The Irish standard., 1896-02-22


The latest available statistics from
France. collected in the year 1887, max
the silk product Of that year IA 300 ,00(
pounds, worth Ego 100000.
The ordinary annual crop of silk il
China is estimated at about 21,000,00t
pounds, of which over go per cent is con.
sulned in the country where it is pro.
| duced.
| Among the coronation presents Of Queer
Elizabeth, d list of which is still pre-
| served, two pairs of silk stockings are
found. They were sent to her from Spair
| The rearing of silk worms and the pro.
! duction Of silk during the years during
| the Revolution, promised to become one
of the most important industries in Am.
erica.
Suetonius says that long before his time
silken cocoons were brought from India
! to Greece and the product was unwound
spun and woven by the Greek women.
The silk product of all countries in 1881
! the last year Of which complete statistics
are available, was 100000 pounds, and
its value was estimated at fS,O0000
By the year 1910 the cultivation of the
mulberry and the raising of silk worms
had spread over the most Of Italy and ex-
tended into the south OF, France and
Spain.
The secrets of seri-culture are SAID tC
consist in a proper management Of tenn
perature, dryness, a regular and sufficient
supply of food and perfectly pure air.
The wife Of the Emperor HWangti, who
is Worshipped by the Chinese as a god
dess, is said to have begun the manufac-
ture Of silk in the Celestial Empire in 260C
B. c.
'Muscadine' is a disease to which silk
worms are liable 1t consists OF fungus
growth on the body which breaks through
the skin and speedily kills the insect.
The Telea Polyphemus, the best known
species of American silk worm, feeds
readily on the leaves of the oak, maple
mulberry, willow, elm and several other
trees.
The year 1896 was rendered notable in
the history of silk and silken fabrics by
the fact that, at the ball of Kenilworth
silk mantles were worn by some Of the
ladies present.
: 1t is noted in the annals of Charlie
magne as a great occurrence, that he sent
a contemporary king a present Of two
could confer.
ll1E 0AIh l4uuotI XII oW llGSi 1cHN iS q
very important part of the national
wealth In 1887 there we're manufacture
ed in the little mountain country, $780,
600 pounds, valued at f6 100000.
After the cocoons have been finished
the worms are killed by the heat eithe,
of steam or hot water If the insect were
allowed to escape the value of the cOcOons
would be lessened
Tho nt,,po of si1T-o71 xro,arf,c WA
brought to perfection in London in 1855
through the efforts OF colony OF French
Protestants who had fed from their ma
tive land to avoid persecution.
In the year 1895 the value of the manu-
featured silk imported to this country
was S31 .206 ,2C2; in the same year the val.
lie of the manufactured which was
brought to this country was $50, 1926, 055.
The spider produces silk of fail
quality, but the difficulty of rearing spid
ers and the small quantity of product
from each insect has caused the aban-
donment Of all efforts to produce spider
silk.
In the time of Pliny silk was supposed
to be a vegetable product and his NAT
ural History" contains long story of the
way which it was picked from trees in
the East Indies and spun and woven into
fabrics.
Until after the sixth century of our era
all silk imported from the East to the
West was valued at it's weight in gold
The silken goods were put in. one scale
and enough gold to balance them was
placed in the other. s...sr -
Heliogabalus was the first Roman en-
peror to wear a silken garment. In the
year 220 A, d. he had a silken gown made
in which he appeared in public, and
which caused grave scandal among the
staid elderly Roman citizens.
In Greece in the Sd century B. G. the
wearing OF silk was forbidden to women
the husbands of those who violated this
law being heavily fined, on the theory
that husband ought to be able to con-
troll his wife's taste for finery.
. James l. made serious efforts to intro
duce seri-culture in the American colo
MES. He sent out large quantities OF
eggs to Virginia, and offered a bounty for
the product but the cultivation Of to-
bacco soon eclipsed the infant silk in
dustry.
Silk Worms and their eggs were first
brought to Europe in the sixth century
of our era. A couple of monks who had
travelled in China as missionaries
brought away a quantity OF of the eggs
and some of the cocoons concealed in
their walking sticks.
The thread on the cocoon of The silk
worm is not wound around and around
as might be supposed, but irregulariy
here and there, as the worm moved his
head to and fro within mis- self made
house. Many yards of thread may some
times be unwound from the cocoon with
out turning it over at all.
Silk ribbons are used in the court OF
Victoria to hold newspaper clippings de-
signed for the royal perusal. She never
sees the papers in their original state
They are carefully .perused by an OF
fetal who cuts out what he thinks viii
please her. pins the clippings on the rib
bons and lays them on her table.
In the time of Francis I. silk gowns
were forbidden to all aides below the
rank of countess. The wives of wealthy
merchants managed to evade the law by
having their wooden gowns lined with
bright colored silks. The skirts were
made open in front, turned back and but
toned like those of an old style army
coat, to show the expensive lining.
A disease broke out among the silk
worms in France in 1858 which threaten
ed to ruin the business. In 1858 a gov
eminent commission was appointed to in
ouire into the cause of the evil and sug-
gest a remedy, when, by the labors of
Pasteur, the disease was found to be due
to microbes developed in the bodies OF the
silk worms. Pasteur was fortunate
enough to discover a remedy and the silk