Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-06-03
SILK CULTURE.
II wv the Experiment Is working at
Jasper Springs.

We were shown yesterday by Mr.. Aug. q.
Heyer, who is giving considerable attention
to the cultivation Of the silk worm, at Jasper
Springs, q number Of very fine cocoons,
the result Of his labors. He also exhibited
several healthy worms and is well pleased
with his efforts, and the coming season will
commence operations on an extensive scale.
Attention is again being attracted to this In
dustry, and great interest is evil
IDENTIFY felt in all information concerning
the proper method Of propagation and cul-
tivation, judging from the inquiries that are
constantly received on the subject. There
have also been applications made for q
supply of silk worm eggs, and commuDica-
ton was recently addressed from this office
to Hon. Geo. B. Loring, Commissioner of
Agriculture, on the subject, to which reply
was received, under date May %. that "the
supply Of silk worm eggs for distribution is
exhausted; moreover, It is now almost too
late to begin the rearing OF worms so far
South"
Mr.. Heyer furnishes us with some points
In this connection which will be of great in
terest, especially to those who contemplate
embarking in this industry the coming sea-
SUI al VI bIC euCCCbe VI HAiCA IA
Georgia there can, in the light OF expert
ments IN the past, be no doubt whatever:
In the year 1925 silk culture took the
form OF feverish speculation, and grew into
q surprisingly large bubble. This imitation
was brought about through the purported
discovery that the HlOTlLS niltlticdtatS,o or many
brsnched mulberry, was the best Of all trees
for silk worms. An intense rage for this
tree sprang I'D. The most eXtravagant
81 H. Droclratf tails T1a
fn his centennial history of the silk trade,
that young trees or cuttings came to be
worth TWENTY-FIVE, fifty, one hundred, two
hundred, and even FIVE hundred dollars
hundred. Immense numbers were imported
from France But suddenly 10 1899 the bubble
burst. Not few nurserymen were ruined,
and the next spring ''multicaulis trees were
offered In vain to the neighboring farmers
at dollar per hundred for pea brush" This
branch Of industry has never recovered
from that disaster, and to-day there is less
silk raised In all the United States than
there was IN Georgia one hundred and twenty
years ago. Il has been proved that the reel
ing Of silk cannot be performed as cheaplY
in this country as In China and Japan, and
the process being a very delicate and slow
one, requires expert hands, which, being
rare and demanding high wages, would re-
quire more outlay of money than the reeled
successful plan would be 70 sell the. cocoon.
At the period when silk culture was
iourishipg In the South, there was no
market for the worms. There were hardly
any silk manufactures In the United States,
and the few that followed that industry in
very limited degree received their raw SILK
from China and Japan, and the hundreds OF
silk factories now found in this country
follow the same policy.
I;is stated that the father Of Capt. james
McAlpin, our fellow townsman, who raised
silk worms on his plantation, the Hermitage,
had barrels of cocoons thrown on the
manure pile for want Of a market for the
same, and had all his nlatieGltlis trees cut
down.
This discouraglng state Of things has
lately improved by the announcement OF
we'll known silk culturist aud highly reliable
expert in all the branches OF silk culture,
named L 8. Croizer, who is the manager OF
q, silk company established at Cornith,
Miss. He offers forty thousand mulberry
trees for sale, the best, as silk producers,
grown in France, at the following prices:
2 feet high, IS per hundred, $40 per 1000;
3 feet high, $40 per 100, $50 per 1000; 4 feet
high, SIS per 100, $50 per 1000; 5 feet high,
$50 per 100, $3.50 per 900. Lou Sang, $40
per 100: cuttings Of the same, 81 per 100,
SIS per 1000.
Cocoons bought at Lyons prices. Eggs Of
best breed sold at IS per $4,000 French
ounce) Guaranteed first rate.
twill be seen, therefore, that encourage
ment is given to those who wish to follow
the culture of silk, there being a market
opened for all the coceons they might
raise.