94 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



These are placed in Tvarm water, and the end of the thread being 

 found, it is wound upon a wheel driven by a steam-engine. Each 

 woman has a wheel and an iron box before her ; in the latter are 

 placed the cocoons. 



The overseer took great care that I should not see much from 

 my stand; he urged me into the next room. I soon bid him 

 good-by, telling him that I did not care much to see his ma- 

 chinery, as* I had used the same thirty years ago, with the ex- 

 ception of the steam-engine ; and in regard to that I told him that 

 at any time America can send him machinery so complete that 

 he would not need the women. The man looked astonished; 

 but, as I was offended by his making so much mystery about 

 nothing, I left him. We went to another man ; but here also 

 we met with the same difliculty. He was willing to show us all 

 the cocoons, but nothing else. To my inquiries as to how many 

 hands are required for 100 trees from six to ten years old, or how 

 much silk is made from 100 pounds of leaves, the man gave me 

 such unsatisfactory answers as showed that he either wished to 

 mislead me, or he did not know any thing about it; conse- 

 quently, I started off in search of some plain farmer who would 

 give me the desired information. 



At last we found a place where there were three hundred trees, 

 which were thirty years 0I4, according to the statement of an old 

 lady, her son, and daughter, who all answered me at once. Im- 

 agine me in an Italian peasant's house, surrounded by the four 

 inhabitants and many others, who were wondering what the 

 strangers wanted; why they examined the mulberry - trees so 

 closely, and so forth ; and you will understand that it required a 

 little patience to wait for the answers of these people. I asked 

 the old lady how many pounds of cocoons she makes from the 

 trees ; at what price she sells the same ; how many ounces of 

 eggs and seeds she uses ; how much labor, etc. The whole fam- 

 ily at once kindly answered all questions but the two last, which 

 seemed to strike them with astonishment. The idea that they 

 should know how much labor is necessary, or how many leaves 

 are used to an ounce of eggs, seemed something preposterous. 



I was obliged to have recourse to the most roundabout ways 

 in the world to ascertain that in some years they get 1000 francs, 

 in others 2000, and sometimes as many as 4000 francs from the 

 800 trees. The labor takes about four to five weeks, when it is 

 all finished. The family do it all themselves, and even the four 



