550 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



races is one dictated by the necessities of the case. They have, as a 

 rule, been submitted to the Pasteur microscopical selection, which is 

 not true of Asiatic stock. This would have been of little importance 

 some years ago, but now there is good evidence of the existence of 

 the pebrine in Japan and China, and the only means of guarding 

 against it is by avoiding the purchase of such material. 



Of the Milan races, then, stock of assured purity may be obtained. 

 The worms are hardy and the cocoons give excellent results in reel- 

 ing. The few reeling establishments now existing or likely to exist 

 in the United States in the near future can consume but a compara- 

 tively small quantity of cocoons and produce but a small quantity of 

 silk. In order to find a ready market for such silk it must be of good 

 quality, a term which includes among other things evenness of color. 

 To produce this evenness we must have not only cocoons of the same 

 color, but as much as possible of the same shade. The use of the 

 many races now in vogue in this country prevents the attaining of 

 this desirable end, and the cocoons that are offered at the filature are 

 not all that can be desired in this direction. It is true that we might 

 choose some of the other European races that are as carefully selected, 

 such, for example, as the Bionne, but taking everything into consid- 

 eration, the conditions sought for are best found in the large Milan 

 varieties. 



Last spring some of this sort of eggs, produced by the house of 

 Darbrousse, in France, were sent to us by a gentleman in New Or- 

 leans, and a few of them were raised in the Department building, the 

 food employed being Osage orange. There were almost no deaths in 

 the batch, and about 4 pounds of cocoons were produced. It took 

 256 of these to make a pound, while 300 is considered an extremely 

 good result. Part of the best of these were selected for reproduc- 

 tion, and were found to weigh a pound to each 216. Such cocoons as 

 these are what silk-reelers want and are willing to pay extra prices 

 for, but unfortunately there are few of them offered. 



IMPROPER CHOKING OF COCOONS. 



Our experience in the filature, too, has shown us that our people 

 are sadly deficient in their knowledge of the art of stifiing cocoons, 

 and many lots have been received which were of otherwise excellent 

 quality, but which had been burned by the employment of improper 

 means for destroying the life of the chrysalis. It is the custom in 

 Europe for the silk-raiser to disj)ose of his cocoons at the filature as 

 soon as they are raised and before they have been stifled. The raiser 

 then has the advantage of getting payment for his work as soon as 

 it is completed, and the silk-reeler is enabled to stifle his cocoons in 

 large quantities and by the most approved process. This scheme, 

 however, has thus far been found impossible in the United States, as 

 the silk-raisers are as a rule located so far from the available markets, 

 that there would be danger of the moths piercing the cocoons before 

 they could be choked. American buyers have therefore been obliged 

 to purchase only stifled cocoons which have been thoroughly dried, 

 and as this process of drying requires several months, silk-raisers have 

 not received the proceeds of their season's labor until well into the 

 autumn. And again, through inability to purchase apparatus or 

 through lack of knowledge on the subject, they have resorted to such 

 means of stifling as were at their command, and have destroyed in 

 many cases an otherwise excellent crop. This burning of the cocoons 



