230 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



But vast as is the sum of the losses from noxious insects, it is more 

 than probable that the value of the products of the few directly useful 

 species would more than offset them. 



Consider for a moment our indebtedness to the Chinese silk worm 

 (^'•Bombyx mori" ). What other natural or artificially produced mate- 

 rial can compare in beauty and durability with this exquisite fibre ? 

 What has lent itself in so many ways to the artistic manipulations of 

 man? When we pause before our spacious shop-windows to feast our 

 eyes on the lustre of intricately-woven brocades, the silvery sheen of 

 satius or the luxurious pile of glowing velvets and plushes, or when, 

 still more effectively we see these costly fabrics draping the graceful 

 forms of youthful beauty, or adding to the elegance of stately dames ; 

 when we become bewildered among the list of other uses of supreme 

 importance to which silk, in one form or another, is adapted, how in- 

 credible, how marvelous, that all this varied loveliness and strength 

 should be but the transmutation of the pale and frail mulberry leaf I 

 Verily, of all the laboratories of nature, the internal economy of the 

 silk worm is certainly the most wonderful ! Nor in this connection 

 should we fail in our tribute of appreciation for the cesthetic inspira- 

 tions of man in his dealing with this choice product. By the aid of 

 artistic applications of color and form, involving the most ingenious 

 mechanisms for their development, be has produced the very master- 

 pieces of textile beauty and value, fit accompaaiment of the diamond 

 among jewels and of gold among metals. 



There is a legend to the effect that it is to a Chinese princess that 

 we are indebted for the discovery of the process of reeling the silk 

 from the cocoons. How this came about we can only conjecture. It 

 is probable that it was a mere accident — a child's play with the fluffy, 

 golden and white balls by which, perhaps, the shining thread, becom- 

 ing entangled around the little fingers, was, with some astonishment,,, 

 drawn out to the length of a few yards. The fascination of the pro- 

 cess would lead to its repetition, with a desire for greater success, 

 until, to even the slow Oriental brain, would be suggested the appli- 

 cation of moisture to loosen the gam that held the threads in place, 

 and in this way the fundamental discovery of reeling the silk would 

 be completed. 



Spining and weaving were practiced even in that remote periody 

 placed by some authorities, as far back as 2700 years before the Christian 

 era, so it would not be long before the new fibre would find its way to 

 the loom and take its place at the head of all textile materials. After 

 this the camel trains from "far Cathay" would sometimes contain 

 among their treasures small rolls of soft and shining stuffs that would 



