The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25

willing to compete with any country in
the world in the profitable production OF
silk, even where cheap labor is resorted to.
All that can be said OF the adaptability Of
South Australia to the production of silk
may be said with much stronger emphasis
of Southern California. Our climate is as
mild and much more equable. Our soil is
as good and well adapted to the growth of
the mulberry tree.
The question of cheap labor has no
weight whatever in this question, as is
freely admitted by the late G. w. Riley,
MA, Ph.D., entomologist to the Amer
lean Government at Washington. He
says: "The greater value of labor here, as
ompared with labor in the older silk
growing countries, has been in the past a
most serious obstacle to silk culture in the
United States, but conditions exist to-day
that render this obstacle by no means
insuperable In the first place, compar-
alive prices so often quoted are mislead-
ing. The girl who makes only 20 or 80
cents a day in France or Italy
does as we'll, because of the rela-
lively lower prices Of all commodities
there, as she who earns three or four fold
as much here. Again, the conditions of
life are such that every woman among the
agricultural classes not absolutely neces-
sary in the household finds profitable
avenue for her labor in field or factory, so
that the time given to silk-raising must be
deducted from other profitable work in
which she may be employed. With US. on
the contrary, there are thousands, yes,
L. Is 0f
from our very conditions fife, are unable
to labor in field or factory, and have, in
short, no means outside of household
duties of converting labor into capital.
The time that such might give to silk
culture would, therefore, be pure gain,
and in this sense the cheap-labor argument
loses nearly all its force"
Let these broad acres that are now but
| the haunts of wildwood rovers be set to
mulberry groves, owned and cared for by
colonies of frugal, industrious citizens,
native and naturalized, and they can re-
tain within our golden State large por-
ton of the SAC, ZOO, 900 annually sent out to
other countries for raw silk of a much in
ferior quality to that which can be pro-
duced here.
In New South Wales they have estab.
Iished colony. New Italy, and assisted
Italians who understand the management
of the silkworm. From the first the Italians
were delighted with their success, as they
had vastly better results with much less care
and labor than they had ever obtained in
old Italy. To them the greatest wonder
was that there was no loss from disease
whereas in their own land they always
count on losing % to so per cent from dis
ease. On this point what is said of New
Italy may be more strongly emphasized
of Southern California. The reason is
obvious. The pure dry air and the all
prevailing sunshine prevent rather than
consume miasmatic vapors that tend tc
terminate disease in more humid atmos.
| phere.
The Government reports OF Italy and
France show that each individual engaged
| in raising siikworms earns on an average
Sc to $40 per week during the six or seven
weeks they are engaged in it each year
This work is done mostly by women and
children. Thus we see that a family OIL
five, the parents and three half-grown chill
dren, may earn $210 to $500 for the season
Our season is five times as long, and there.
fore our results may be five times as great
And, too, our loss from disease and acct
dent will not count more than per cent.
The late Mr.. Provost, the pioneer of the
silk industry of thirty years ago, says tina,
one person here can care for as many