REARING SILKWORMS. 79 



people a knowledge of the insect to which they 

 owe so much of their national wealth. In both 

 France and Italy, it is a part of the education of 

 young ladies. They are taught all the details of 

 the production of silk, from the egg to the reeled 

 silk. There it is considered a most healthful 

 and refreshing change, to pass from the study of 

 books to behold living nature in her strange and 

 wonderful changes, from apparently repeated 

 deaths to larger and still larger spheres of life 

 and activity. 



It is a constantly demonstrated fact that 

 nothing is more important as the basis of a solid 

 education, than strict attention to little things. 

 For this reason, if nothing else, is the education 

 in the silk industry of great use to the young. 

 The United States is almost the only nation 

 where large manufactures are carried on, where 

 there is not one or more schools of instruction in 

 this special branch of industry, supported by the 

 government. The art of silkworm-rearing is 

 wholly neglected in the system of education in 

 our beloved land, while we have the most 

 superior advantages for the production of silk. 

 This is the groundwork of the lack of interest in 

 the entire business. 



France leads the world in the superior style of 

 her textile manufactures. This fact is said to 



