The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-09-17
by FREDERIC j. HASkIN.

| Dg Il a. hAShlN.
Although the United States stands at
the head Of the list Of nations in re-
| sourcefuness and productivity. 1t is "a
singular fact that the first industry trans
| planted from the Old World TO the soil Of
this country has never been commercially
| successful. SILK culture was begun in
Virginia when the colony was but two
! years old. long before the Mayfiower
| landed in New England. The jamestown
colonists had given themselves over to
the raising Of tobacco, but James /, that
King who never said d foolish thing and
never did a wise one, was the impIacable
Zoe Of the plant After attempting 20
discourage its use in England by his IA
nous "cOunterblast against tobacco" he
resolved that the fertile soil OF Virginia
should be put to a better use than that
OF raising the obnoxious narcotic weed.
So it was that he sent silk worm eggs
and mulberries 10 Virginia with printed
Instructions concerning silk culture The
colonists were required by law 20 plant
mulberry trees, and the silk worm eggs
were distributed free Of charge. That was
three centuries ago. The United States
government to-day not only furnishes
mulberry trees and silk worm eggs free
20 anybody who will undertake the work
Of growing silk. but II will also buy the
/ cocCons and provide for shipping them IN
small quantities 10 Washington without
cost 10 the grower. No other industry
has been so fostcred and cared for by the
government both in colonial and later
days, yet IL is a Iamentablc fact that the
United States does not produce silk 10
mercial Importance. Yet the silk mills Of
the United States annually import from
fifty to sixty million dollars worth OF
raw silk from other countries.
Many Short-Iivcd Rooms.
Despite the Encouragement Of 800 years
Of failure. the belief in the future Of the
silk culture business is sanguine. and at
this particular time experiments are be-
ing launched on a larger scale than ever
before. The story Of the business IN this
country Is peculiarly American in that
it is a history OF blooms" Every little
while some Col Mulberry Sellers rushes
into the limelight holding a silk worm
suspended by a flmy thread Of silver
g8uze and eXclaims: There's millions in
.Hr'
About q hundred years after King
James reign had ended and the Vir-
ginians had forgotten all about silk
worms in the pursuit OF the tobacco
worm. Gov. Oglethorpe introduced the
silk business into Georgia. again under
the fostering care Of the government.
Mulberry trees were planted in the pub
lic gardens az Savannah and a bounty
was granted 10 silk growers Everybody
was going 20 get rich. For twenty-five
years the GeOrgians devoted themselves
20 silk. A flature for Keeling the threads
from the cOcUOns was erected IN Sa-
vanuah In 1853 Georgia sold $4,000
worth Of raw silk on the London mar
ket That was the high-water mark,
never again reached in this country, and
Georgia's product fell off steadily until
the Revolutionary war stopped It alto
gether Hugueu0t refugees from the
silk-grOw!ng country Of France bro1gEJ
the industry into South Carolina. where
IL thrived in a modest way for some time. /
only 20 perish with English rule All of
the coiQnies made some experiments. I
President Stiles. Of Y8le.-beinE at the
head OF the New England enthusiasts.
Enough for Three Dresses.
Mrs. Pinckney. Of South Carolina. grew
enough silk 10 have three gowns made, |
one Of which was presented to the Dow
aEer Princess of Wales. another - Lord
Chesterfield. and another she wore her
self. Her gown is preserved as one Of
the most treasured heirlOoms Of the Horny
laiily Of South Carolina Mrs. Susannah /
Wright, Of Lancaster County. Pa, woye
sixty yards of cloth from the product of /
her homegrown silk worms, and this /
cloth was made pto a court dress for /
Queen Charlotte, consort Of George III /
silk culture. after the Revolution. was 4
not entirely abandoned. but il was merely I
a domestic manufacture and silk was
grown for home spinning, just as wool /
and fax in the North and flax and cotton |
in the South.
In the early twenGes Congress expressed /
interest I'm the silk industry and caused 1
the translation of a German book on the !
culture Of the silk worms for the benefit /
Of American growers. Various State legls- /
latures took up the question, and once |
again silk culture was under the fostering /
care Of the State. Connecticut gave a cash |
bounty, not only for cocoons, hut for the /
planting Of mulberry trees. Massachusetts, I
Ohio. Vermont Kentucky, and Georgia /
offered bounties for cocoons and reeleG /
silk
The 'NIOruS MuItIcRuIis" Craze,
Then came the great "morus multi /
caulis" craze which swept over the whole |
country and wrecked the fortunes of /
thousands of small farmers and large /
spectators. Silk worms are voracious
eaters, and must be fed on leaves Of GER
tain varieties of mulberry trees, or upon
the leaves of the Usage orange The
white mulberry, or "morus alba" had
been the food of the American silk worms.
Now came a nursery man and spread il
abroad that the Chinese mulberry the
"morus multicaulis," was the salvation of
the silk business. It was advertised to
grow as rapidly as Jonahs goUrd, and to
give several crops of leaves each season.
The nurseries could not supply the de-
mand, and prices for the cuttings Of the
trees went up until a little twig OF a
"morus multicaulis" was worth its weight
In gold. Cotton, corn, wheat, and cattle
were forgotten. Everybody was to get
rich raising silk worms. One New Jersey
man-set out an orchard of 100000 trees.
Silk-worm eggs were imported and sold
at fabulous prices. A dozen silk-Culture