Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-18
SILK WORM CULTURE
Department~of Agriculture
Conducts Experiments.
PROCESS is INTERESTING
Production, However, Too Costly to
Be Practical.
EXHIBIT IS OPEN TO PUBLIC
Keeling Of Threads From Cocoons Is
shown-$1, 900 Worth of Silk
Turned Out Every Year.
PROCESS is INTERESTING
EXHIBIT IS OPEN TO PUBLIC

The process of Keeling raw silk from
| the cocoon of the silk worm is exhibited
| at the Department of Agriculture and will
| be open to the public for a period OF
about thirty days.
The department has for a long time
been conducting experiments to deter
mine the practicability of producing silk
in this country. The wisdom of the best
scientists has been brought to bear upon
the subject, with the result that each
year about. 81 900 worth Of commercial
raw silk is produced at the department,
sold and the proceeds turned into the
Treasury.
The cost of production, however. is not
encouraging to the hope that the United
States will soon rival France, China or
Japan in this industry.
1t takes four pounds of cocoons, which
sell at from 30 cents to $1.15 a pound to
make one pound of raw silk. AS raw silk
is worth but from $3.50 to 81 a pound.
under present conditions, its profitable
production here is not as yet among the
possibilities. The silk reelers in Europe
get from Is cents to 20 cents a day.
Those employed in this country command
about $50 a month as minimum.
Silk Worm Culture.
of the silk worm from the egg to the
silk-producing worm that builds the CO.
coon in which 1t is ultimately transformed
into a chrysalis and then a moth, which
burrows its way out of the cocoon and
destroys the silken film which is so
valuable commercially.
The caterpillars of many moths and Of
a few butterflies produce silk, say au-
thorities upon the subject 1t is from the
mulberry silkworm. particularly Bombyx
(Sericaria) mori that the most and best
silk Is obtained. The modern mulberry
silkworm is the result of domestication
and artificial rearing. 1t has been cult
waited in China from time immemOrial
and in Europe since the sixth century.
The eggs Of these worms look much like
celery seed. When furnished free by the
Department of Agriculture to those who
wish them and have the facilities for their
proper culture they are shipped in tin
are in turn packed in wooden boxes, also
perforated, with sliding lids, around which
label is pasted bearing the address.
Hatchings usually occur in the spring
The eggs are spread out generally on
sheets of paper. and in about ten or
twelve days the worm Is Matched. Simple
contact with the air causes 1t Immediately
to increase in volume, and 1t quickly be-
gins to gnaw the under surface and edges
Of the mulberry leaf.
1t eats day and night, at all hours. ex
cept when asleep and in thirty days Is
1900 times larger than it was at birth.
About sixtyfive days in all complete its
cycle Of existence. thirty or forty of them
spent in the larval state. fifteen to twenty
as chrysalis, and eight to twenty days
as moth or perfect insect.
II silk worms were hens, eggs would be
cheap, for the silk worm moth lays from
300 to 700 eggs in about three days.
What Worm Produces.
A silk worm, in addition to the floss
with which he builds his framework or
net. in which he hangs his cocoon for de-
velopment, yields about 10000 yards Of
fine silken film. four or five threads Of
which are necessary. when mechanically
blended. to make the thin thread of raw
silk that enters into commercial life. The
floss is also used commercially
The worm itself is one of the most deli
cate and helpless things in creation. 1t
has to be carefully watched, attended to
and fed on finely chopped leaves of the
white mulberry, it's traditional food, al
though sometimes it will live a short
while on Usage orange leaves or lettuce.
When the worm lifts it's head as 1t
walks over the fresh mulberry leaves,
and seems to be looking for something
else, 1t is a sign that he is looking for
place to start the construction Of his
cocoon. At the Department of Agricul
ture racks. looking like sections of small
Into these the silkworm crawls and
weaves his web of floss.
Then begins his remarkable process of
winding himself into a dubious looking
mass Of fine silk filament that looks
great deal like a whitened peanut. Into
this bulb or shell he winds his 10000
yards. enters into another Transformation
stage and finally energies as a moth. I'M
less the chrysalis in the cocoon is killed,
as it is at the department, with the fumes
of bisulphide of carbon.
1t is then placed in receptacles filled
with hot water to soften the silk. The
reeler finds the end of the film and at
taches it to the Keeling machinery. which
rapidly revolves, while the cocoon bo5s
around in the water, until finally the
completed raw silk commercial product Is
wound upon the reels. 1t is then plated
into hanks and is ready for market.
The simplicity Of the whole process
from the Matching Of the silkworm egg
to the final Keeling Of the finished raw silk
makes one wonder why one has to pay
so dearly for the manufactured silk
fabric, but the Department of Agricul-
ture does not seem as yet to have solved
the riddle.