Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/249

 a kind similar to Agave Vivipara, the leaves of which are extensively used in India for making cordage.

We cannot better conclude this part of the subject, than by giving the following interesting communication of Dr. Daniel Stebbins, of Northampton, Mass., to the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, a gentleman who has, in our opinion, rendered most valuable services, not only to the people of the United States, but to the world at large, since his appointment to the office of Commissioner of Patents.

Northampton, Hampshire County, Mass.

"Dear Sir: The favorable notice of silk culture in document No. 109, from the Patent Office report of February, 1843, is my apology for presenting the enclosed samples of paper, made of mulberry foliage and bark. Unfortunately, the external cuticle of the bark had not been removed; producing the spots, but does not injure the paper for the use intended, which was for the purpose of depositing silk-worms' eggs upon something dark; and this being unbleached, is considered adapted to the habits of the silk-worm, and is now in successful experiment.

"The four samples are all of one batch; the darkest, having more of the outside cuticle, was most buoyant, rose to the top and came off first.

"A quantity of genuine Canton foliage, which retains its verdure in greater perfection and later than any other mulberry, is gathered, dried, and sent to the mill for making paper, bleached, without spots, fit for cotton paper, as hoped; and, if successful, I shall take pleasure in sending you a sample, to be preserved with the enclosed.

"I began, some ten or twelve years since, to bring silk culture into notice among the members of the Hampshire Agricultural Society, believing that if we tried the right kind of trees, (such as used in China,) we could raise silk, yet could not afford to pay $1 per tree, as then asked for multicaulis; not reflecting how easily they could be propagated by cuttings and layers. Under this view of the subject, I wrote to the Rev. E.