St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-05-11
SOME SOURCES OF suk.


Almost every worm Of serial
Its IS more or less silk woel
caterpillars nests 50 frequent
chsrds and strawberries ese 70 = =
than big. unkempt and co., .ss3
coons. Solitary creepers
same power of silk produce
fact, many of them euulaee
the SPIDERS in leess
themselves up or down q
about with threads Of their oysn sp
ming. These aerial roadways iDdes :
fairly criss-cross tho summer
They are invisible save when = IT,
cling sun ray strikes seross tAesa
notwithstanding their use II oftfS
made only too palpeble BY > ny
hairy, wriggling something wn1fn
slips down or along them to dePcfn
itself upon an unsuspecting head r
arm. says the New York Sum-
After the caterpillars come te
genuine silk-spinning spiders These
are distinguished from the commhn
web spinners by the nature Of their
product. 1t is true silk. stroh&s
elastic, beautifully lustrous- 1t -
produced, too, more abundantly -
proportion to food than the regular
worm filament. Stockings and mt
tens have been knitted OF the spider
silk. The only bar to its production
in commercial quantities is the wSr-
like habits of the insects Wherever
three meet there il . battle royal
which ends only with the death Or
disabling Of all the fighters.
Down in Paraguay there is . spid@
which spins brilliant yellow =.
in such profusion the natives and e
Spaniards collect it and manufactu
it on rude native looms into shawtk
ribbons and short lengths for jacl
cts. The color deepens and hrighfs
ems with use, and is said to be ini4i-
itable-a glowing golden hue NO dyer
can produce.
The silk worm proper is an embod1sd
appetite. He eats, eats, never hax{-
ing. never resting. he has been COLI
mercialized to such degree that 1t e
possible to estimate beforehand juft
how much silk he win turn out from
given weight of fresh mulberry
leaves. They are white mulberry
leaves to be exact, Morus multi
caulis.
Italy and China furnish the beft
silk, hence the best silk worm egls1
though Japan is coming to be rec3<-a
oned with in the matter Of silk sup
ply. This is due mainly to the fast
that the special painstaking lab1r
required in silk raising Is cheaper in
China than anywhere else. Chiness
working women get daily wages pf
three cents. Everywhere it 10 women
who do most Of the work in rearitg
the worms. Men bring In the fresh
leaves and cultivate the tEeeA-xAifh
supply them, but in the sflkerif3
women watch over the worms, from
the egg to the cocoon.
To keep the eggs dormant require
temperature just above freezing.
They must not be laid in the hatc<l-
ing trays without regard to the se$a-
son. II it is cold and backward tie
hatch must be postponed to wait tue
growth of the leaves.
When first the worms hatch thy
are fed on leaves finely shredded, 5u
bits suited to their tender jaws. At
er the first moult the ieaves are only
torn. Thenceforward they are used
whole, but must not be allowed to
get hard and woody. They are
stripped from the young shoots just
before they reach full size. A tree
that has given all its early leaves to
the silk worm brood In so weakened
that il may die. Consequently trees
are not fully stripped unless undet
great stress.
After the fifth moult the worms.
fat, green, sluggish rolls, refuse 10
eat and begin moving their heau3
rapidly from side to side. This + TIN
sign Of the cocoon spinning, 20 ths
women supply the trays with bundle.
of clean, short twigs. Upon these tkS
worms crawl, attach themselves and
begin spinning. The cocoon II m.
ished in IL to - hours. The good
ness or badness of it is judged less b
the size than the weight and synts
metry.
A percentage Of the finest coeoons
are set apart to hatch out and prus
duce next years eggs. The rest are
baked at steady heat that destroys
the chrysalid without injuring the
silk. then boiled. doubled, reeled
secured and sent to market.
The EnsilsA Reyal DanA. !