106 COMPLETE INSTRUCTION IN 



it will be readily seen how great and sudden 

 changes of temperature are liable to occur at any 

 time during the silk season. Those chilling 

 winds swooping down from the snow-capped 

 mountains sometimes destroy the whole crop of 

 silkworms in the valleys. When these mis- 

 fortunes occur, the entire crop of silk is lost for 

 the year, as (there the season is but seven weeks) 

 they have no eggs in storage, and there are none 

 in market. 



Should such a thing occur in our glorious 

 land, if the people were engaged in silk-culture, 

 there would be only a loss of the one crop of 

 worms and the leaves injured by the storm. In 

 two or three weeks the leaves would be replaced 

 by another crop, as tender, fresh, and abundant 

 as the first, and another brood of worms taken 

 from cold-storage would grow and thrive, and in 

 an incredibly short time would fill the place of 

 those that perished. But such storms have 

 never yet occurred here. 



On these farms are a number of tenant-houses, 

 of stone, grouped together as a village, with a 

 church in the center, as is always the case in 

 Italy. The church is the best building. Most 

 of the houses are two stories high, built without 

 any attempt at architectural beauty of design or 

 finish; hence they have a dreary, uninviting 



