Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Sericulture 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com June 22, 2005, 7:08 pm Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California SERICULTURE.—Among the many enterprises established in the counties of California, and in which Contra Costa takes a high rank, none give greater promise in the future than the production of silk. Throughout the United States it has become a recognized industry, and its success is beyond a peradventure in our own State. Its introduction into America is not of yesterday. Upwards of a hundred years ago its culture was extensively carried on, with greater or less success, for it is fully acknowledged that in 1759 the then colony of Georgia exported ten thousand pounds of raw silk, which sold in the European market at from fifty to seventy cents per pound higher than a similar product from any other country. In 1771 the culture was commenced in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and in 1810 the value of raw silk and sewing silk produced in three counties in Connecticut amounted to twenty-eight thousand five hundred and three dollars. In the period intervening between the last war with Great Britain and the years 1830-1837, the enterprise of silk growing languished; yet, in 1834 the National and State governments awoke for a time from their lethargy, and Congress appointed Commissioners to collect and distribute among the people general information in regard to the culture and manufacture of silk. So far as its cultivation was concerned, the matter culminated in what was known at the time as the "Morus multicaules speculation," and the cultivators lost sight of the object of establishing a legitimate industry, and attempted to get rich by speculations in trees; hence this portion of the business soon became involved in ruin, and much injury was done to the manufacturing industry. Capital, however, as usual, being more cautious and shrewd than labor, finally succeeded in advancing the latter industry to a legitimate position, from which it has gradually risen, until it is now on a safe and permanent basis. The census of the year 1880 shows the gross annual value of American manufactured silk goods to be within a small fraction of forty-one millions of dollars, these being the product of eighteen thousand four hundred and sixty-seven looms and thirty-four thousand four hundred and forty hands, operating upon a capital of twenty-two millions of dollars and involving an annual wages payment of nearly ten millions. The value of silk goods now manufactured in the United States is in excess of our imports of that class of goods, and so superior is the quality of much of our silk dress goods, that they are now sold in Paris as genuine French manufacture; and, according to the inexorable logic of facts, much of the superior trimmings, frills and furbelows, with which our wives and daughters now bedeck themselves, and which are sold in the stores of New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco for genuine French make, must be credited to the skilled workmen of New Jersey and Connecticut. Says Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, Cal., a renowned authority on the cultivation of silk: "Singularly enough, one of the most serious hindrances to the progress of silk culture in the United States during the two or three last decades has been the hostility of the silk manufacturers themselves. They are thus opposed because they fear that, if silk culture should attain to any great importance in this country, its friends would become clamorous for a protective duty on the importation of raw silk, and thus reduce the manufacturer's profit by increasing the cost of the raw material. But the friends of silk culture have nevertheless pursued the even tenor of their way, quietly but energetically, until they have now laid the foundation of what promises to be, in the course of a few years, a great national industry, and a feeder and helper, instead of a drawback, to an already established silk manufacturing industry." The production of raw silk in Europe gives employment to millions of people, while the subsequent manufacture of the raw material into thread, ribbons, dress goods, etc., forms one of the most important of home industries. The most favored nations of the Orient have wisely fostered the industry among their people until now it is the chief occupation of vast multitudes of them. In France the raising of the silk worm, the forming and care of the cocoon, and the reeling of the silk, is made an important part of the education of children in nearly all the schools, convents and academies. It is a refreshing change in the studies of the young to pass from the class-room to the cocoonery, from books to trees, to feed the worms, watch their growth, and behold the marvelous production of silk in its raw condition. Education, both public as well as private, in California, might do well to introduce this system into their places of instruction and residences, as a means of placing before their pupils a desirable means of earning a livelihood in time to come. Peculiarly adapted is this employment to women and children; and, probably, in no State in the Union would it be more beneficial than to our own California. Here there is a large and increasing population of young boys and girls, who all seek some honorable means of earning their bread during minority; to them such employment would be an inestimable boon, while it is one easily within the grasp of all. That an impetus has been given to this trade in the United States has been mainly due to the ladies, the lead having been taken by them in Philadelphia, who, notwithstanding obstructions of considerable magnitude, knew not what discouragement meant. Their's has been a labor of pure philanthropy, and they have had their reward. Actuated by the same noble attributes, a few ladies of California associated themselves under the name of "The California Silk Culture Association," and have met with most gratifying results. Of their time, labor and money, they have given freely, and they have shown, by honest perseverance of hand and brain, that there are vast possibilities in this direction in store for California, while they have shown, without a question of doubt, that the soil of our State is especially adapted to the production, in endless quantities, of this commodity. In "The California Silk Growers' Manual," by W. B. Ewer, A. M., we are told the mulberry will grow almost anywhere in California; but to meet with the best success, a rich, light, loamy soil is required. The ground should be plowed deep and well pulverized, so as to allow the rootlets to freely permeate the soil. If on a side-hill, a southern exposure should he selected. Among the most important advantages met with in California is the freedom from thunder and lightning, and from rains during the feeding season, as feeding with wet leaves is almost sure death to the worms, and the jar from thunder, or some peculiar electric disturbance attending thunder storms, is often attended with fatal consequences to them, especially if it occurs during the molting season. Only four, out of the many varieties of the mulberry, are considered especially adapted to the culture of silk—viz., the Morus alba, the Morus rose, the Morus japonica, and the Morus multicaulis. The first of these is considered the best, although the last is the most productive in foliage; but a more healthy maturity and better silk is obtained by feeding the Alba after the first age. It is unnecessary here for us to enter into the subject of the propagation and cultivation of the tree; to become familiar with this we refer the reader to the "Manual" mentioned above, and the not less valuable work of Mrs. T. H. Hittell, entitled "The California Silk Growers' Instructor," where the beginner will find all necessary aid in the matter. The first to attempt the raising the silk-worm in California was the late Louis Prevost of San Jose, who, as early as 1861, produced cocoons, some of which he sent to Lyons and Paris, where they were pronounced to be of superior quality, both for reeling and in the character of the raw silk which they yielded. As early as 1865 or 1866 Mr. Prevost sent silk-worm eggs of his raising to France, where they were pronounced to be superior to those from any other country, while the truth of this indorsement has since been fully verified in all directions. In 1866, at Mr. Prevest's instigation, Neuman & Myers established the first silk manufactory in California at San Jose. Thus far we have spoken in merely a general way; we now turn to the subject as regards Contra Costa county, want of space precluding the possibility of further generalization. In the years 1867-68 Mrs. Jane C. Smith planted some mulberry trees and raised a number of silk works, near Somersville, but the enterprise was not continued. The perpetuation of the industry is the work of Mrs. Sarah C. Sellars, whose name in connection with silk culture is a household word throughout the State. In 1867-68 she planted a grove of mulberry trees at her residence in the "Iron House" District, which now numbers three thousand of remarkably healthy trees, loaded every season with leaves and berries. A cocoonery was built near to the grove, which was constructed and maintained on the most scientific principles, while the utmost care was taken of the worms in the different stages between infancy and maturity. The result has been a well earned and undisputed prominence in the business, while the Committee Report of the California Silk Culture Association remarks: "In cocoons, the finest display is made by Mrs. S. A. Sellars of Antioch. * * * In addition to the cocoons, Mrs. Sellars exhibits a lot, in different colors, of reeled, raw, and floss silk, together with a number of silk-worms' eggs and moths. The display is a very complete one, occupying one entire large case, and would do credit to any exhibition in the world." From the report of the Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Theodore H. Hittell, we glean: "As Mrs. Sellars, of Brentwood, Contra Costa county, has for several years past been successful in raising silk-worms, I thought it would, be of interest to our society if I would in person visit her place, and make a report in reference to her work. I went last Thursday, by rail, to Brentwood, which is near Antioch. From Brentwood a wagon road leads to Mrs. Sellars' house, which is surrounded with a grove of about three thousand mulberry trees, covered with fine, healthy leaves, and loaded with white, pink and black mulberries. Mrs. Sellars had hatched, from an ounce of eggs, about thirty thousand silk-worms, which were feeding in a room adjoining her kitchen. When the temperature of the feeding-room falls below 70°, she avails herself of the heat of the kitchen stove to bring it up again. I examined the worms; they were ferociously devouring the leaves of mulberry, and were all in a healthy condition. She feeds them four times a day, and does it with such ease that it seems but child's play. She informed me that, after the fourth molting, one of the feedings does very well at ten o'clock at night. "The feeding-room is a room generally used as a store-room. On two of its sides are frames containing shelves, one above the other, made of rough wood, with laths across, and covered with cloth, on which the leaves are spread and the worms are distributed. Each shelf is three and a half feet wide. There is one window and one door in the room, which are opposite each other, so as to make ventilation easy. In the middle of the day the thermometer rose to 95° Fahrenheit, and then the worms were the liveliest; but the healthiest temperature for them is about 75° to 80.° "From what I saw I am entirely satisfied that millions upon millions of silk worms can be raised without any great trouble in California, and particularly, that they can be raised easily and conveniently, in remunerative quantities and at inconsiderable expense, by small farmers and comparatively poor people." Among others who have attempted the raising of silk-worms in Contra Costa county, we may mention the names of Mrs. Lafferty, Mr. Betteheim of Antioch, who raised a few pounds of cocoons in the season of 1881, and Mr. Mills of Martinez. In our first chapter we have touched upon the other interests of the county. The manufacturing and other enterprises will be found in the histories of the Townships to which they appertain, therefore naught is left but to close this chapter, which cannot be more appropriately done than by quoting the following beautiful lines of Bayard Taylor: 0 FAIR, young land, the youngest, fairest far Of which our world can boast,— Whose guardian planet, Evening's silver star, Illumes thy golden coast;— How art thou conquered, tamed in all the pride Of savage beauty still! How brought, O panther of the splendid hide, To know thy master's will! No more thou sittest on thy tawny hills In indolent repose; Or pour'st the crystal of a thousand rills Down from thy house of snows. But where the wild-oats wrapp'd thy knees in gold, The ploughman drives his share, And where, through canyons deep, thy streams are rolled, The miner's arm is bare. Yet in thy lap, thus rudely rent and torn, A nobler seed shall be: Mother of mighty men, thou shalt not mourn Thy lost virginity! Thy human children shall restore the grace Gone with thy fallen pines: The wild, barbaric beauty of thy face Shall round to classic lines. And Order, Justice, Social Law, shall curb Thy untamed energies; And Art, and Science, with their dreams superb, Replace thine ancient ease. The marble, sleeping in thy mountains now, Shall live in sculptures rare; Thy native oak shall crown the sage's brow,— Thy bay, the poet's hair. Thy tawny hills shall bleed their purple wine, Thy valleys yield their oil; And Music, with her eloquence divine, Persuade thy sons to toil. Till Hesper, as he trims his silver beam, No happier land shall see, And Earth shall find her old Arcadian dream Restored again in thee! Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION; TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE; ALSO, Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN; AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED. SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCTUM & CO., PUBLISHERS 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/contracosta/history/1882/historyo/sericult14gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 15.3 Kb