58 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 19 



terranean, and in the far East where labor is very cheap. Experience, moreover, has shown 

 that many laborers are required to provide food for the silk worms during the last ten 

 cajs, just prior to the spinning of the cocoons. 2. Suitable food-plants upon which the 

 worms may live and grow. The mulberry leaves are the staple article of diet in Europe 

 and Asia, but in the United States it has been shown that the leaves of osage orange 

 form just as good a diet as the leaves of mulberry. 3. Suitable climatic conditions of 

 temperature and moisture. Experience again has shown that the silkworms may grow 

 well in many countries, and slight changes of temperature do not affect their well being 

 to any appreciable extent, although of course they thrive best in warm, semi-tropical 

 countries. 4. A ready market for the cocoons, or rather the reeled silk. Here again 

 the cheaper labor of the Old World tells against the development of silk industry 

 in this country, and to sell the reeled silk in France or Italy means such a great redac- 

 tion in profits that our people could not compete. 



On inquiry in Essex regarding the extent to which the county could fulfil the fore- 

 going conditions, the writer learned that the labour was to ba done chiefly by the women 

 and children, and only during the last few days would extra help be required. Skilled 

 help would be tecured at this critical period, for many factors enter into operation during 

 the last few days which are of vital importance in successful rearing. The worms are 

 ravenous, and the amount of food consumed is simply marvellous. Fresh leaves must be 

 secured and given regularly so that the worms may feed continously. When the food- 

 plants are not close by, the task of feeding many thousands of worms becomes too heavy 

 for women and children, and extra help must be obtained. Again, the worms must be 

 carefully watched at the time of i- pinning the cocoons to prevent two worms forming one 

 united cocoon, as is often the case where the worms are kept too crowded Then, again, 

 the cocoons must be secured and the enclosed pupae killed within the cocoons. The 

 best method of killing the pupae is to place the cocoons in an oven heated to about 194 

 degrees F. All this work involves care, and if the silk growers procure their own 

 supplies of silkworm eggs for the following season some additional care is necessary. The 

 moths are allowed to escape from the cocoons which they usually do about two weeks 

 after the spining of the cocoons. 



Essex county is fortunate in having a mild climate, one iii which the mulberry and 

 osage orange trees grow quite readily. Both the Russian and the native species are com- 

 mon, and two or three years would suffice to grow mulberry trees of such a size as to feed 

 the silkworms of a large industry. 08ag^ orange trees, too, are very abundant, and miles 

 of hedges can be seen by driving along the roads of central Essex. 



Through the kindness of Director Stupart, of the Meteorological Office, Toronto, the 

 writer is able to give a comparison of mean temperatures of Essex county and 0^ntral . 

 France, the great silk-producing region of France. The mean temperatures for the 

 months of April, May, June, and July are given below : 



Claremont, Moulins, Windsor, 



France. France. Ontario. 



April..... ,. 51.1 60.0 45.7 



May 56.1 56.8 58.0 



June 62.2 63.1 67.7 



July 66.6 67.6 68.5 



During the last week of May and the whole of June the silkworms are feeding, and 

 by the first week of July the cocoons have been spun. From the table presented above 

 it will be seen that the temperature of Essex differs but a little from that of Central 

 France during the critical period. 



The practical experiments carried on by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture from 1884 to 1891 show conclusively that a most excellent quality of eilkwo>m 

 cocoons could be raised over most of the United States ; and Dr. Howard, U. S. Ento- 

 mologist, states as his opinion that the silkworm could without doubt be grown success- 

 fully in lower Ontario ; but the absence of a home market for the cocoons puts the indus- 

 try furl he present out of the region of possibility. There are no establishments in the 

 United States for reeling silk from the cocoons. No person could be induced to start 

 reeliug establishments for the reason that " no silk reeler could afford to pay a price for 

 cocoons which would induce even the poorest of our citizens (or even non-producing mem- 



