The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-02-09

| N,ASA PiaSSs thS SRRs are Matched IN warn
chambers and in other ways.
The first silk egss taken to Europe wer,
carried to Constantinople in bamboo tube
and hatched in a manure heap. In III,
batching rooms and also in those wher,
the Matched worms are kept the tempera
trre is not tested by thermometer. bu
by a man who takes off his clothes an,
goes In naked in order to tell by the sen
Fations produced upon his body as 10 IN,
temperature and moisture.
AS DELICATE AS BABIES.
The silk worms are watched as CAREFUL,
as though they we're babies. Flies are ken
IRON them. No loud talking is permitted
near them, and the people wash themselve.
carefully before handling them. Thuude,
Is said TO alarm them, and only clean hand.
must touch the leaves which feed them
The leaves must be cut into fine shreds. and
the worms eat them so rapidly that YOU car
hear their jaws going. AT first they are fed
tour times day. and on the fifth day they
go to sleep. AS they grow older they are
fed once an hour, and when thew have
reached their full growth they eat three o,
four meals day. They keep on feeding
weeks
old, casting their skins at each sleep, and
then go into long last sleep. where they
remain until new and large skin is fully
matured. They are full grown at the ace
OF thrty-two days and are then the color
on amber. Each worm is now about two
inches long and about as big around as
your little finger, and it is ready for It's
work of making silk
HOW SILK is SPUN.
After this the silk worm takes no more
food and begins to spin from its mouth.
hrst fastening the thread TO a frame on
which It is placed. 1t moves its head from
one side to the other and keeps on doing
80 until II has woven a cocoon about its
body. This requires from two to FIVE
days, aud at the end it again goes to sleep.
In the province of Chenleiane the spin
ming is done in what is known as silk
worm hills. These are bundles of straw
placed on mats on platforms about as high
as your waist. The worms crawl 10 on the
straw and fasten themselves 10 II and there
spin their cocoons. About 700 worms are
attached to each bundle, and fires are built
around the tables that they may be kept
warm. While they are spinning the noise
is like that of soft shower of rain. and
when the noise stops the people know the
coooons arc completed. After this they are
baked or boiled in oil to kill the worms
and are then ready for Keeling, or for sale.
SELLING THE COCOONS.
Many of these Chinese farmers raise the
cocoons for sale. They do not pretend to
get the silk out, but market them in bulk.
The cocoons are the money crop of many
farmer. He will raise vegetables. rice
and other grains for his food and depend
upon MS cocoons to supply money for his
clothing, opium and salt. The govern.
ment encourages the people to raise silk
worms and urges them to plant mulberry
trees. The result is that almost every
farmer has his little orchard. and the vast
product of silk produced in China comes
from small farmers. Many man does no,
raise more than twenty pounds of cocoons
for which he gets perhaps s. or S. in
silver.
The cocoons must be bought within a
short time after they are offered for sale
1t used to be that fifteen days were set
aside for selling cocoons, but OF late the
farmers in some way or other have short
ened this down to four days. The result
is that the foreign and Chinese silk makers
must have their men on hand at this time
TO buy the cocoons.
There are regular market centers to
which the farmers come with their silk
They will go from buyer to buyer and
dicker until they get the highest prices, and
the buying is therefore exciting. Each mer-
chant has his own scales, and he buys by
the ounce or pound, paying spot cash.
This nccessitates large capital as all the
cocoons used for the year must be bought
when the sales are on. There are silk
factories In this region which spend an
nually 100000 in gold in purchasing CO.
coons. They have 20 fix their price accord
ing to the selling prices of silk in Europe,
and sudden fall will make them lose
money. On the other hand rise may
give them an enormous profit.
HOW THE CHINESE MAKE SILK.
Much of the silk of China is woven In
the homes of the people. l see Keeling go
ing on in many of the farm villages. 1t is
done chiefly by women, the cocoons being
kept for the time in clean boiling water.
They are stirred around in this water I'M
til the thread ends become loosencd, and
then several of these ends are Joined to-
gether and the eocoons reeled off on rude
reels worked by pedals. If one of the
threads breaks it is joined together or re-
placed by another. 1t requires considera-
bic skill to do the Keeling, for the thread
when completed must be of equal thick
ness anu brightness A good reeler can
make about twenty-si ounces of fine silk in
a day.
WEAVING SILK
The weaving. as done by the natives out
side the factories. is on machinery of the
rudest description. Everything goes by
hand, from ribbons to velvets and fine bro
cades. l see women and girls making
ribbons in all the cities Of this region,
and in some places find them weaving
satins and velvets. At Marking | went
through the imperial looms which weave
satins and velvets for the emperor, the en-
press dowaser and the court They make
about 100000 pieces there every year, or
silks to the value of about $4,000, 900. II
is impossible to buy the goods except in an
underhand way, for all of it is supposed TO
60 to the imperial household The wages
of the weavers arc about 40 cents = day