4 BOMBYX MORI. 
letter: "We send you twenty yards of ribbon made from th& 
silk raised on Osage orange, handed to us during your late 
Exhibition. We see no difference in the die or weaving 
from other silk. ,, 
This spring the Association had an exhibition at Washing- 
ton, D.C, in which the fact was developed that some of their 
best grades of silk were made from the cocoons fed on the 
Osage. They report that it is tougher in fiber, with less gum, 
hence wears better. That silk so made is of the most durable- 
quality and most marketable, as is shown by the demands for 
exportation rapidly increasing; the demand being already 
greater than the supply. For those who have not the Osage 
and prefer to plant Mulberry, the Moras Alba and Morus 
Japonica, are the hardiest as well as the best varieties, and 
will grow anywhere in the United States. The instructions 
for feeding in this book, will answer equally as well for 
Mulberry, as the methods of feeding and care of the worms, 
are the same as when Osage is used, except that Mulberry 
leaves, being larger, are picked from the branches. 
Mr. L. S. Crozier, of the Mississippi Silk Company, a noted 
silk grower, says : "In case the leaves of the grown Mul- 
berry trees are exhausted before the silkw T orms have spun 
their cocoons, a well trimmed hedge of Osage orange will be- 
a blessing for American silk growers. But for it, all my 
silk worms would have starved this last spring, and my 
cocoons were as fine as if fed exclusively on Mulberry 
leaves." The greatest objection silkgrowers have had to the 
Osage Avas the added labor, and extra time consumed in 
picking the leaves, but when branches are fed this is entirely 
obviated. There has been abundant proof that the soil and 
'climatic conditions of Kansas are in every way well fitted 
for the successful cultivation of silk. 
M. de Boissiere, of Silkville, Kansas, says. "The silkworm 
thrives better in a dry, windy climate, and in this respect we 
liave the advantage over Europe; fewer worms die here even; 
when kept under a common shed, than in Europe, where 
they are raised in rooms kept at an even temperature by 
means of stoves ; the worms being more vigorous, average 
larger and heavier cocoons." Silk culture is not advocated 
as a very lucrative business, but as a home industry it adds 
largely to the wealth of the nations engaged in it. In 
France its methods and practice are taught in all the schools- 
