Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/251



produced cocoons so small as to require from 5,000 to 6,000 to make a pound of silk, while not over 3,000 of the American would be required to do the same thing(!).

"Mr. Richards was shown several pamphlets, newspapers, cap and writing paper, supposed to have been made of mulberry bark. He said rags were not used in India, China, or the islands, for making paper, but they always make it of some vegetable leaf; that the bark was too valuable for that, and was used to make fabrics. (See Chapters XI. and XII. of this Part. Also Appendix A.)

"We, as Americans, have the appropriate soil and climate for the Canton and Asiatic mulberry, with the pea-nut variety of worms, which, being managed with due care and attention, together with the skill, ingenuity, and perseverance of Americans—and, in addition, and could we have the aid of our country to encourage new beginners—we might hope to compete with any nation in the production of silk, their cheap labor and cheap living to the contrary notwithstanding. There is abundant evidence that worms fed exclusively on the Canton mulberry have been larger, and produced heavier cocoons, by one-third in size of worms and weight of cocoons, than by other