The herald., 1917-09-06

-es-r
very creamy yellow. The cocoon of
the male has slightly drawn portion
around the middle. 50 that IL dips in
the center. The cocoon of the female
is regular.
AT this time there are two POSSIBLE
ties for the grower 10 consider. Eli
Their the worm must be sacrificed that
superior silk may be obtained, or the
perfect quality of the silk must be
sacrificed for the propagation Of the
species since the worm. after its me-
tamorphOSiS. vets the end of the CO.
coon forces apart the ClOsely-woven
Silken threads and crawls out of its
capsule. Since the little creatures are
at this stage peculiarly susceptible 10
tuberculosis germs, each is subjected
to an examination under the micro
scope 10 determine the condition Of its
lungs. \ diseased specimen is de-
Stroys. After a few days the fe-
male settles on a piece Of paper and
begins To lay. Three hundred eggs are
laid the first day, the same number the
day. Then. her labors accomplished,
the moth dies. These eggs do not
hatch until the following year.
Since the exit of the moth weakcnS
the end of the cocoon. in order 10 OBJ
tain the best quality of silk, the worm
must be sacrificed. The cocoon is
placed in n chemical substance which
kills the inClOSed moth. 1t is then
soaked in warm water for couple Of
hours. BY turning the cocoon around,
the tiny. loose end of the thread is
found and placed on q four-pronged
cog. which revolves and gradually I'M
winds the $4,000 yards Of the cocoon
into smooth hank This raw mate
rial is then ready TO be sent North to
the manufacturers.
Before the war. raw silk sold for
$3.50 per pound. Now the price is IS. |
Nor is 1t likely TO be lowered In the
near future. There are a thousand |
cocoons in a pound. Each pound Of !
silk makes from ten 10 fifty yards of |
goods. Strange as it may appear, IL |
is much cheaper 10 make silk into goods |
than II is TO make cotton. The short |
fiber Of the cotton must be spun into
thread, while the silk hank is one I'M
broken thread $4,000 yards in length,
and is ready TO be spun directly into
cloth. The United States in 1914 I'm
ported $200,0O00O0 worth of raw silk.
This equals In value bumper crop of
cotton In Texas. With the possibilities
Of successful native silk farm. we
need not go outside of our own boun-
laries; we need not pay import tax on
Jaw material for home conSumption,
DR.. V. X. Osigian. an Armenian and
graduate of the Universities of Tur-
Key and France, is in charge Of the
Austin farm. He Is at work on one
of the most interesting problems con-
lected with the production of silk.
Like the magicians of fable and fairy
and. he possesses q secret compound
which he sprinkles on the mulberry
caves, and the worms react to this
md produce cOlOred threads. To what
POINT this formula and its reactions in
producing fadeleSS, dyed-in-the- making
'ilk can be carried is. as yet. profile
natical. But Doctor Osigian is hope
ul that n species may be found which
VIII be characterized by the produc-
ion Of certain cOlors, and that from
hese cross cOlors may be evolved.
There are now 1900 trees in the
Austin farm and 100000 trees which
viii be ready TO set out on the first of
November, 1917. One acre of mulber.
y trees will produce from 500 to ST.
100 worth of silk in years time, de-
'ending upon the size of the trees.
The trees are kept down to a height
f S or feet, making 1t easy to pick
he leaves. Corn planted between the
rees shows that the soil can be used
or agricultural purposes until the
rees are grown.
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