3(H) 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[Calcutta* 



in the place where it had been hatched. This creature forces its way 

 through the silk covering whieh the worm had woven, and goes immediately 

 in quest of its mate ; after which the female lays the eggs, which on an 

 average may amount to about 200, and both male and female die in a very 

 short time. 



In Bengal the largest and best cocoons are preserved for the grain, and 

 kept in bags suspended to the roof of the hut of the peasant. When the 

 insect b ready to burst its prison, a few balls are placed in a large basket, 

 on one shelf of a frame provided for the nurture of the worm. The frame 

 in common use consists of 16 shelves, placed in a shed upon vessels filled 

 with water, by way of precaution against ants. After the moths quit their 

 covering, attendance is required to move the males as soon as their functions 

 have been performed, and the females when they have produced their eggs. 

 The basket is carefully covered with a cloth, and in a fortnight the worm 

 quits the egg. They are first fed with mulberry leaves, chopped very fine ; 

 as they advance in their growth, they are dispersed into more baskets on the 

 several shelves of the frame, and are supplied with leaves cut into larger 

 pieces, and latterly with whole leaves until the period when the insect quits 

 its food. As soon as it recommences eating, branches of mulberry-trees are 

 thrown on with the leaves upon them, and the insects eat with eagerness, 

 and soon fill the baskets on the whole number of shelves : they arrive at 

 their full size in a little more than a month from their birth, and changing 

 their skins for the last time, are disposed to begin their cones. They are 

 now removed to baskets, divided into spiral compartments, where they spin 

 their webs, and cover themselves with silk. When the cocoon is completed, 

 a few are set apart for propagation, and the rest are exposed to the heat of 

 the sun, for the purpose of killing the chrysalis. 



The peasants sell the cocoons to the filatures, or winding houses, most 

 of whom are in the employ of the Company. From the rejected balls they 

 wind the silk by the following process: — The cocoons must be allowed to 

 cool after exposure to the sun. The excretions of the worms are coDected 

 from the feeding baskets, and thrown into a hole dug for that purpose. The 

 balls of silk are put into the hole, which is carefully covered up. In two 

 days they are taken out, and boiled in an earthen vessel, and the silk is 

 wound off by a hand-reel, or by the common one, both of which are simple, 

 and do not differ materially from the machine used for that purpose in 

 Europe. From the fur picked off the cocoons, and from those which are 

 perforated, coarse silk is spun, which is used for making carpets and other 

 purposes. 



The following is the mode of propagating the mulberry-tree in Benga). 



