The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1880-08-18
Nothing But Leaves.


When we put on our best dresses or Sun
day neclltie, we are only making ourselves
fine with mulberry leaves-mulberry leaves,
however, that have been devoured and di-
gested b. a little worn-like caterpillar, that
many a fine lady would scream at the sight
of, If it crawled on the silk itself had made
Where municipalities will not grow, silk
worms can not live, for they eat the leaves
day and night, and the faster they eat, the
more silk they spin; so that the Chinese feed
them every half hour, day and night
They spin the silk very much as the spi-
der does It's web, only, IS they do not want
TO catch insects, but TO protect themselves
with it, the silk is spun round them in some
thing of an egg-shaped mass, and Is called
cocoon.
These cocoons are put into an oven, TO kill
the moths inside of them, and the coarse out
side silk is taken of, which is what is called
floss silk, and is carded and spun as cotton is
Then the cocoons are put into warm wa
ter, until the ends of the SILK loosen. Il is
so fine that number of these ends are
twisted together, and so wound into one
thread, and then they are ready for the man
ufacturer 10 weave them.
When Alexander the Great conquered
Persia, silks were brought home into Greece
though most boys know more about his
horse Bucephalus than about the costly
stutfs his conquest introduced. The Persians
also supplied the Romans with silk, until one
of the emperors grew angry at the price the
merchants asked.
After many devices to get some of the
eggs Of the silk-worm, two pilgrim monks
concealed some of them in the hollow part of
their slaves. They also brought directions
how the worms were to be fed and the
threads manufactured; and that is the way
silk was first introduced into Italy
And now let us see what our country has
TO do with silk. There are some people who
are not too young to remember when there
was a great excitement in parts of the United
States over silk-growing. Many rich men
lavished a great deal of money in planting
municipalities, and poorer ones spent their
sll in the cultivation. Every one was sure
of making fortune.
\ F-enchman, named D'Homergne had
predicted that the United States would be.
come great silk growing and silk-manu-
featuring country, and so many people went
wild over the expectation that they ruined
themselves. The morus multicorus specula-
ton became reproach and derision to those
who put money in it.
But VI. DHomergne may not have been
such bad prophet after all, for he never
said when his prophesy would come to pass,
only that it would.
And now in the United States the raising
of silk is becoming a regular industry. Not
long ago we had a letter from Louisiana,
giving an interesting account of the busy
little spinners there.
We can date back to the days of the colo
MES for the first silk-raising. In 1856, Vir-
gina IS said to have made the cultivation
II,
sons sent to Charles H. a royal robe, woven
from silk raised in that colony.
Georgia tried the industry in 1882, and in
1859, 10000 pounds of silk were sent TO Eng
land from Savannah. and brought famous
ly good price.
South Carolina was not long behind her
neighbOr in the cultivation, and Connecticut
was the first Northern State to try what she
could do, as she was also the first to raise to-
bacco, and some say she throve wonderfully
In producing nutmegs.
One day last winter six freight-cars arriv-
ed in New York from San Francisco on their
way to France. They had come from Japan,
and they were full OF cards, on which were
eggs of the silk-worms.
There had been a disease among the worms
IN Europe so Japan has been sending mill
ions of dollars worth of eggs-so tiny. not
bigger than the head of pinto San Fran
cisco, then over the Pacific Railroad, to sail
from New York in a steamer to Europe. Is
not that a big work for little worm and a
few mulberry Leaves to accomplish?
There is a moth called the Cynthia, which
feeds on the leaves ofthe Ailanthus-tree, and
which spins silk which is very strong and
durable. Wecallit pongee, and the Chinese,
who manufacture it, call it wild silk. There
may be many more Of the beautiful Wild
moths which can be made useful in spinning
for US.