FIELD CROPS 299 



attendance from careful persons who have to be paid highly 

 and can only be occupied for a few months in the year. Be- 

 sides, the worms are liable to suffer from sickness when in large 

 numbers unless great care is taken. So silk raising is almost 

 altogether household work, in China, Japan, Italy, France, 

 and Spain, where most of the silk is grown. If you plant a 

 few mulberry trees, you can, when they are old enough, get silk- 

 worm eggs from the Department of Agriculture at Washington, 

 and raise the worms and cocoons, which is a very interesting 

 piece of work. 



