Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 October 1895 — SILK-MAKING IN OREGON. [ARTICLE]

SILK-MAKING IN OREGON.

New Enterprise that Bids Fair to Be Successful in the Northwest^ W. S. Ban, an intelligent and welleducated Japanese, who speaks English fluently, is the pioneer in what he believes can be made one of the leading industries of this region, to wit: silk culture. He owns a ranch of ten acres hack of Portland heights, near Mount Zion, all of which is planted with young mulberry trees, growing vigorously and rapidly. He is getting a big colony of silk worms under way, and liasalready manufactured a quantity of silk, which he proposes to exhibit at the coming fall exposition. Mr, Ban believes that he has fully demonstrated that silk culture is a success here, and is enthusiastic over —e result of his experiment. He lives at 445 Everett street, where he manufactures the raw silk on hand machines. He exhibited some of his products to a reporter yesterday, and explained how be came to undertake the experiment. “I am the first to undertake silk culture here,” said he, “I obtained a pretty thorough knowledge of the Industry In Japan, and when I came here it struck me that .this vicinity had every requisite for silk culture, except the worms and the mulberry trees. I was advised not to attempt the experiment, as It would surely result in failure. However, ! wasconfideatUiat my ad-. visers knew rather less about the matter than I, so two years ago I imported 1,000 mulberry trees from Japan and planted them at the proper distauee apart on my ten-aere ranch. I found the soil and the climate to be very suitable, and the trees took root, without the loss of one. Seeing that the trees w T ere successful, I got a lot of silk worm eggs from Japan in 1894. All were spoiled on the voyage. It is very difiicul.t to bring perfect eggs from such a distance, as any considerable variation In temperature on the voyage is ruin to them. “However, I tried again last February with better success, and, after keeping the eggs in a uniform temperature of 73 or 74 degrees from April 29 to May 7 I the pleasure of seeing about 2,000 hatch. Six days later 50,000 more hatched. The worms did finely, and at the expiration of forty-three days w r ent into tlieir cocoons! I have since hatched a second crop of eggs, which were native.to.Portland.. “I am satisfied that silk culture will one day become a great industry in this region, giving employment to many people who would otherwise be idle. It is useless for anyone to say now that It cannot be made a success here, for I have demonstrated the contrary. It will afford employment to farmers’ wives, and many other women will find it a means of gaining a comfortableJncome, as the work is so light and healthful and pleasant as to be well adapted to women and children. . ■ “This sample of raw silk, which I propose to exhibit with other skeins of my manufacture here, is as fine as any j that was ever made any where.”—Port- i land Oregonian.