HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 225 



strands to every worm and the pickling process must 

 not unduly be prolonged. On the shady side of the 

 veranda or of the house stick a pin into the clap- 

 boards and tie to it securely one end of the sac. 

 Then take the other end of the sac in the fingers or 

 tie it to another pin and draw the gut out to its full 

 length. If any parts of the sac are not fully drawn 

 out these will be lumpy and weak when the gut is dry. 

 Fasten the end of the sac just drawn out and allow 

 it to dry for several days. While the gut must be 

 stretched far enough to keep it from being lumpy, a 

 little allowance must be made for contraction in the 

 drying process; so ease up an inch or two before 

 both ends of the gut are made fast. I have had 

 very good success when the gut was drawn on a 

 rainy day and the strands became moist and slack; 

 in such circumstances I have thought that the gut was 

 peculiarly strong. But at all events keep it out of 

 the sun, and if it contracts so much as to pull out the 

 pin at either end, refasten with the tension eased 

 up somewhat. In a day or two you usually will find 

 that you have a variety of colors; some will turn a 

 dark golden-brown, some may have a bluish tint, 

 others will be light like a washed-out rootlet or 

 fiber, and still others will approximate in shade the 

 ordinary Spanish gut but will lack the " shine " 

 which the latter unfortunately possesses. 



Restrain the tendency to use the freshly-drawn 

 gut too soon ; although it may be fine in texture and 



