The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-01
GROW AMERICAN SILK
THE NOTABLE UNDERTAKING OF
 A SOUTHERN WOMAN.
In the Belief That Silk Culture and Manufacture Would Aid
 the South.

Kansas City Star.-
 It is proposed to introduce silk culture
 and manufacture into the South. To this end the Commission of Agricul- ture in Washington asks Congress for an appropriation of HN0o0 for experimental purposes. and says: We annually inn
 port nearly s5oooo,coo worth of raw silk which should be raised in this country" The Governor of South Caroline has appointed a scientific commissioner to take charge of the enterprise-Miss Kelly.
 of Charleston. She has spent six years l in Italy. making scientific study of silk
 worms and mulberry culture. and Is soon | to, return to this country and push the | work already begun. She has appointed | a committee in each County. in South Carolina to act until she takes charge in person. f"
 The secret of silk culture is ability to | select eggs that will hatch. This Is ob- | tained only after careful scientific re- l what Miss Kelly is now doing in Paris | completing her study of the Pasteur mi l crescopical selections of seeds (eggs,. the only successful method in raising CO., | coons Miss Kelly emphasizes that this silk
 culture movement will provide work for the poor and unemployed. particularly of | the Gulf States. Her American representative, Mary T. Jawton Metcaif of Great Kills, Staten | Island. acting chairman of the Central Committee of scientific silk culture in the United States, lays great stress on the | part 1t will play in settling the dark and ominous race problem of the South Before Miss Kelly began her six years course of scientific silk culture investiga- | tion in Paris she achieved distinction as | an original and successful teacher in the | South. She was the principal and pro- priettr of the Charleston IS. C.) Female l Seminary when she went abroad to study silk culture. Miss Kellys influence and personality m fhernqolyax nn of girlhood with which for twenty-five years she has come in contact. In every State of the Union may be found women who are training sons and daughters by basis that the soul shall dominate the | body, that the mind triumphs over mat ter that love of country promotes its
 progress and is a noble passion, She is now prepared scientifically to provide noble agricultural industry for the unemployed masses of the South and all sections of the United States where the mulberry tree is indigenous and lux
 uriant. Miss Kelly proposes to establish a National College of Scientific Silk Gull ture (seri-culture) in the buildings of the Charleston Female Seminary; She offers this property. valued at about 10000, free of rent. for five years to the United States government, through the Depart rrent of Agriculture. The Secretary of
 Agriculture has recommended to Congress an immediate appropriation of S10000 an nualIy for five years, to be devoted to
 scientific silk culture.
 Writing from Casaie dc Idtta, Lom-
 bardy. Italy Miss Henrietta Aiken Kelly says:
 "The meteorological studies I pursued at the Sorbonne and ardin des Plantes in Paris. and also at the University or Cambridge, England, in the summer
 course. together with the course at the University of Genoa. enabled me to learn | readily and quickly how to make the control for the selection of seed The control is the final test. done only by ex- | pertsIf had $10.0O0 annually for five to the appeal from Secretary Wilson for the amount I could plant successfully
 the. scientific silk industry in the United States
 ''I have faith enough in my ability to do this to personally invest s1o,ooo in the en- terprise.
 Our people. the ignorant. neglected masses. need scientific, practical teachers | 10 show them the wealth of our soil and lift them above the necessity of stealing for 8 living.
 Necessity knows no law. Self-preservs- ton is the first law of life. If the masses
 cannot earn a living. through the ieg1ti- mate means. what follows? Larceny. rob- | bery. murder and other crimes. Tho heart r grows sick to dwell upon the sin rampah aht when foodstuffs arc at q. premium and
 wages Iow-indeed. inadequate to meet the | scanty needs .nf hungry people Tn Lon bardy. where I have had the | uneuualed opportunity of practical work | upon and among the silk worms and CO.,
 coons on the magnificent estate or the | Due dc Litta. every man marries ana | large family Is considered a blessing. Every pair of little hand after the | sixth year of childhood can he utilized in rearing silk worms. Children gather | leaves and wait on the grandmothers.
 who are considered the best nurses of | the worms. And when the children mar
 ry they do not leave their parents and | grandparents as old as 20 years and more | are too valua ble to be dispensed with. l There are several sources from which | may justly claim cooperation and financial aid in tablishing and support l ing the National College of Scientific Silk 1 Culture in America:
 "First-The Tinted States government. | because l have given six years of unfn- | tcrrupted study in Europe to strengthen | myself in making social reforms among l the illiterate masses of peasantry. whNe 1 and coloren., This work is upon scien- | tific agricultural basis.
 | "Second-Thc Southern Educa ton Asso-
 cjation at the North; because I can use | 5000 or $10.00o annually better than any
 man or men l know in the South to edu- | cate the ignorant, superStitious and neg | lected masses.
 l 'Fourth-Ccrtain funds, such as the | Peal body. Hand and Slater funds, left as noble bequests for the improvement. ed
 ucation and bettcrment of the vast South l crn population
 "Fifth-Tho missionary societies ot
 America.
 "Sixth-The capitalists and miltionsires.
 who are spending more on their dogs and
 horses than on human beings"
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 Donnybrook Fair, Auditorium,
 April 2, 8, 4. Living Pictures at | Q.1S nanc;po nor,ast;c uanture