914 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



for the benefit of those who may wish to use single basins and reels worked by hand. In 

 the great reeling districts of France, everything is brought to such perfection in the filatures, 

 or reeling establishments, by the aid of steam, that the hand-reels have there almost gone out 

 of use. But most of the silk is unwound by hand-power in China, and excellent silk may be 

 made by dexterous management with a good hand-reel. 



Raw silk is classified into organzine, tram, and floss. Organzine is considerably twisted 

 and is the choicest. Tram is made from inferior cocoons and is but slightly twisted. Floss 

 is made of the loose silk, carded and spun like cotton or wool. The thread of silk as it 

 unwinds from the cocoon is valueless for manufacturing purposes, several of them combined 

 going to make the staple of commerce. The persons employed in unwinding silk are mostly 

 women, one standing or sitting before each basin, of which she has entire charge. The basin 

 is made of copper, and, in the large establishments, the water in each basin is heated by 

 steam, at the control of the operator. The cocoons are plunged into the water, when it is 

 near the boiling point, and moved about so that the gum which fastens the threads becomes 

 uniformly and thoroughly softened. They are then beaten with a small birchen broom, 

 having the tips split, so that the loose threads readily fasten to them. After beating a short 

 time, the operator gets all the cocoons fastened, and, taking the bundle of threads, shakes the 

 cocoons till each hangs but by a single one. She now takes up five or more threads (Grins ), 

 according to the quality of the silk wanted, unites them, and introduces the combined staple 

 or strand (fil) into a little glass eye on one side of the basin. She then, forms a second 

 similar strand and introduces it into a second eye on the other side. The strands are then 

 brought together, twisted several times, separated above the twist, and introduced into two 

 other glass eyes or ringlets through which they are led, one to each end of the reel or tambour, 

 which is kept revolving in a steady, rapid manner, and to which is also given a certain back- 

 and-forth side motion. The great object in reeling is to get the threads uniform, rounded, 

 well joined, properly freed from moisture, and so crossed on the reel that they will not stick 

 or glaze, as it is termed. 



These objects are attained by the twisting and the to-and-fro lateral movement of the 

 reel, as also by properly regulating the distance between reel and basin. The uniformity of 

 the thread depends on the skill of the operator, who must supply a new thread as soon as 

 one begins to give out. This is called nourishing the silk, and is done by dexterously casting, 

 with the thumb, the new thread upon the combined strand, to which it immediately adheres. 

 In this she must use much judgment, for the silk of a cocoon gradually gets lighter and finer 

 as it approaches the end, and the uniformity of strand does not entirely depend on the 

 uniformity in number of the individual threads forming it. AVhenever the silk rises in 

 locks the temperature of the water is known to be too hot, and when it unwinds with difficulty 

 the temperature is, on the contrary, too low. The operator is supplied with a skimmer with 

 which to remove all chrysalides and refuse silk; also, with a basin of cold water in which to 

 cool her fingers, which are being constantly dipped in the hot basin. This constitutes the 

 whole operation of unwinding, but before the skeins, as they come from the reel, are ready 

 for the manufacturer they must undergo still further manipulation. The staple is first passed 

 through a cleanser, consisting of a clasp lined with cloth, which catches any loose silk or 

 other matter that may be adhering to it. It is then further cleansed and purged by being 

 passed through four similar cleansers (purgeurs), then twisted about 500 times to the yard, 

 then doubled and again twisted about 400 times to the yard. It is finally run on to reels 

 about H feet in diameter, and taken off and twisted in a peculiar knot or hank. Through 

 all these operations the oscillating to-and-fro lateral motion is kept up, so as to produce the 

 diagonal crossing of the strands, and it will be readily understood that each staple is, in the 

 end, composed of ten or more of the simple threads first spun by the worm. The loose or 

 flock silk, together with all which, from one cause or another, cannot be reeled, is soaked in 

 water for three days, boiled for one-half hour in clear lye, washed in rain-water, and when 

 dry, carded, and spun it makes an inferior floss silk. 



Food Plants of the Silk Worm. The traditional food plant of the silk-worm is 

 the Mulberry (botanical genus Morus). There are two species of Mulberry indigenous to 

 the United States, namely, the Red Mulberry (Morus rubrd) and the Small-leaved Mulberry 

 (Morus parmfolia), neither of which is suitable silk-worm food. I have tried in vain to rear 

 the worms upon rulra, but they either refuse its leaves entirely or dwindle and soon die upon 

 it. The imported species which are most used are the white (M. alba), the Multicaulis, and the 

 black (M. nigra}. This last is inferior to the other two as silk- worm food. The mulberry 

 grows readily, being easily propagated by cuttings or layers or from the seed. The white 



