It seems to me to be neither wise nor
fair to furnish estimates of returns, which presuppose an organization
of the industry, without mentioning the difficulties which must be
encountered where the organization is lacking. The great difficulty
is in selling the cocoons after they are raised, and this can only be
practically overcome by such a development of the culture as will
result in the production, within the limits of a given neighborhood, of
sufficient quantities of cocoons to make it practicable to prepare and
forward them to market. It is as well known as any other fact in trade,
that small transactions are much more costly in proportion than large
ones, and this general rule is especially applicable to the cocoon
market. The product of two or three isolated families in the interior of
our country could not be marketed to advantage. Whereas, were several
hundreds engaged on the work in the same vicinity the charge of
marketing their joint crop would be only a small percentage of its
value.
Silk raising is the work of an organized people, and before it can
become successful in our country must possess proper channels for its
trade, just as much as wool, or cotton, or wheat.
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