The Dickinson press., 1888-12-01

in the south, all formed for the purpose of
giving American women a chance to catch
the thousands of dollars which annually roll
into Italy and other countries for our im-
ported raw silk. Why i'll Italy, many fam
lilies almost move out of their own houses
during part of the summer to use every
available room for the worms that spin them
their years support.
EGGS, WORMS n cocooNs.
got to talking with the lady at the reel
about it. Yes she said, "itis a very nice
thing for a lady to do. You see an ounce of
10000 eggs in an ounce, and the whole out
lay is only about $50, racks and all. You
take n good, big, airy room, and spread the
eggs around it on paper. You keep the eggs
i'll an ice box till you want them to hatch.
The rooms about 20 dcgs., and You take it
to about SO dogs. for the eggs to hatch.
Then you begin TO feed them fine cut leaves;
next small twigs, and so Oh. Silk worms
have bigger appetiteS than schoolboys. They
cat much more than their own weight every
day
When the worms are ready to spin their
winding sheets they creep up on the racks.
When the cocoon is finished the bcforetimo
worm is stihed by being put into the sun,
otherwise he'd eat his way through the end,
cutting all the threads, and, the emblem of
immortality, issue from his grave a gorgeous
moth. The cocoons look like peanuts. "Peo-
pie come here every day and ask for pea
nuts" Mrs. Irving laughed. 81 think this
must be the funniest corner of the exposi-
ton. People show an ignorance of the whole
subject which is extremely amusing. The
other day the Henncpin county teachers came
here. They got sonc circulars and cocoons
and samples of silk, and are going to do
something among their pupils. Most of them
seemed posted, but one of them-a man, by
the way" and she laughed, "asked where the
cocoons were grown. told him those were
raised in Philadelphia. He seemed q little
surprised, but asked if it didn't take a pretty
rich soil for them"
SOME BEAUTIFUL SPECIMENS.
We were standing near the counter where
are displayed the different shades of raw silk,
which shades, she said, are produced by the
different feeds. The best silk is the white,
from the worm fed on the English mulberry.
The case has some beautiful specimens which
somewhat resemble hair. AS we were talk
ing two ladies were evidently arguing near.
One of them turned with, 'lsn't that Il wit1'
pointing to ono of the specimens. AS they
moved off tho reeler said, ooh, that's moth
ing: the other day a well dressed lady asked
me if l bought hair there, as she had some
she'd like to dispose of. She must have
thought had a decided preference for canary
and blonde hair"
Yes said she, "there's a steady demand
for cocoons. There are never enough. They
bring $1.15 n pound usually, and We like
them fresh, they spin better then. That re-
minds Inc as l was 'rceling' tho other day Il
gentleman came along and thought it was a
burning shame those things We're being
roasted alive You see tho cocoons were
EobIing up and down in the water. We
have to put them in to soften the silk. Soon
after Il couple of intelligent looking ladies
came along. One of them said, is she boil
ing those worms to kill them:' No. said the
other, she's Matching them; don't you see!
Why, if you'd sit beside me an hour and hear
tho comments, l warrant you couldn't KEEP
your face straight
"But here; Imtelling you nonsense instead
of giving information. We buy the cocoons
ut tho association in Philadelphia in any
small quantities, from women all over tho
country. Oh, it's a great thing, and be
coming more popular every year. Some
city ladies arc very successful i'll raising
cocoons. They buy tho mulberry leave!
from leaf markets, where they are brought
by farmers. The farmers plant them fol
hedges. We havcalargo room i'll Fairmoun'
park, where the association grows thu
cocoons. What do we do with those we buy
Well, the association employs six reelers wht
spin the silk, as l am doing now, into skein
Of raw silk, and they are sold to tho variou
silk manufactures of the country."-''A. L
H." in st. Paul Pioneer Press.