The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-10-10
" OMEN SILK RAISERS
A WORK THAT FARMERS WIVES
FIND PROFITABLE.
Experience of An Alabama Woman
With An Ounce Of Eggs and Five
Mulberry Trees As q Starter
Require Care I'm Feeding.

|
Mrs. Mary S. Graham of Alabama
when asked to give her experience in
raising silk for market. IL gave her
a thousand silkworm, eggs when she
was IL years old and from them she
made the money to pay her expenses
al college.
My own experience with silk rails
ing began when my daughter, who
is my eldest child. was 10 years old.
! My husband sold his farm In Con-
necticut and moved to Alabama. On
our new farm there were six splend id
| mulberry trees. From one of our
neighbors | learned that they had
| of the farm at the time when the
! Government was Offering some sort
| OF bounty for silkworm culture. She
| told me that at one time there had
| been quite a number of mulberry
! orchards in the neighborhood.
My first step was to write to the
! Congressman from that district ask
ing for any reports on the subject
| that the Government had published.
| also wrote an old school friend In
Boston.to send me any book or mag
azne 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
Just So. Quite high price. as /
have since learned, but as they were
guaranteed and proved all that was
claimed for them / have never felt
that | had any cause to complain.
These eggs l kept in cool place in
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
eggs pretty much as l had chicken
eggs. kept the air moist and the
heat regulated.
THE time for Matching is early
in the morning, usually between
and o'clock. AS l 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.
Eggs not hatched on the third day
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
ax,4 lt tt,,,, 4
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 a day and the
leaves need not be chopped. II one
has the time and wishes to chop the
leaves It may be done, but l stopped
chopping mine after the first age
fully five 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 well being of all animal
life. After the fourth moult =
appetite of the silk worm can only
be described by the word voracious.
ducing silk and the more they eat
the more silk they make l 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 1t, but l
pulled through and the result was
so satisfactory that since then l have
always made point of being pre-
pared.
II have found 1t best to raise my
own eggs SO for that purpose l al
ways select a number of the largest
and best cocoons and allow the moth
to mature. 1t takes about two
hundred cocoons to produce an ounce
of eggs.
when reeling is done at home
the cocoons must be put in hot
water to loosen the gum which binds
the fllaments together. From twen-
ty to thirty filaments are used to
make one thread. so you may judge
how fine and delicate they are.
Wooden reels cost about $40 and
the best metal reels $50. While
reeling silk is not difficult 1t is deli
cate operation and requires con-
siderable practice. Aside from
chopping the mulberry leaves It Is
the only part Of the work Of silk
culture that / have found tedious.
II have never used hired help for
growing this pin money crop as I
always call 1t. 30 for that reason
every dollar that I have made has