REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 219 



first place, a given number of operatives can run twice as many Serrell 

 reels as ordinary Freucli reels. In the second, in the ordiuary oi)orarion 

 of the latter a woman uses one-quarter of her time in preparhi^- her 

 cocoons to be reeled, and during that time her reel stands idle; but by 

 tiie Serrell system the cocoons are prepared by particular operatives, 

 who do nothing else, and the reels are run constantly. We here gain, 

 then, 50 jier cent, by the saving in the number of operativcvs, and 25 ])or 

 cent, of the remaining 50 per cent., or 12;^ jier cent., through inciea.scd 

 production, and have, in all, G2J per cent, of economy of labor. 



Applying these economies to the corrected cost of production at New 

 Orleans, as given above, it would be reduced to : 



Cocoons ($4.23 les3 10 per cent, or $0.42) $3,810 



Labor : 



Keelers, &c. ($0,939 less 6-2i per cent, or S0.587) 352 



Sorters (§0.0S9), foreworaau (§0.042), ensiueer ($0.055) 18(3 



Total cost of producinjc 1 pound of reeled silk witli Serrell reels luulor 



the above circuiustauces 4.348 



A recent letter from Mr. Serrell informs ns of the shipment of one of 

 his reels to the Department for use in making experiments, and it will 

 then bo possible to verify the ligures given above. 



WORK ON THE rACIFlC COAST. 



In addition to the two agents mentioned above, it was deemed advis- 

 able that the Division should be represented on the Pacific coast, and 

 Mr. Charles Wolcott Brooks was therefore appointed as superintendent 

 of experiments in silk culture at San Francisco. This position he held 

 until his death, in August, when he was succeeded by Mr. AA'illiara M. 

 ]S"oyes, our present representative. Under ]\Ir. Brooks's superintend- 

 ence and the immediate direction of I\Ir. B. IT. Carter, of Oakland, an 

 experimental crop of silk-worms was raised last spring at the Tomp- 

 kins scliool-bnilding in that city. Tl'.e worms, however, were unfortu- 

 nately received by Mr. Carter after they had hatched, and their being 

 improperly cared lor during their lirst days had a bad etfoct upon their 

 subsequent health and growth. Some of the choice cocoons were, how- 

 ever, used for the production of eggs, which will be distributed through- 

 out the State during the coming winter. 



In previous reports we have mentioned the formation of the California 

 Silk Culture Association and of the State board of silk culture of Cali- 

 fornia. The association continued in its original form until the begin- 

 ning of the present year, when its members were incorporated as the 

 "Ladies' Silk Culture Society of California." The old association was 

 always active in promoting silk cidture throughout the State, and tlio 

 society has followed in its footstej)s, distributing literature, silU-worn) 

 eggs, and food-plants to silk-raisers. Soon after its incorporation the 

 society was presented with a piece of land containing about 15 acres, 

 situated in Piedmont, in Alameda County. On this land it was tlieii- 

 intention to establish a model sericultural station. In tliis object they 

 have been assisted by the Department of Agriculture, a building of 

 suitable size and arrangement to serve as a cocoonery having l)een 

 erected at Piedmont in the montli of June last. Here it is intended to 

 set out plantations of food-plants and to raise a small crop of silk- 

 worms each year, with three distinct objects in view. The first, ami 

 perhaps the most important, is the investigation of all matters of scien- 



