INDIAN REsri.l- 



BILK 



ANTMKR4EA FAPHIA 



ter |ir>- Report*. 



The silk afforded by it* ooooon* i almoat a* good M mulberry. The Cbaaa 



Uuar cocoon w smaller than tlu> Bengal, ami th average length ! ii. nb* if 

 000 metres as ,-,.mpar,-.l ,tl, TOO .,, n,.,, Ktt j | ,, tt . >(Mi|- 



in niii.-h greater svith the Bengal tha,, ,, tgntnmi t Jk u 



higher p,-r , ,-nt. in Bengal tatar. a* oornpamd u 

 Th. Bengal ttuar coooon ha* a few other advaaU< 



n. Tin- teiiaeit\ of th,' /!!-, , !it,rn M It come* ' 



the mouth of the silkworm) i-si gramme*, a* eompar 



is tin- t,-n... n\ ..i the frotw of the China taaor. The ehwtieity of tho bow M .' 1 1 



per cent, an compared to Itt per cent., which U the elaatirit 



A to*<ir. The liengal fcuar al*o loam lea* of iu *. 

 losinu as mueh as 21 per cent. while Bengal Uuar \,^. 



Bengal tasar in, ho\\,-v-r. mon- ,htli,-ult to I,; 



Indian Ketultt. Mukerji (Kfjit. /m/niVy into tht Slate of Ike ToMf Silk 



I '.HI.",) tellK UK that In- MMti-,1 all tin- in-.i nit c,<||lrv- 



diirt ion and manufact un- anil dim-uHMcd jMTnonally with 



,.i im[>ortancc. The report open* with the followinf I ta*or ailk indiMiry ia 



di-i-lining almost ,-\ ns u h,-r,-. .ilfhounh tl 

 in,T,-as> in Brumal, oum- t.. th,- -i-m-ral r,-\ualof M-I 



\\liii-h has brought into prominent noti> ,- t,inr <-loth iv wrll OM m Ho 



tiirn , numerates the chiof centres of Uuar mumifiM-tun . idm that them 



an- li.fjIK) families of weavers, or nearly L'.'..(MH) in.li 

 on toar-weaving in Bengal. Of the Central l'r\ im-iv, he remark* 

 purely a village industry, except in Sambalpiir and Bihwpur. hut that there are 

 prohubly not more than 2,500 tasar weavers all to,. Beaver*, h- 



are entirely dependent on a supply of cocoon- fr lh- :iioe of UH-I 



ill-try, but that the rearers are agriculturist* who give I.IK a their 



time to the production of cocoons, and the number so engaged fluctuate* very 

 greatly. Roughly, he estimates that the numlHT of persons concerned in tojor- 

 cocoon rearing may be about eight times the number of thoae engaged in Uuar- 

 weaving. There would be in Bengal, then for,-. l,\ that rrttmat-f, 2i>- 

 persons, and in the Central Provinces 20,000 person* who obtain at leaat auuie 

 portion of their annual earnings from taar silk. 



Mukerji then concludes with numerous practical deduction*, amongat which 

 the following may be mentioned : 



( 1 ) That the wild cocoons are the richest in silk. 



(2) That Singhbhum is the district best suited for faMor-ailk rearing. Further 

 that the wild barra muga worm of that district is the best of all. followed by the 

 muda muga, also of Singhbhum, then by the muga of Mourbhanj. 



(3) That even in the wild state, Chanda and Bhandara coooona are inferior 

 to those of Raipur, Bilaspur, Sambalpur, and t the Bengal Uuar while 

 the home-grown cocoons of Chanda and Bhandara are the u..r-t ! all. 



(4) That the deterioration is more marked in the case of banrla than in 

 muda cocoons. 



(5) That the main cause of the decline of the imlu-try is the diaaaan known 

 as grasserie, which affects weak worms more than strong one*, and worm* f^yHng 

 on low bushes more than those feeding on high branches of tree*. 



(6) That grasserie being caused by irregularity of season, mich a* heavy 

 showers following long-continued drought, it cannot altogether be avoided even 

 l)\ the use of good seed. 



(7) That degeneracy of tasar worms runs mainly along two line*, inferior 

 cocoons (small size and flimsy in structure) being purposely reserved for eaed, 

 owing to the superior cocoons fetching a higher price ; and emi-domertication 

 and the use of home-grown cocoons for seed instead of wild one*. 



(8) That the cocoon-rearers are sometime* helple**, a* wild coooon* are often 

 not readily found. 



Lastly, as measures calculated to revive the industry, Mukerji propuaa* the 

 establishment of two model tower-rearing nurseries in Bengal ; the propagation ,,f 

 asan trees ( i>i-i </<) in the tasar village area* ; and the reservation of certain 

 forest tracts for the wild stock only from which the model establishment* would 

 periodically obtain fresh seed supplies. With a statement of continuous rnaaarnh 

 and of vigorous efforts, such as that implied hy the numerous report* thu* briefly 

 indicated, it can be hardly fair to affirm that the baekwardneat of the Indian 

 industry is a direct expression of the apathy of all concerned. 



1007 







W . 



Praetkri 



