REARING SILKWORMS. 91 



glossy surface; and the "hung," which means an 

 imperial fabric. In making these silks, there 

 are three or four men employed on each loom, 

 and their united labor only turns out twelve to 

 sixteen feet of silk a day. The best silk sells for 

 sixty to ninety cents a yard. 



Raw silk is made from worms fed on a mixture 

 of wild and tame mulberry leaves, eight parts 

 of wild i nd two of tame. This kind of silk is 

 also used for 'the woof of pongee silk and satin. 



At Nankin there are seven or eight thousand 

 looms employed in making satin. These are the 

 richest satins woven in China. It is a kind of 

 damask interwoven with a thread of gold. 



Like all other works of art in China, the 

 weaving of silk is an individual matter, as a 

 rule. Each one spins and weaves and dyes his 

 own silks. Hence there is little division of labor, 

 and little opportunity to invest capital in manu- 

 factories. However, there are several filatures 

 in China, where foreign machinery is employed 

 in reeling and weaving silks. 



In China, silk is a common article of attire, 

 and both sexes take pride in arraying themselves 

 in gorgeous robes of gay colors. The actual 

 amount of silk used in China seems to be beyond 

 computation. It is safely estimated that more 

 than double the quantity of silk is used at home 

 that there is exported. 



