No, 3. ] Silkworms in India. 1 67 



some 1,200 to 1,500 cocoons. A seev (2 lbs.) of empty cocoons will yield about three 

 quarters of a seer of thread. 



"The eri worm is cultivated to a greater or less extent in every district of the 

 province. Being regarded as of doubtful purity, it is left principally to Rdbhas, 

 Meckes, Kachdris, Miters, Kutes, and other non-Hindu tribes. In the submontane 

 country inhabited by the Kachdris and their cognates, along the north of the districts 

 of Goalpara, Kamrrip, Darrang, and Lakhimpur, almost every house bas its patch of 

 castor-oil plants, on which the eri worms are fed. In some parts of this region tbe 

 Marwari traders make advances to the cultivators in October, when the revenue is fall- 

 ing due, and take repayment afterwards in thread or cloth, and both these products are 

 commonly exposed for sale in the petty markets, in the same manner as other articlea 

 of village merchandise. A good deal of eri is also produced in the district of Sib- 

 sagar, and in Upper Assam generally the ryot may be seen swathed in a warm sheet 

 of coarse eri cloth in the winter mornings and evenings. Throughout the whole 

 range of the southern hills, from the Mikir country to the Ga*ro, eri thread is in great 

 request for weaving those striped cloths in which the mountaineers delight. An esti- 

 mate of 183 cwt. (250 maunds) has been furnished for the outturn of the North 

 Cachar section of these hills, and a similar amount for the Khasi Hill district. The 

 Miters, Kutes, and Garos cultivate the worm for themselves, but the handsome and 

 durable cloths worn by the Khdsis and Santengs are woven of thread procured from 

 Miter and Kuhi breeders inhabiting the lower hills on the northern and southern 

 faces of the range. All these people eat the chrysalis with avidity, considering it espe- 

 cially delicious in the form of curry. Eri is but little cultivated in the plains of 

 Sylhet and Cachar. 



" In the absence of any large markets, and indeed of any regular trade in either the 

 thread or the cloth, it would be quite useless to attempt to conjecture the probable out- 

 turn of eri silk in Assam. An estimate of 25^ cwt. (35 maunds) has been furnished 

 for the produce of Kamrup, 177 cwt. (242 maunds) for Darrang, and 205 cwt. 

 (280 maunds) for Nowgong, but the latter district probably produces less eri than 

 either of the other two, and the estimates may be regarded as mere guess-work. 

 In no district does the produce do much more than supply local wants. A trade in 

 cocoons, to the extent of 400 or 500 cwt. yearly, has sprung up between Goalpara and 

 Calcutta, whence the cocoons are shipped for England. They are said to come chiefly 

 from Upper Assam. The cloth which finds its way to the shops of the Marwari traders 

 is by them exported to Bengal. The mountaineers of Bhutan who visit the plains in tbe 

 winter carry away with them a considerable quantity both of cloth and yarn. The 

 quantity of cloth is estimated at 2,000 pieces, while the yarn is dyed by the Bhutias 

 aud woven into gaily -coloured coats and striped cloths, some of which find their way 

 back to the bazars of Assam. The value of the silk thus exported from the three 

 Butia fairs in the Darrang District last year (1883) was returned as R43,000, and pro- 

 bably we may allow as much more for the Bhutia trade in Kamrup. As regards its 

 use ia the province, however, the general opinion is that the native eri is being sup- 

 planted by cotton goods from England. It is alleged that the cloth is procurable with 

 more difficulty now than formerly, and it is certain that the price has risen greatly 

 within the last thirty years. If we go back so far as fifty years, we find tbe yarn 

 selling for E2 a seer in 1834" (while in 1884 Mr. Stack estimates its price at froic R4 

 to R7 per seer). " There is, however, reason to doubt whether eri was more easily pi-o- 

 curable then than it is now, and perhaps the rise of price is chiefly to be explained by 

 the influx of money which has accompanied the development of tea cultivation. It is 

 impossible to say whether the actual outturn is less or greater now than at anyc ormer 

 period. There is no natural obstacle to an increase of production to any imaginable 

 limit." 



