OCR Text |
Show uer is reduced to the neccessity of , oplm? unscrupulous methods, orj .educating public sentiment to deiil a trustworthy ankle and to be wil ; 10 pay a fair price 111 return. I I iJut here the ever vejied labor rfl . tion comes to the front, under exiJ i condit. 01. s it is impossible for AnieJ labor to Compete with the pauper I of China, Italy and France, but at government is disposed to closi dors to foreign immigiation, to bj-t.mt bj-t.mt it should bar on foreign a3 itlich can be produced on Aineiicfil h.'Amei cancit.ens .Never miudwf '? I it is constitutional 11 not.the constlm ' c"f no figure 111 these days. I ; Wlnle tiie prospects for silk culps st t foiili in litis article, mav n ; suiliciftit. inducement to the afie capital st who expects immense j1" :f'i cash invested, there are ma Ind ;C gent reasons why the maj .rn vllhe ; eople of this County and llory fli.inlil foster and sustain this, jwell is all other home industries that ;hen Habylon has fallen and "Jinan .iMiyetli her nlercli.ind.se anyre," !th. se ho resemble the wise vl.s of ;loly VVnt will have provided I this -;cntingeucy ami will go on t way jrejoicing. While those who c f e to emulate the fiolish virgins, Jsufler iptivation until such time as if shall sce the error of their ways. Al'd to 'the wise is sufficient. I The Silk Industry in . San Pete. (By Mn. A. L. Cox) Written tor the kkciik. This sut ject opens a wide fk-Id for discussion, when its advantages and disadvantages are impartially considered. consider-ed. It is the object ol" this ai title to place the matter before the reader of the Kfciutkr in its true light, or as nearly as possible in the absence of efficient organization audjieliable siatstics. It nan been proved to a demonstration demonstra-tion by practical silk-growets that Sin Pete Co. pissesses all the nece-sarv elements for becoming one of the greatest silk producing disti :C13 111 the world. The mulberry tree in a fertile s iil with sufficent water thrives ahuiidently Although the nuilticaulis variety is subject sub-ject to slight injury from our l.tte bests lor the first two or three veais, after which time it becomes hardy as a number num-ber ol large thiifiy trees in .M.inh and elsewhere abundantly test fv. Where the above mentioned variety is planted, it is advisable to choose a slightly sheltered shel-tered locality in orber to obtain rapid growth in a short time. With tne new Russian variety. however.these precaution are unnecessary as it is said to be pei- (wllll haiflv The worms, if not overcrowded with proper attention, and with due irjiard to cleanliness, euioy almost comnluti immunity troni the d.seases wind: make such havoc anion.; them in countries coun-tries where the atmospheie is humid Another poweiful argument in lavoi of seiiculture is the small amount ol capi al required. Reports Ir 111 the department of agriculture at Washington show, and the labor of our practital silk growers in this County have conclusively conclusive-ly proven, that the best results ate ob-I ob-I a ned bv keeping a limited number if worms together, and that what is railed "cottage culture" is by lai the best; that is by families keeping what they can take care of within themselves without any cash investment or the construction of elaborate buildups, An unfinished, unused, chamber answer every purpose, provides it ' clean, well ventilated, and t he necessary precautions are taken to pieserve the worms from mice who are their natural enemies. An important economical feature of the silk industry, is the fact that adult labor is not essential to success. suc-cess. The work of gathering leaves and feeding the worms can be easily and quickly learned by boys and girls fumi eight to twelve without itileileiiug in the least with their school duties, as the season of caring lor the silk worms only lasts Irotn June till August; thus augmenting the family income without expense, and furnishing something useful use-ful for idle hands to do. besides forming habits ol industry, independence and self-relience which are so necessary to siicess in life. Sericulture n San I'ete County has been chielly confined to the raising of cocoon", no 01 e, as yet, having thought proper to invest capital in the necessary machinery and appliances lor its manufacture. Mrs, Rebecca Ware-ham Ware-ham and Mrs Maria Weibye of Manti, however have at d fl'erent tunes manufactured manu-factured the silk from their own cocoons. Having no suitable implements for the work, the process was necessarily slow and laborious, but they wished to demonstrate dem-onstrate to unbelievers that silk rosing could be made a succesi in this county, A considerable quantity of cocoons have been produced in the various towns : in San Pete dining the last ten yeais. j and great credit is due to the veteran ; ladieA who have labored so energaticUly o yhbhshahe. silk i'ldiiMry. .Vnons-wl.ls(eii0m .Vnons-wl.ls(eii0m of 'mkoTrfcT,ytv.J.j are Mrs LiJ,,eth Hi "Mimhi, wtAv ; silk agent " 1 tne Co.; Mrs Peterson' ol Ephraim, who has been especilly a ctive in the work, also Mrs Madsen of Gunnison and others in the northern towns, whose names have not been reported to the writer. The manufactured silk has been principally ued for ladies netted ties which have always commanded a ready: sale, some have beeu sent to England as a specimans ol Utah's products. Mrs vVareham recieveba preniuuiol $2.00 for one which was 011 exhibition in a Ladies Fair in Salt Lake City some years ago, She also spun and re Jed sullicent silk for a silk dresi but had 110 ticilittes for weaving it. The reader will observe from the foregoing that the difficulties in their industry are not in the production of the raw material, but 111 the manufacture j and disposal of it. Accord. ng to! Prof. Riley of the division of Entom ology, in the department ol agriculture at Washington these obstacles are gener al throughout the United States. While he admits that the profits coming from I his branch ol hustuess are smaller than in many other investments he coniideis it imperatively necessary that it should' be firmly established as one of our national industries, in view of our vast resources (or silk production and the j advantages arising from our country being self-sustaining. If this is true of the j United States, it is especially true of( the majority of the people in this county and Territory, who have everything to gain and nothing to lose by sustaining themselves, Prof Rileys idea of whom the problem isto obiain appropriation from Government to foster this industry in its infancy until it shall have become self sustaining. Hut as Utah and her people have not been the recipients of Congressional favor in ihe past, it is hardly sale to expect it in the future. The Department of Agriculture will1 furnish eggs fiee of charge, and offer to buy all the cocoons produced, but at ruinous ruin-ous prices, as they lose an average of 66 per cent, of their weight in the process pro-cess of drying Experienced silk-growers say that they cannot be produ .ed with any protit for less than Ji.oo per pound; while the Department only oilers from 60 to qo cts according, to quality; thus giving to outside manufactures all the profits in the business, while the producers produc-ers of the raw material lab us under kss and disadvan age. In view of these conditions, the only rational couise for the people of this County to pursue would be to manufacture manu-facture the raw mite rial themselves; thus giving employment to our own people and keeping 'their means at home, but just here the "almighty dollar" dol-lar" assumes uii proportions. Who will furnish capital lor the building and machinery ntcessary to make 111 s branch oi indus ry an assured success? San Pete s waiting lot that philathrophic individual to put in an appearance, and when he comes it is to be hoped that he will be able to cope with the dishoner-j able competition which the honest manufacturer man-ufacturer is compelled to meet. The progiessive science ol the 19 centuiy, her d scovered sq among clever methods of adulteiationsin textile fabrics, that it no longer pays (in one sensq of the word) to manufacture a genuine article to be sold on its merit. Consequently in Eastern factories silk is extensively mixed with shoddy and refuse, and the fabrics thus produced are sold under high sounding French names which are bewildering to the senses as thev are rAinisy to the touch'while the servic-able servic-able silk ol our grandmother's days, which served as her best during her lifetime, is among the traditions oi the past. To meet these conditions the manulact- |