Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-08-21
A WASHINGTON SILK FACTORY.
The Experiments to be Made at the
Agricultural Department.

A WASHINGTON SILK FACTORY.
The Experiments TO be Made at the
Agricultural Department.
NEW MACHINERY FOR REELING SILK FROM
THE CocooNs TO BE TRIED-THE STATE OF
THE SILK INDUSTRY IN THIS COUNTRY
WHAT Is HOPED FOR THE FUTURE.
Considerable interest having been aroused by
the announcement of the establishment of q
SILK factory at the Agricultural department, q
STAR reporter called upon Mr.. Philip Walker,
special agent Of the division Of entomology.
who Is charged with carrying out the details Of
the work, and elected the following informa-
ton:
For three years past Congress has appropria-
ted sum of money to be used by the commits
sioner of agriculture in endeavoring to estab-
lsh the cultivation of silk in the United States.
Fart OF this money has been employed in look
ing over the ground and making experiments
preliminary to the more systematic ones which
undertake. These new experiments will be
conducted under the authority of a clause in
izIng the trial, at some point in the District of
Columbia, OF some new machinery for reeling
SILK rom the cocoon automatically.
THE SILK INDUSTRY
of the United States, in most OF its branches, is
one which, thanks to a high protective tariff,
has been established upon firm foundation;
but for raw material Of the best class the silk
throwster and weaver have been obliged to
seek foreign markets. There are two grades Of
this raw material commonly called spun and
raw silk. The former is produced from silk
waste and pierced cocoOns, and, after prelimi-
nary operations of maceratiOn aud carding is
spun somewhat after the manner OF cotton.
This operation has been successfully carried
out for some years by several important estab.
lishments In Connecticut, Pennsylvania and
elsewhere, and the industry may be said to be
firmly established.
In this work there still remains no outlet in the
United States for this product, and the officials
OF the department of agriculture have found
that 1t was necessary, in order to make the cu-
ture OF SILK success, that they should also
assist in the establishment of y market for the
choicest product of the silk-raiser-the whole
or unpierced cocoon From these cocOons is
produced raw silk. 1t is needless here to GO
into the details OF the process by which the
wound and united into strong, elastic, and
well-rounded thread Of raw silk, though 1t is
this kind OF work that is to be performed in the
annex to the agricultural building during the
coming year.
THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY
In reeling silk in America, ands one which has
thus far been insurmountable, Is of financial
nature, arising from the superior prices which
We pay for labor. Until within a comparatively
short period the machinery employed in this
operation has been, in principle, but little more
improved than the spinning wheel Of our an
ees,os: aor,c. Some M few few years ago. however, an
York, undertook to solve the problem of the
automatic reeling OF Silk. 1t was difficult one,
reached after the expenditure of several years
labor and considerable sums of money. The
outcome is q silk reel, which is now being put
into operation in the south of France through
the cooperation of some OF the leading banking
houses OF Lyons. This IN achinery makes so
great saving in labor as to largely subordi-
nate TINS side OF the question: and IL is tor this
reason that the silk raisers OF our country hope
by Its aid to bring their efforts in establishing
silk culture to a successful termination. The
commissioner OF agriculture has been SO fortu-
nate AS TO obtain q few OF these machines, with
winch he hopes to be able to produce reeled silk
with profit during the coming season. There
are good many cOcOOns raised in this country
now, though their quality will be largely i'm.
proved as the experience OF the growers in-
cular advising silk raisers that he will alter the
first OF October, be able
TO PURCHASE THEIR cocooNs
In limited Quantities. 1t Is regretted that only
portion OF this years crop can be received, but
the establishment will be only Of an expert
ment is more to determine whether silk can be
profitably reeled in this country with the most
improved machinery than 1t is to furnish an
outlet tor all the cocOOns that may be produced
Ii the experiments contemplated are brought
to a successful issue the increasing of the home
market for cocoons may then be looked into
with greater hopes Tor success The market for
the prod uct OF this establishment is already an
active one, We imported during the last
fiscal year raw silk to the value of nearly twenty
million OF dollars.
DISTRIBUTING EGGS AND LITERATURE.
Though the work mentioned here will be the
most important Of this nature that the depart
ment will carry out during the coming year,
the entomoIogist, Prof. c. V. Riley, who is
charged with this branch of the Department. s
labors, will continue the work done in past
years Of distributing silk worm eggs and seri-
cultural Information and literature. He has
recently issued a new manual on silk culture,
which Is now being gratuitously distributed
This Is revision OF the old pamphlet published
by the department., to which much new mate
rial of a valuable nature has been added.
1t is learned, too, that the Womens Silk Gull
ture association, of 1922 Arch street, Philadel-
phia, has also received congressional aid, and
Will probably purchase cocoons during the
coming winter.