SILK (SILK AND SILK-WOIIII, ante). There would Certainly appear to have been no lack of encouragement of the silk industry in the early days of American colonial his tory. James 1. was enthusimic on this subject (see D1AStwaerunEs), and the colonists themselves devoted much time and labor to the growth of the mulberry tree, and the culture of silk-worms. In 1732 the colonial government of Georgia, allotted a piece of ground for use as a nursery plantation for white mulberry trees. Lands were granted to settlers on condition that they planted 100 of these trees on every 10 acres when cleared, 10 years being allowed for their cultivation. In 1749 the British parliament passed an net exempting from duty all raw silk which was certified to be the production of or Carolina. In the same year an Italian expert was sent to Georgia to establish a fila ture—for reeling, doubling., cleaning. and twisting, or throwing, silk—and in 1769 the export of raw silk to England from Georgia alone exceeded 10,000 pounds. and the qual ity of it was so good that it sold in London at from two to three shillings a pound more than that from any other part of the world. After 1759, however, the production of silk in Georgia fell off greatly, though a French settlement at New Bordeaux, on the Savannah river, manufactured considerable quantities Of sewing-silk during the revolu tion. Mansfield, Conn., became, in the latter part of the 18th c. an important silk raising section; and this continued to be a fixed industry in that locality, though but little was done in it elsewhere in New England. Pennsylvania engaged in the culture about 1767. and a filature was established in Philadelphia in 1769 or '70. and in 1771 2,300 pounds of cocoons were brought there to reel. This state maintained some prom inence in the industry up to the time of the revolution, but it then died out and was not notably revived. From the period of the close of the revolution up to about 1825 the silk manufacture in the United States was purely domestic, families making small quan tities— hardly ever reaching 100 pounds per annum in a single family. The importa tion of silk goods in the mean time had increased enormously, so that in 1821 it amounted to $4,486.924. It was felt that this costly importation should be stayed, if possible, and several congressional committees investigated the subject, and voluminous reports were made upon it. This brought about the enthusiastic culture of the mores which grew into a mania (see MaxutvicrunEs), during whose existence hundreds of speculators and thousands of private buyers were ruined. The result of this speculative
incident, the financial depression of 1S37, and the fact that in 1844 a blight affected all the mulberry trees in the country—all these causes combined were disastrous to silk cul ture in the United States, and the effort to rear silk-worms ceased, not to be revived again, except in California; where, since 1860, the business has been successfully prose cuted. The first silk-mill erected on the western continent was set up at Mansfield, Conn., in 1810. The manufacture was introduced into Philadelphia about 1815; and as early as 1824 the Jacquard loom began to be used there. Power-looms were next introduced, and power-loom weaving was begun about 1838, simultaneously with its adoption in Switzerland. In 1829 there was a manufactory for silk ribbons from American silks started in Baltimore, but it was short-lived. The business progressed at Mansfield, which soon became a silk-manufacturing center. From 1831 to '89, a large number of factories were started at Windsor Locks, Conn.; Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; in Philadelphia, and elsewhere, the most of which failed. Burlington, N. J., became an important silk-producing locality, beginning about 1838; and included the culture of the mulberry tree and growth of silk-worms, as well as the manufacture of silk. Hart ford and Manchester, Conn., Holyoke and Northampton, Mass., and Haydenville, the scene of the Mill river disaster in 1874 (bursting of a reservoir containing 6,000,000 tons of water), are among the New England towns in which silk has been manufactured exten sively. But the most important center of this industry in America is Paterson, N. J. (q.v.), where the water-power of the Passaic river, facilities for transportation, etc., seemed to offer the best possible conditions for its prosecution. The first silk-mill in Paterson was set up about 1838, in the fourth floor of Samuel Colt's pistol factory. This was fol lowed by the establishment of other factories; until, in 1875, the business had grown to be an enormous and constantly progressing indnstry. In that year .there were engaged in the silk manufacture in Paterson 32 firms and corporations, with 5 dye-houses; a force of 8,000 operatives, two-thirds of whom were females; 74,323 throwing-spindles; 730 power-looms; 563 hand-looms; and 23,445 braiding-spindles. The amount of capital Invested in mills, machinery, and manufacturing was $5,926,804; the amount of wage's paid during the year, $2,664,993; the number of pounds of silk dyed. 550,000.—The im portation of raw silk to supply American manufacturers was as follows in the* years named:—