Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-08
FRANK G. CARPENTER.

when the sprouts have reached several
Ieet In height they are transplanted
I'VE or six feet apart I'm regular rows.
rms II done In December. After this
the trees are carefully cared for They
are pruned year after year, and never
| allowed to 6row more than 6 feet In
height The cutting does not injure
| them. A sodnd mulberry tree viii last
Tor nfty years, and when fully matured
| WIN annually Yield as much as 100
I hounds OF leaves In some parts of
| CneklRng the seeds Of the Wild null
berry are sown and the young sprouts
GRATED from the cultivated mulberry.
This Is thought to produce better
leaves
The trees have to be CAREFUL watched
Tor insects There are silk tree borers
much IKE our peach tree borcrs, worms
which can enter the bark and must be
dug uut, and there are Insects which
eat the leaves and must be killed by
fumisutIng or spraying.
REARING SILK WORMS.
/ have been Interested IN learning
how the Chinese rear silk worms, They
have reduced the business TO a sell
ence, and Il Is still so important that
the empress starts Il every year In
deed tile FIST silk worms of China wers
reared by on empress. This was the
wife of Hwang-ti. who lived 260O b. q
and who IL known as the goddess Of silk.
The present empress sacrifices to her
every April in the palace grounds. April
Is the best time for Matching silk eggs.
and II Is at this time that the MONS
are started laying The Chinese can
tell the mG.e moths from the female
ones While they are still In the cocoons.
They kuoW Just how to handle them
'- ''' '"" ut the proper time. In
some places the eggs are laid on clean
tN Sc. ..e, Ia others on white linen or
grass cloth
one moth win lay as many as 500
eggs, This job lakes her seventy-f -four
hours, after which she lives 1--WE or
SIX davs without eating and then dies.
II Is important to have good eggs and
the strongest cocoons are chosen for
the purpose. The eggs are first wash.
ed and then sprnked with salt. They
are ntxt covered with ashes of burnt
mulberry leaves, and so kept for ten
days, after which time they are ready
for Matching.
A CURIOUS CHINESE INCUBATOR.
In many silk districts the people
nave human incubators. The warmth
OF the body furnishes the heat, the
most approved variety being a lusty
clothes upon her bare bosom and kee
"a ..s ,uoWs by their
tickling that the silk worms are COM
ipe ~. ed
a thread aud black when first Matched,
The Matching usually takes place be.
tween S o'clock I'm the morning and
noon. In other places the eggs are
hatched In warm chambers and In 9TH
er ways.
The first silk eggs taken TO Europe
were carried TO Constantlnople In bam-
boo tubes and Matched In a manure
heap In the Matching rooms and also
In those where the Matched worms are
kept the temperature IL not tested by
q thermometer but by man who takes
of HE clothes and goes in naked in or.
der to tell by the sensations produced
upon his body as to the temperature
and moisture.
AS DELICATE AS BABIES.
ne SILK WOTUlS are watched as care
fully as though they were babies. Flies
are Kept from them. No loud talking Is
permitted near them, and the people
wash themselves carefully before han
ding them. Thunder is said TO alarm
them, and only clean hands must touch
the leaves which feed them The leaves
must be cut into fine shrdeds, and the
worms eat them so rapidly that you
can hear their jaws going At first
they are fed four times day, and on
the fifth day they go TO sleep. AS they
grow older they are fed once an hour
and when they have reached their full
growth they eat three or four meals a
day They keep on feeding and sleep
ing until they are three weeks old,
casting their skins at each sleep, and
then go into long last sleep, where
they remain until new and large skin
IL fully matured. They are full grown
at the age OF thirty-two days, and
ore then the color Of amber Each
worm Is now about two inches long and
about as big around as your little fin
ger, and II Is ready for its work OF
making elk.