Silk reeling is at present accomplished by the use of appliances which
differ only in detail from those in use many centuries ago, and which
can scarcely be called machines, being rather of the nature of apparatus
depending entirely upon the skill and knowledge of the operative for the
results produced. In fact, even the most perfect of French and Italian
reels bear about the same relation to automatic machinery that an
old-fashioned spinning wheel does to our modern spinning machines.
Since the date of my previous dispatch upon this subject, the new
reeling machine of Mr. E. W. Serrell, jr., of New York (who still
continues in Lyons), has been undergoing improvement and development,
and it is with the hope of facilitating the introduction and culture of
silk, and of enabling our people to adopt the best means to that end,
and to avoid errors which have been disastrous in the past and are
likely to be extremely expensive in the near future, that I now
communicate with the department, which is equally interested in securing
new sources of industry and wealth for our people at home as for the
promotion and extension of their commerce abroad.
It will be recollected that from about 1834 to 1839 there raged a great
speculation in mulberry trees of a certain species (_Morus multicaulis_)
destined for feeding silk worms. This speculation led to a total loss
of all the time and money devoted to it, partly because of its wild and
utterly unsound character, and partly because the little silk which was
actually produced could not be reeled to advantage. As a result, silk
culture fell into utter disrepute and for nearly a generation was
scarcely thought of as a practical thing in the United States. Time,
however, showed clearly where the great obstacle lay, and although many
may have imagined that other difficulties led to its abandonment in
1839-40, those who have studied the matter are unanimously of the
opinion that the want of reeling machinery has alone prevented the
success of sericulture in those parts of the Union which are suitable
for it. Believing this obstacle to be removed, it remains to set forth
in a brief manner some of the points upon which, it appears to me, the
successful introduction of silk raising will depend.
For the success of silk culture in our country two things are now
requisite--the acquisition on the part of those about to engage in it
of sound knowledge of its processes and requirements, and proper
organization.
The details of the work of silk culture are of such a nature that they
may be readily understood, and I apprehend that there will be little
difficulty found by those who engage in it in mastering them, after some
little experience. The point at which it seems to me that there is the
most danger is at the very beginning.
In order to avoid delays and losses, the person who begins silk culture
should have a pretty clear idea of the scale of operations which are
likely to be most profitable; of the trees, or rather shrubs, which must
be obtained; of the apparatus and fixtures necessary, and of the results
which may be reasonably expected from the labor and expense required.
All of these items will be found to vary in different parts of the
country, and I fear that general rules, broad deductions, and such
information as would apply under all circumstances and in all places
would be extremely difficult to formulate, and too vague for practical
use at any given point.
In fact, as far as information which may be considered perfectly general
is concerned, I have, for the time being, only one point to put forward
in addition to what has already been published in the United States,
which is to repeat and show as emphatically as possible that the use
of the reels at present employed for the filature of silk is entirely
impracticable in our country, and that the raiser must sell his cocoons.
This has been so often said and so clearly shown that I should consider
it unnecessary to repeat it had not my attention been called to the fact
that the success of several people and associations in the United States
in raising cocoons has again made it a temptation to endeavor to reel
silk, and during the past year I have received applications from people
in different States for information as to the kind of silk reel employed
here which would be most suitable for use by them.
I am aware, also, that estimates have been made and published by some
eminent authorities tending to show that this work could be done on a
paying basis in some places in America. So far as I have seen them,
however, these estimates are fatally defective in that they do not allow
for differences in quality of silk reeled by competent or incompetent
people, and under circumstances favorable or otherwise, but seem to
assume that any silk reeled in our country would be a first rate
article, and paid for accordingly.
While this might be true in isolated cases, it could not be true in
general, as with present appliances the art of reeling _good_ silk is
only to be acquired and retained by years of apprenticeship and constant
practice joined to a natural talent for the work. So true is this, that
even in districts where the work has been largely carried on for many
generations, quite a large proportion of women who try for years find it
impossible to become good reelers.
Now, there is a considerable difference in price between well reeled and
poorly reeled silk--a difference so great that silk not well reeled in
every way is not worth as much as the cocoons from which it is derived.
It is, therefore, quite a hopeless task to reel silk unless the reeler
is skilled. Even if it could be done to advantage--which I do not think
it could--there exists in America no means of training reelers. In
Europe they are taught by degrees in the filatures, working first at
the easier stages of the operations, and afterward being helped forward
under the eyes and guidance of experienced operatives.
Another grave defect in the estimates alluded to is that all the profit
is assumed to be paid to the reeler. This can evidently only be the case
when each reeler runs her own reel, owns and cares for her own cocoons,
sells her own silk, and furnishes her own capital. Now, even supposing
that persons so fortunately placed as to be able to fulfill all these
conditions should wish to engage in silk reeling, which is in the
highest degree improbable, there exists an almost insuperable obstacle
to the production of good silk except by an establishment large enough
to use the cocoons of many producers.
Nearly every silk crop as raised by the individual growers contains
three or four grades of cocoons, and to produce good and uniform silk,
these must be separated and each sort reeled by itself, producing
several grades of silk.
Without going into detail, it is enough to say that this is not
practical for those who attempt to reel their own cocoons, and that for
this reason, and many others, hand reels and single basins have been
nearly abandoned even in Italy; the women finding so much difficulty
that they prefer to sell their cocoons and work in large establishments
where the work is done to more advantage.
It is evident, therefore, that, from the estimates made, there should be
a considerable deduction for poor workmanship, and another for use of
capital, organization, selling expenses, superintendence, insurance,
repairs, deterioration, etc. In fact, I do not see in what way the
reeling of silk in the United States, by the ordinary method, could be
made to bear a much higher charge for labor than that borne by European
filatures, which barely pay with labor at one franc per diem of thirteen
hours.
To be able, then, to reel silk by the ordinary reels, it would first be
necessary to find a sufficiency of highly skilled operatives willing
to labor in a factory thirteen hours per day for twenty cents each. I
sincerely believe and hope that this can never be done. I have enlarged
somewhat upon this difficulty for the purpose of showing that the
growers, or at any rate individual growers of cocoons, should not
attempt to do the reeling, but by no means with an idea of discouraging
the raising of silk worms, which is and should be an entirely separate
matter. To use a rough comparison, I should esteem it as wasteful, even
if possible, for each grower to attempt to reel his own cocoons as for
each farmer to grind his own wheat upon his farm and endeavor to sell
the flour.
It is, therefore, clear that the object of the sericulturist should be
to raise and market as good a crop of cocoons as possible to the best
advantage, and with the least possible expense and risk.
After what has been said, it may be very properly asked, if, seeing that
the hopes which have been entertained of reeling by the usual method
have proved fallacious, and as no radically new system of raising silk
worms is under consideration, it is not very possible that all hopes of
profit from rearing the worm may prove fallacious also.
In fact, not only has the question been asked, but an argument of
great apparent strength and much plausibility has been formulated and
extensively circulated, tending to show that the difficulty of cheap
labor, which it has been shown stood in the way of reeling without
improved machinery, will make the raising of cocoons also a hopelessly
unprofitable task.
Briefly summarized, this argument may be stated as follows:
First. To raise silk worms to advantage much time and attention are
required.
Second. Time and attention are more costly in the United States than in
other countries.
Third. Consequently, cocoons can be more cheaply raised in other
countries than in the United States.
Fourth. The United States possess no special advantages as a market for
cocoons, and therefore they must be sold as cheaply as elsewhere, and
the labor costing more, there is less profit.
Fifth. The profits made by raisers in Europe are not very great, and as
they would be less in the United States, it is not worth while to try to
raise cocoons in that country.
It must be acknowledged that upon the surface this all appears to be
very sound and almost unanswerable, but I hope to be able to show that
there is in reality not the slightest real foundation for the conclusion
to which this argument points.
Taking the points cited in order, I would say, as regards the first and
second, that although labor and time are required to raise cocoons, I
am convinced that the labor and time of the kind necessary will not be
found more expensive in our country than in Europe, for the following
reasons:
The work is a home industry. It can be carried on without severe manual
labor except for a few days, at the end of the season, when large crops
are raised.
Now, nothing is better known than that there exists in many of our
States an enormous number of wives and daughters of country people of
a class entirely different from any to be found elsewhere, except,
perhaps, to a limited extent, in England. I refer to the "well-to-do"
but not wealthy agricultural and manufacturing classes in small
villages.
One or two generations ago the farmers' and mechanics' wives and
daughters found plenty of work in spinning, weaving, dyeing, cutting,
and making the linen and clothes of the family. This has entirely ceased
as a domestic industry with the exception of the "sewing" of the women's
clothes and men's underwear. As a consequence, the women of the family
are condemned to idleness, or to the drudgery of the whole household
work.
Upon a proper occasion I think that much might be said of the evils and
dangers which are likely within a short time to arise from the fact that
perhaps a large majority of American women find themselves, because
of the present organization of society and industry, almost unable to
contribute to the family income except by going away from home, or in
doing the most menial and severe labor as household workers from one end
of the year to the other. I shall at present, however, only point out
that in hundreds of thousands of homes in the country an opportunity of
gaining a very moderate sum in addition to the present income by the
expenditure of some weeks of care and light work would be hailed as a
Godsend, and that, too, in families where the feeling of self-respect
and the desire to keep the family together are far too strong to permit
the women to go away from home in any way to earn money.
Let any one who doubts this consider the dairy work and similar
industries, and try to calculate how much per diem the women thus
occupied at home gain in money. It may be said with entire accuracy
that, as a rule, anything in which the women can engage at home, by
which something may be earned, will in general be regarded as net profit
through out many sections of the land. In the silk districts of Europe,
agricultural machinery is very much less employed than with us, and in
general every woman who can possibly be spared from other work is a
field laborer and valuable as such. So that time taken for raising silk
must be deducted from her other productive work and charged to the cost
of the silk crop. I think that there can be no doubt that this one fact
is quite sufficient to make the question of the cost of caring for the
worms really as much in favor of the United States as at first glance it
appears to be the other way; it being the case that in our country many
who would be glad to do the work have spare time to give to it, whereas
in Europe every hour that is given to silk worms would otherwise be
spent in the field.
In the South there are very large masses of inhabitants who are unable
to work in the fields, both men and women, and who would also find in a
yearly crop of silk worms a very comfortable addition to their
yearly gains, and one which could be derived from time not otherwise
convertible into money. Land is very much dearer, and taxes are higher
in the European silk districts than with us, and every little crop of
cocoons has to pay its share, which adds a considerable percentage to
its cost.
The buildings possessed by peasants and used for the raising of silk
worms are, in general, small, close, and miserable. Throughout America
the roomy barns which are empty at the cocoon season, will, with little
preparation, be much preferable, and enable the raisers to work to very
much better advantage.
In Europe diseases of several kinds have become more or less prevalent,
and in some cases have diminished the production of whole districts.
Notwithstanding the fact that many experiments have been made in
America, and in Georgia particularly, and silk has been raised
continuously for over a century, these diseases (_maladies des vers a
soile_) have never made their appearance.
The people of our country are, as a rule, much better educated than
those in Southern France and Italy, and will undoubtedly use their
intelligence in such a way as to derive a benefit from it, and economize
their labor by proper appliances, etc.
Taking all these facts into consideration, I am convinced that that
there will be no difficulty in raising cocoons for the same cost in
labor in the United States as in Europe, and I am inclined to think that
the work can be much more cheaply done.
It is true that the United States is not an especially good market for
cocoons; in fact up to this time there has been scarcely any market
at all for them; but with the organization of the industry and the
introduction of reeling machinery, the market will be at least as good
there as elsewhere. As to whether it will be "worth while" for our
people to raise silk worms, I would say that though the amount of money
to be paid by any one family is certainly not very large, it is nearly
all clear profit, and under the circumstances which I have above pointed
out, and which exist so generally, I am sure that the sum to be realized
will be regarded as very important by a vast number of people. As in
other points, it is extremely difficult to make any exact estimates on
such a subject which would be generally applicable to a country so large
and so various in climate, soil, and social habit as ours. I am inclined
to think, however, that were the members of an average family, under
average circumstances, to raise a crop of cocoons, the amount
which could be advantageously reared should produce, according to
circumstances, from seventy-five to two hundred dollars. Scarcely
any "paying" result can be hoped for, however, without more or less
organization of the work, as sericulture is an industry which is very
sensitive to the evils of a want of proper co-operation among those
who carry on its various processes. After some reflection, I am of the
opinion that individual growers will have great difficulty in selling
cocoons if they are isolated from others, and I therefore doubt the
wisdom of encouraging sporadic and ill-directed efforts, which,
however well meant and earnestly pursued, are much more apt to end in
disappointment, discouragement, and discredit to the newly developing
industry than in anything else. It seems to me to be neither wise nor
fair to furnish estimates of returns, which presuppose an organization
of the industry, without mentioning the difficulties which must be
encountered where the organization is lacking. The great difficulty
is in selling the cocoons after they are raised, and this can only be
practically overcome by such a development of the culture as will
result in the production, within the limits of a given neighborhood, of
sufficient quantities of cocoons to make it practicable to prepare and
forward them to market. It is as well known as any other fact in trade,
that small transactions are much more costly in proportion than large
ones, and this general rule is especially applicable to the cocoon
market. The product of two or three isolated families in the interior of
our country could not be marketed to advantage. Whereas, were several
hundreds engaged on the work in the same vicinity the charge of
marketing their joint crop would be only a small percentage of its
value.
Silk raising is the work of an organized people, and before it can
become successful in our country must possess proper channels for its
trade, just as much as wool, or cotton, or wheat. The machinery of this
organization, however, need not be either complicated or expensive. What
is required is a system of nuclei in towns or large villages, which may
serve as centers of information and as gathering receptacles for the
crops of surrounding producers.
The details of organization must be left, and I think may safely be left
to the good sense of the people of different sections, who will work
out the problem in different ways, according to their different
circumstances. Even were the need of organization not made evident to
those undertaking sericulture in the beginning, it would soon become so,
as it has, in fact, in several parts of the country. I have therefore
deemed it proper to call attention to this matter, on the principle that
a "stitch in time saves nine." I am informed that there exist already
in the United States several associations devoted to acquiring and
disseminating knowledge of the art of sericulture. This is a very great
step in the right direction, and cannot be too heartily commended. If
conducted with prudence and wisdom these societies will be of great
service, and I would respectfully suggest that any encouragement which
the government may think proper to afford would in all probability be
extremely useful and profitable to the country in the future. Provided,
always, that such societies are really devoted to the dissemination of
information and the careful organization of the industry, and are not
merely visionary and impractical cultivators of misapplied enthusiasm.
It would, I think, be of importance so far as possible, to direct
the attention of county and State agricultural societies, "village
improvement clubs," and in general the intelligent and careful portion
of our rural population to this matter. It is beyond doubt that the time
when sericulture can be begun and carried on profitably in our country
has arrived. Its successful introduction would result in a very
important yearly revenue and increase in the public wealth, for I think
that within a comparatively few years it could be made to be worth at
least fifty or sixty millions of dollars per annum, and perhaps much
more. This, however, is a less advantage than the fact that by supplying
a new home industry it would do much toward conserving home ties and
interests, and thereby help to strengthen and perpetuate good morals and
home living among our people.
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