The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-30
SILK CULTURE.
Conditions in the South Favor It.
 What the United States Uses.

Conditions in the South Favor It.
 What the United States Uses.
 Thomas H. Paschal in Macon Telegraph
 The first settlers of Lincoln and Wilkes | counties, of the. State of Georgia, raised flax and silk for home consumption. l I was told by both my grandmothers
 who were born and reared in Lincoln county-lS09 and 1S11-that all the farmers raised the flax for their summer clothing and the silk to make their Sunday and dress suits. will here show you sam | pie of their handiwork. in pair or sus- 1 penders that my grandmother, Amy Pas | chal, raised the silk worms from which she made the silk and knit them with her own hands for grandfather. 75 years ago. In 175O a flature for reeling silk was l established at Savannah, Ga, and in l19o. s75, GOO worth of raw silk was shipped from | that port For over 100 years Charleston, l S. C., exported annually from $b,000 to slC. 900 worth of raw silk to London, and the industry became a fashionable and lucrative occupation for the Colonial danes of that period.
 When silk was produced in this section its quality was pronounced the finest. The introduction of slavery, with the craze for cotton, finally killed sericulture, and enOTtS 10 TeVIVe IL SilSC hh0s sAAA@S sss< V failed. chiefly because we had lost the are of reeiing.
 We have the same white mulberry trees growing all over Middle GeorgA lands that feed the silk worms during their six or eight weeks of open-air hfe-trees that are only waiting for the industry to be again revived.
 I will give you a brief statement from the pen of Hon. H. Walker Wallace, of Augusta Ga, on the future of silk cui- ture in Georgia.
 "On waste lands. in mulberry trees and silk worms, Georgia and South Caro- lima can raise s90,0o0.0o0 worth of raw silk and gradually bring the silk mills. as they have the cotton mills, into the Sunny South"
 The great natural resources of the South are facts-not a fancy. It Is only our natural conservatism that permits them to lie dormant. We follow too unwaver- ingly the pursuits of our fathers, which tendency often obscures from our vision present opportunities.
 If we would expand and obtain vigor- ous growth, we must not restrict our selves to the production of few com modities, but practice versatility, of which our soil, climate ana general con- ditions are capable.
 According to David Harum. we must do to the other fellow what he would do to us-and do it f1rst.'
 Among the many industries for which our acres of uncultivated lands are adapt ed, but which we disregarded, I desire to call particular attention to one. which requires so little time, labor and ex- pense that its advent into the South can not longer be deferred. I refer to the culture of silk.
 1ty.te hn ind try in the United States are as follows
 Silk imports yearly .. .. ..$s0. 100000 Capital invested :. .. .. ...... 81.000.0O0 Wages paid annually .. .. .. 100000 Yearly production. ...... .10. 256 2SS The United States has now become the greatest manufacturer of silk fabrics in the world. In 1870 we imported from 5S3, 900 to 5s9,OO0 pounds of raw silk, while in 1900 we imported Il. .259. .310 pounds, the value of which was over $45,000,0 900 worth | of manufactured silk; and paid $15, 900, 0O0 duty on it; making the total value of our silk imports over $9o0O0,000.
 l We have in operation 4S3 silk manufac- | turing plants, with an aggregate capital of $S1, ,000, 900, employing 65,416 operatives
 and paying out In wages $2o.sS2, 1s4 an
 nually, with a yearly production valued
 at $107. .256,25s
 The worlds crop of raw silk is esti
 mated at 35. .000,0O0 pounds per year-thi:
 country taking Il 100000 pounds for it.
 weaving.
 Besides this the manufactured products
 we import contain 6.ooo.ooo pounds more
 Therefore we annually bring into thi
 country about the equivalent of 1900, %
 pounds of raw silk. or nearly 50 per cent
 of the worlds production.
 The demand for silk Is steadily in
 creasing as shown by the determined ad
 vance in the price of raw silk. Experts tell us that the South Atlantic State
 have the proper climate and soil, and
 am sure we have sufficient land, labol
 and intelligence
 There Is no more entertaining or refined
 occupation than the culture of silk worms It Is distinctly a domestic industry Ninety per cent of the work necessary
 can be performed by the women anc children. It would open up a field of use
 fulness for labor now unemployed. Ii | would contribute toward the diversified l ton of our products-now mainly cotton | and corn, which hardly sustain a meagre existence, and certainly leave nothing for any higher attainments.
 1 In the six weeks time required for rais- | ing a silk crop two children, 12 and 14 years of age could earn money enough to pay for their clothing and school books | during an entire year.
 | The work in this section would be done l from May 1 to June 15 not interfering with any other work, as 1t should engage chiefly the utilized labor of the house. | holL-those who need small money and have no way of acquiring 1t. | Silk Is the finest and most valuable of all textile flbers. and was first produced in China about 2700 years before Christ There are $10,O0O.0O0 in easy reach of the women and children in Georgia for six weeks work. There Is every reason why Georgia should produce this fiber
 It would be an easy task for 100000 fam | iiies in the State to produce $1O 000, ,00t
 worth of silk annually, and if reeled with l in the State its value would be doubled We should grasp the importance of this industry during its incipiency. If we
 would reap the benefits the incipien,
 stage is our golden opportunity. America is annually sending abroad l $75, 900, 900 fo: product that could easily 1 be supplied by the Southern States.