Sericulture

There were some attempts in former times to rear silkworms in Madeira, and in 1571 Dr Gaspar de Teive went so far as to make a contract with a silk manufacturer for the production of silk on the island. The Jesuits gave a certain impetus to sericulture, but we do not know whether any silk fabric was ever actually made in Madeira.

In 1877 the late Count of Canavial set up several installations at the Praça da Rainha (‘Queen’s Square’) for rearing silkworms, and planted large numbers of white mulberry trees there, though none of this work produced any results. Almost all the mulberry plantations were destroyed by the great gales at the beginning of 1881.

On this subject, the excellent article published in the Diário da Madeira (‘Madeira Daily’) of 13 October 1921 is of particular interest and may be of some real use, and we wish to preserve it in the columns of this Elucidário.

Among these initiatives, born of his soul and devised by his intelligence (the Count of Canavial), was the introduction to Madeira of sericulture or, perhaps more precisely, ‘sericiculture’: the combination of operations and processes involved in producing silk, and so covering both the rearing of the insects that produce it and the art of manufacturing silk. Popular leaflets distributed throughout the island then instructed the Madeiran people in how silk was made. These instructions, set out with great clarity and detail, ranged from the method of rearing the silkworm to a thorough description of all its metamorphoses and of how it should be treated at each stage of its life. The help of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities was sought, and the municipal councils were asked to cooperate in planting large numbers of the trees on which the insect feeds. Some trials were even made, but the fact is that, whether for lack of resources or for lack of perseverance, the initiative never became a reality.

And yet we remain convinced that the idea of developing a silk industry in Madeira is neither childish nor reckless, and still less a dream incapable of becoming fact in the realm of practical realities.

Indeed, the silk industry is thriving today in many countries that are far from possessing the natural conditions that distinguish Madeira. For that reason they make up for the lack of such conditions by using methods that make silk production costly, and smaller than what we could obtain on this island.

In the countries where the silk industry flourishes most, there is generally only one harvest a year, because the trees on which the insects feed grow poorly there. Moreover, the insects have to be reared in the heat of hothouses and stoves, so that they can withstand the almost always fatal consequences of great variations in the weather.

Madeira, however, thanks to the exceptional mildness of its climate, finds itself in far more favourable circumstances for the industry than those countries. Since mulberry trees grow more quickly here, two harvests a year could easily be obtained; and as for the insects, they could be reared naturally, without the use of artificial and always costly means to support their living conditions.

Furthermore, growing the particular trees that would need to be encouraged would not take the place of the other crops that we also need for our food and for the wealth of our economic balance. For this purpose, the spots where no other crop was possible, or where no other crop offered greater advantage, would be put to use with intelligence and care.

For these reasons we believe, even at this moment, that the idea we have outlined here well deserves analysis, study and consideration. In putting it forward we recall the figure of the Count of Canavial and some of the fruits of his investigative mind and patriotic soul.

And since, on this subject, we find ourselves today in the same situation as almost 50 years ago, when the idea was raised on this island, let us say, as the Count of Canavial did in 1874: ‘What, then, is to be done? To draw forcefully the attention of those who are in a position to exploit this new branch of industry; to instruct them in the practical means of achieving it, and moreover to point out to them, as an encouragement, the examples of other countries where, with fewer natural advantages, the most profitable results have been reaped from this same industry.’