The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-10-01

Require Care n FvoNi-g.
MY eldest daughter aid her own
way through College with money
made 10y iais.L, Sian urnis. sali
Mrs Mary $. u,aham OF Alabama
When asked To i her experience ia
raising silk Tor l...,. 1T. "a gave her
Il Thousand silkwol eggs VIXEN sac
was = years old AL ,roin THEM She
made the money 10 ~ her sApsnass
at college
My own experience "i'h silk rails
Ing began when my dae. er. who
Is my eldest child. was 10 VARS old.
1 My husband sold his farm IL Con-
necticut and moved to Alab4..a. on
our new farm there were six 4. ..na ia
mulberry trees. From one ~ our
| neighbors learned that the, hal
! been planted by the former y ner
| OF the farm at the time whel tho
Government was Offering some sort
| OF bounty for silkworm culture. She
told me that at one time there nad
/ been quite number OF mull,ry
orchards in the neighborhood.
My first step was TO write to the
Congressman from that district ass
Ing for any reports on the subject
| that the Government had published.
| also wrote an old school friend In
| Boston 10 send me any book or mag
| azine article that she could find.
| That winter devoted all my spare
time To reading up on the subject
| and making preparations.
Along In February, | think 1t was.
bought an ounce OF silkworm eggs.
The cost when they reached me was
| i1st IS. Quite high price, as |
have since learned, but as they we're
guaranteed and proved all that was
claimed for them | have never felt
that | had any cause to complain.
These eggs | Kept in a cool place n
my cellar until the mulberry trees
began to show their first leaves. Then
l got out my eggs and put them in
my incubator. just the ordinary chick
en- incubator. treated the worm
eggs pretty much as | had chicken
eggs. kept the air moist and the
heat regulated.
THE time for Matching is early
in the morning, usually between 5
and o'clock AS | am farmers
wife and have TO rise early. that
time suits me very well. Each days
hatch should be kept separate. as
the worms will moult differently.
wa AZ. IA rI 3r.r
should be thrown away, as the
worms that come from them will be
weak, unhealthy and often die be-
fore they reach their second moult.
There Are five of these moultings and
each separates what we worm cult
vators call the ages of the silkworm.
During the first age worms should
be fed every hour during the day.
The mulberry leaves should be
young and should be finely chopped.
After the first moulting they should
have about FIVE meals day and the
leaves need not be chopped. If one
has the time and wishes to chop the
leaves IL may be done, but ! stopped
chopping mine after the first age
fully Ave years ago. The result has
been entirely satisfactory. After
each moult, as the worms grow very
rapidly they will have to be spread
out.
There are two points about which
all who wish to grow silk worms
must be particular. Worms must
be kept with scrupulous cleanliness
and must have plenty of room. Per-
haps | should add that they must
also have plenty of fresh air, but
think that Is understood to be essen
tial to the we'll being of all animal
life After the fourth moult the
appetite OF the silk worm can only
be described by the word voracious.
As they are only machines for pro-
ducing silk and the more they eat
the more silk they make ] have al
WAYS been careful to satisfy their
appetites That first year ! had to
call on the mulberry trees of my
neighbors to help me do H. but !
pulled through and the result was
so satisfactory that since then | have
always made a point of being pre-
psred.
Il have found It best to raise my
own eggs so for that purpose ] al
ways select a number OF the largest
and best cocoons and allow the moth
to mature. Il takes about two
hundred coco0ns to produce an ounce
of eggs.
when Keeling is done at home
the cocoons must be put in hot
water to loosen the gum which binds
the flaments together. From TWEEN
ty TO thirty filaments are used to
make one thread. so you may Judge
how fine and delicate they are.
Wooden reels cost about so and
the best metal reels $50. While
reeling silk is not difficult il is deli
cate operation and requires con
Siderable practice. Aside from
chopping the mulberry leaves il 10
the only part OF the work Of silg
culture that ! have foaud .eG-ous.
Il have never used hired help for
growing this pin money crop as l
always call il. SO for that reason