The morning call., 1891-05-24
CULTURE on
SILK IN SIAM.
How the CalnbOdianS and Laos Manu-
faCtuTG The Fabric.
The Industry Confined Solely to Women-How
the Worm Is Propagated and MUIR
tured-Primitive Machinery.

The interest felt by many Californians
in silk culture will receive stimulus from
reading the report of Consul-G General Jacob
T. Child of Bangkok, Siam, with reference
TO silk culture in that country. He tells us
that the manufacture of silk in Siam is con-
fined entirely to the Laos villages scattered
throughout the country. and to the Cambo-
dians residing in the sout heastern provinces
bordering ON Cambodia. The Siamese
proper know nothing of rearing the silk
worm, an art which has been transmitted
TO the Laos through successive generations.
The centers OF silk productions in Siam afe
Korat an ancient walled city, 100 miles
northeast of Bangkok, and Battimbong,
goo miles to the southeast. Beautiful cloths
interviewer with gold and silver thread, are
woven at Chiengma, and quantity of raw
silk is annually exported from Hluang Pra-
bang, on the Tue Kong River, to Chiengmai,
one of the principal Laos states bordering
on Burmah. The raw silk exported from
Bangkok is sent to India, where it is mixed
with the finest grades of Indian silks, and
woven into the better qualities Of piece
goods. In many OF the provinces the pro-
ductlon of silk is annually diminishing,
owing to the fact that foreign cotton goods
are finding market in these states. and the
natives ind that the time spent in the rear
ing of the silk-worm and the manufacture
of cloth can be more proftably occupied in
other avenues of industry
The industry is confined solely to the
women, who cultivate the mulberry tree
and weave the silk into ScarfS and
"panoungs." The silk worm is reared in
the wet season, when the tree is in full leaf,
as only small supply OF leaves can be OBJ
tanned in the dry season. AS the silk is in
tended for their own use, they are careless
in the rearing of the worm, and their rude
instruments make the reeled silk Of varying
size aud strength. The annual export OF
raw silk shipped from the port of Bangkok
is less than 100000, and no silk fabrics OF
any kind are exported.
THE TREE
Is called by the Laose ton mon," and the
worm ''tua mOn." There are two kinds OF
tree, but it appears doubtful whether they
were originally distinct. The large kind is
similar to the mulberry tree on the leaves
of which silk worms are fed in other cOuu-
tries, and in its full growth reaches height
of from twenty TO thirty feet. This tree Is,
however, by no means common, and it Is
found very difficult to rear, requiring great
care when young, though when it has firmly
taken root it requires no attention and is
said to attain great age. Ordinarily, only
a small proportion Of the trees planted are
found 10 grow, for want OF proper care.
The tree should be carefully pruned, as is
done in Europe, but this is not always at
tended to, and the branches therefore grow
long and struggling and the leaf loses much
of its value. Like the Euro pean tree it has
a small white flower, in clusters, but it
bears no fruit In Hluang Prabang, about
$50 miles to the north, it is said to bear q
red berry, and is probably the same
as the European black mulberry tree.
1t is REPRODUCED from cuttings, and is
found TO grow best on dry, sandy soil
This kind has not been cultivated long ia
the provinces of Pachim, but was introduced
from Korat some fifteen or twenty years
ago.
The common kind is much smaller and
consists of stem about half an inch III
diameter with small branches at regular in
-tervals. Its height is generally about i've
feet but it~may reach seven feet. The bark
is similar to that of the large kind, and the
leaf appears to differ only in size; it is said,
however, that the worms must be fed ex-
clusively on the leaves of one or the other
of the two varieties. 1t is also planted or
dry ground, but the soil may be
damper than with the larger klnd:
1t requires constant watering and
some care until it has grown TO height o.
one or two feet, and Is manfred once yeas
in the sixth month before it is cut. Tbs
mode of reproducing ii is as follows; When
the tree is about year old, that is to say, III
Tile liIDDlil VI ApllI VI may IL 10 Sus 0O"b w
the level of the ground, and then cut again
into pieces some ten inches long. which are
planted in a soft, loose soil. The cutting Is
inserted almost entirely, leaving only the
top exposed. 1t grows very quickly, and ii
about two months has produced sufficient
foliage with which to feed the worms The
cuttings are planted rregularly, often mixed
with other trees, and are inclosed to prevent
cattle from browsing on them.
THE LEAF AND TIE WORM.
The shape of the leaf is cordate and
deeply indented. Its size does not exceed
two or three inches in the small kind, while
that of the larger is often more than double.
Both kinds bear leaf all the year round,
but very little in the hot season. 1t is from
the eighth TO the eleventh month. that is 60
say. from June to September, that the new
trees bear sufficient quantity of such ten
der leaves as are most suitable for this
young worms. Until the worm has cast
eight days old, the leaves must
be sliced but after the third casting
of the skin the larger leaves may be given
freely, as also small branches. Care should
be taken to give the leaf dry, but not dried.
A small quantity of worms are reared
throughout the year in order to keep up the
breed, and about nine generations may thus
be obtained in the course of one year. 1t is
only, however, when the cuttings planted
in April or May have grown to height Of
TOUR or I'VE le6b tlldb u ldAR6 O4
leaves can be obtained. The rearing season
is, therefore, from the end of June to the
end of September, and two bro0ds ara gen.
orally reared; but IL is probable that tho
constant stripping of the leaves render ths
later produce inferior to the first.
Hatening the eggs requires period of ter
DAYS. The worms are then kept on tho same
piece Of cloth on which the eggs were laid
by the moth for four or five days, when they
are large enough 70 be taken off and placed
on a round, fiat tray of bamboo wicker
work, about three feet in diameter, with
rim one inch HIGH in which they are kepa
until ready to spin the cocoon. The wicker
work should not be close, but ought to have
sufficient space for the litter to pass through
without the worms falling off. This precak
tion is often neglected, and the ordinary bas-
kpts for winnoWlng rice are commonly used
In the north the rim of the baskets is
generally much higher. From these baskets
the litter is taken off by removing the worms
by hand into another basket During the
first few days no food is given the worms.
but after that they are fed morning, noon
and evening. They eat but little, how
ever, until after the second casting of the
skin, when they eat yoraciously, and
have to be fed four and five times
a day. They cast off their skin four times
or go to sleep, as the Laos say. The diff
ferent stages are called first sleep, second
sleep. etc. The size of the worm at tho
third casting is about one inch, and it is
then of the ordinary, greenish tint After
the fourth sleep it turns yellow and soon
after it is ready to spin. This is denoted
by its refusing its food and straying away
from it: it is then called ripe and is close
on a month old. Those that are ripe are
then removed to tray similar to the former.
but having on its fiat surface number Of
concen;ric circles of bamboo trelIis w ork
about one and a half inches high. There is
thus between the circles series of com.
partments one and half inches broad, in
which the worms spread their web and spin
the cocoon in the course of day or night
This tray, as well as the other ones con-
tanning the worms or seed, are all placed OH
a series of frames made in such manner as
to prevent ants or other insects from mo-