Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-04-20

should be placed in basin of warm wa
! ter, reeled on the bobbins, go through
, the loom and come out silk handker
chieves, ribbon or dress goods. TIL,
nearer you can come to that the better
There is no no fixed limit to the de
velopment of silk culture in Kansas
improvements can readily be made il
the Usage orange. Some have leaves
twice as large and thick as others. Some
silk cocoons are thicker and better
Some millers are more prolific than 9th
ers and can be greatly improved by care
full selection and cultivation.
There should be some station in Amer
lea the most healthy for insect, and tha
is Kansas, where the eggs could BIZ
raised for the government under the su
pervision of the entomologist. The eggs
bought in Europe this year cost nearly
s., 00O-next year may cost $4,000. Lei
us save that to America.
There should be experiments made to
test the comparative value Of Usage and
mulberry where both grow equally well
they cannot do better than here.
There ought to be government station
established here in Wichita, where we
could see the whole operation carried on.
1t would be of immense practical ben
eft to US and the country,
Starting out with all the new and
labor saving appliances it could not
fail to prosper. | belieye we can grow
raw silk in Kansas this summer, taking
the quality into consideration, as cheaply
as anywhere else in the world. Our
summers correspond with the spring of
China, and if there is any difference it Is
in our favor.
Representative Peters wrote a short
time ago that if Wichita would make a
start in the enterprise the government
would assist her. am glad the chief in
charge of silk culture has come from
Washington to help us.
| The successful production Of cocoons
is readily attained by any person Of ordi-
nary intelligence. All you want is a
room, some good seed or eggs and Usage
orange hedge and patience In feeding
them, some racks for them TO spin on
when you can stifle them for market.
The enterprise is admirably adapted to
those who wish they had something to
do that would remunerate them for their
labor.
I believe that people are coming to
realize the all important fact that Amer
lea must grow her own natural products.
England, France and German are grow
ing in their different provinces every
product we are selling them-wheat,
corn, cotton, cattle, etc.-and we cannot
allow the balance of trade IN raw silk or
any thing else to stand against US when
we can grow it SO readily ourselves. The
markets of America, at least, belong to
Americans. We cannot prosper with
out them. 1t would bankrupt us if we
attempted to do it. Silk culture belongs
to us as much as the air we breathe
or the water we drink. 1t is part of
our clothing and its constant reduction
in price is converting it from luxury to
an every day article of apparel.
Kansas was made for silk culture. God
engraved it on our soil, inStilled it in our
climate and infused it in our sunshine.
No practical excuse can make it differ
ent. Free trade cannot do it if we once
get it established. In round figures we
want 500, 900, 900 worth of silk. Before
we are able to grow 1t we will want
more. What we cannot grow Oklahoma
will help us in growing and Texas will
come to our relief.
If we ever make an independent ma
ton we must come to this. Our freedom
made it that or we are not free to pos
sess national freedom. We must be free
indeed, and not be compelled to buy
foreign raw products to support our
manufactures when we are able to grow
them at home. In the last 100 years our
demand for silk has increased from
1000, 900 to 100, 100000; all told $780,
100000. What might it be in the next
100 years if we raise no silk! $4,000
900, 900 in all for the 200 years-$505 .O00,
600, 000-a devastating war, pestilence
and famine would not equal it.
With due respect for cotton culture
and unfeigned sympathy for wool
culture. we still have unbounded faith
in believing that silk culture is infinitely
superior to either of them. They
ought to be all fostered and en-
couraged and then each will take its
place where it properly belongs. All we
ask for is test of their relative merits.
In China it has followed the path of the
pillow, since its first discovery, and the
natural production Of silk is Of as
great importance as the rice that
feeds the people. The one is pro-
duced almost as easily as the other.
In the one case they grow the rice for
the grain and straw aud in the other the
mulberry for wood and fruit and con-
vert the green leaves by the use of
worms into silk. Neither are exhaust
i've crops on the soil nor are cotton or
wool. The starch of the rice, or the
sugar if that be the product sought is
the celluloSe of the plant of which all
our food is composed and Is stored in the
cells of the plants, or converted by the
sheep or silk worms into material for
clothing.
1t matters not whether the fibre grows
in the cotton plant, on the back of the
sheep, or is spun around the worm, its
com position is similar, Its origin the
same: il comes from the culture in the
green leaf through the intervention of
sunshine. The worlds golden harvest
for all organic substances comes from
the sun. All hail Kansas glorious sum
shine: The only difficulty | see in the
way is the means TO start the industry.
Columbus was in similar embarrassed
when Queen Isabella
pledged her jewels and our beloved |
America was discovered.
BY the Intervention of some one, per- |
haps the secretary of agriculture. new |
world will be opened to silk culture, by |
which she can be clothed in silk. The |
golden opportunity is before Us Who !
will grasp it? Honors are to be preferred !
to riches. Who will make the choice: |
1t is not doubtful undertaking. The |
hedges will grow. leave out, and pro-
duce silk. if everything else withers and
perishes. Nor is it an Insignificant enter
prise. If Kansas was set TO Usage, We {
could grow 500. 000, 600 worth of silk.
The way to success is before you. The
eggs are freely offered; instructions are
gratuitous: the hedges are at your dis
posal: the silk manufacturer is waiting