Wichita eagle., 1889-06-30
SILK LORE.
Tenth Weekly Report Of the Expert
mental Silk Station.

1 ASOAs>~s
Tenth Weekly Report Of the Expert
mental Silk Station.
To the Editor Of the Eagle.
The following is an extract from let
ter received from Chas. Sears, of Will
iamsburgh, Kan, June %, 1889:
"We had eggs from France, Italy and
Japan and produced silk of as good quail
| lty as any have seen grown elsewhere.
The clear, bracing atmosphere of Kansas
| Is favorable to the health of the silk worm.
| The eggs we had from France were effected
with the dreaded pebrine, but by careful
| selection this disease was entirely elimin-
ated after the third year of reproduction,
and the Japanese green nearly doubled the
| size of the cocoons in the same period
| While we Were engaged in silk culture
! from 1872 to 1884 there were no failures in
| this country, hence no market for cocoOns.
We had not sufficient production OF
cocoons at any one time to warrant the
| outlay for filature when raw silk was
admitted into our market duty free"
From the above we infer that with a
protective duty for cocoons and reeled silk
and the introduction and acclimation of
| the best variety of silk worms will be of
Invaluable benefit to Kansas. My stock
OF the cevenens variety raised last year
are this year superior In every respect to
any received this year. The cocOOnS are
larger, have more and better silk and are
more productive of eggs and free from
disease.
No time should be lost in growing a
large lot of superior stock, for as soon as
their superiority is established foreign
demand for them will arise which will
be very remunerative, while the home
demand for Kansas eggs will be im-
mense. No one is going to take the risk
of French or Italian stock, even though
submitted to the Pasteur method of
selection. The superiority of Kansas
climate and Usage will not require a
Pasteur system.
A national breeding station should
be Immediately located in Kansas.
The damp climate of Italy and France
can never compare to the pure, dry, in
vigorating climate of Kansas, with her
wonderful production of cheap silk-pro-
ducing food. God, in His infinite wis
dom, made Kansas the paradise for silk
worms, as well as the sparrow, and the
poor, blind. patient silk worm is to be
released from the cloister to enjoy the
free sunlight of Kansas.
In disSecting a silk worm ready to
spin found two wax strings. one on
each side the length of its body. These
are drawn out by the silk worm in spin
ming, as it is termed, and united as soon
as they leave the mouth into one thread.
This wax string is secreted by the worm
during growth from the resinous portion
of the leaf, more abundant in Usage
than in mulberry, and more abund-
ant in dry than wet weather,
SO that in cloudy atmosphere
this gum is not secreted by the plant to
any great extent and cannot be extracted
by the worm. Failing in this it becomes
soft and unhealthy, cannot perform the
functions for which it was created, and
necessarily perishes. This is the pebrine
Kansas pebrine cannot long exist.
lott hatched out the 10Th, and on the
1t layed IA eggs the first minute, 245 in
twenty minutes; rested twelve minutes
and layed 45 in four minutes; rested five
and one-fourth minutes and layed 10 in
five minutes; rested seven minutes and
layed in one-fourth minute-167 insix-
teen minutes; rested twenty-five min
uIcS dllu IL LII clSilU
all 5S4 in one hour and forty minutes.
Six hours thereafter subjected the mil
Ter and eggs to temperature Of II de-
grees Fahrenheit for six hours, and re-
turning them to the room at tempera-
ture of Is degrees the miller came to life
and the eggs continued to develop as be-
fore.
The first lot of cocoons of the cevennes
variety from my last years stock | di-
vided into two equal parts, the largest
and the smallest, and taking an average
100 of each and allowing them to hatch
out and lay eggs. The number of eggs
Of the largest sized ones averaged COZ,
and the smaller 456 each, over one-ffth
difference. The greatest number layed
by one of the largest was 90S, and the
least by one of the smallest 317-nearly
two-thirds difference. This superiority
can readily be secured by selection and
saved by careful breeding.
By an allwise provision in nature, the
length of the thread is not lost at the ex-
pense Of the egg, but increased in the
same proportion, SO that every addi-
tional egg produced represents some
thing near yard of silk gained. This
is very important fact established and
cost me much time and labor to prove it.
II. E. BIDWELL.