SILK 

 ASSAM < \! ILK ATTACU* K 



The prin- ..f tl,,,, u ( ,uld U* about 1U. On. Hui ,,, thu wv it ill not 

 pay. It is ulu-M ni\\n on odd biu of laud and lh win 

 ro.-oons spun b v tin- women, during th.-.r ,p.ire mo 

 beoomea profitable. I'ntil the pn.-,. rinn* ma- 

 pay as a separate induMn. Hut as a Huppleroentary crop 

 n i n i it i, i a 1 1 v e , and the insect is more easily reared and is leas expensive than 

 the mulberry worm. Sinn- the.. t be reeled, there is no object 



in killing the insects within them stance, therefore, they 



should be allowed to escape. Green eri cocoons, that is to say, cocoons 

 with live chrysalids, sell for 600 to 800 to the seer (2 lb.). If 

 killed and dried in the sun. 1,500 to 2,500 go to the seer. When the 

 insects have escaped (pierced cocoons), 3,000 to 7,000 go to the seer 

 other words, while a mauud of pierced cocoon* may fetch Rs. 100, the 

 same weight with the chrysalids inside may only realise Rs. 90. 



Carding and Spinning. The eri cocoon, it is Maid, ha* been success- Carding 

 fully reeled in Italy, but from time immemorial it has in India been * nd 

 opened out crudely, then spun. No sort of information ran be V^^fcr 1 pl * 

 as to the extent of the manufactures nor the probable margin available 

 for export. Mention has been made of a traffic in cocoons from GoeJpura 

 to Calcutta of 400 to 500 cwt. yearly. The spun thread, though coarse, 

 is woven into textiles that are exceedingly durable (see pp >J1). 



In fact eri silk is stronger than won or mulberry silk. But the 



European trade demands white eri cocoons, and this somewhat restrict* 

 the supply. 



Manufactures. The thread and cloth are largely traded in all over Manttrao- 

 Assam and Cachar, though the effect of the imports of Manchester cotton turee, 

 goods has been to largely displace eri as an article of clothing. Hugon 

 speaks of large quantities of the cloth being exported to Lhasa by merchants 

 known as " Kampa Bhotias," but he adds this trade has entirelv died out. 

 Stack says that throughout the whole range of the southern hills, from 

 the Mikir country to the Garo, eri thread is in great request for the weaving 

 of those striped cloths in which the mountaineers delight. The Mikirs, 

 Kukis, and Garos cultivate the worm for themselves, but the handsome 

 and durable cloths worn by the Khasias and Santengs are woven of thread 

 procured from the Mikirs. T. N. Mukharji (Agri. Ledg., 1894, No. 19) 

 refers to the fact that within reeent years a new market has }> 

 for the cloth, in supplying suits of clothes for the Europeans and Natives 

 of India. The supply, he adds, is not equal to the demand. Efforts have 

 been made with that object in view, in many parts of Bengal and Assam 

 and even in the United Provinces, but so far with indifferent success. A 

 more recent, and in some respects fuller account of the eri silk industry, 

 will be found in N. G. Mukerji's Monograph. He there gives details of the 

 industry as it exists to-day in Bogra, Rangpur, Jalpaiguri and Maimen- 

 singh. Speaking of the increasing demand, he observes that this is now 

 being mot by imitation eri, made out of waste mulberry silk. He then 

 adds, " At present little skill is brought to bear on the production of eri 

 silks either in Assam or in Eastern and Northern Bengal. The spinning 

 might be more uniform and the weaving more varied and artistic. 



INDIAN SILK PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE. 



In official statistics of filatures and mills, all \ lustriet are dis- ^^ 



regarded and returns furnished alone of factories, etc., that employ twenty- 



101J 



