, had gradually falle
off until 1865, when it produced onl
the production rose to 3,O36, 22O kilc
grams. And yet the quantity of silk pro
duced in Italy is not only greater than all tn
a rest of Europe together, but is more prize
g as to quality, on account of its beauty, color
Q brilliancy, and softness.
j Kolb, in his "Handbuch der VergleicheI
g den Statistik, estimates the whole Europea
n production for 1862 at four hundred and fl
g teen millions, while that of Italy alone WI
= two hundred and eighty-fve millions.
: The history of sericulture in Americ
g though antedating the Revolutionary war
s its origin, may be summed up in very fe
a words.
: ''The culture of the mulberry tree in vi
r ginia was encouraged by James l, and IL
f coronation robe of Charles II was spun fro
d Virginia silk. Silk husbandry was introduce
> at an carly day into Louisiana, and a sta
n robe was made from Georgia silk in 1875 f
% Queen Caroline. In 1749 the export
r; cocoons was 1000 pounds, and in 1866 it hi
reached 20, 600 pounds Afterwards declii
D resulted from the withdrawal of the Cover
- ment bounty.
of Pennsylvania and New Jersey about I'll
's time became interested in the business, and
10 Franklin, in 1910, sent seeds, mulber
L. cuttings, and silk-worms' eggs for distrib
s. ton. silk mandatory was established
le Philadelphia in l771, which received cocoo
or for several years A court dress of silk fro
o, cocoons of Lancaster county was ackno
ID ledged with present of lands. New Jers