200 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
made in the year 1835, the number of mulberry 
trees in Lombardy amounted to 16,573,123, without 
bringing into calculation the mulberry hedges, from 
which great quantities of leaves are gathered. 
A middle-aged tree yields per year, on an ave¬ 
rage 70 to 110 lbs. of leaves, and 20 lbs. of fresh 
leaves are calculated for 1 lb. of cocoons. 
The yearly crop of cocoons in Lombardy amounts 
to 248,000 cwt., which would require, according to 
the above estimate, 4,860,000 cwt. of mulberry 
leaves. The price of leaves varies; but 2 fl. 20 
kreutzers per cwt.* is considered a low price; ac¬ 
cording to this estimate, the crop of mulberry leaves 
amounts to 11,340,000 florins; from this sum 2,025,- 
000 florins must be deducted for gathering the leaves, 
&c., and 9,315,000 for ground rent. 
One ounce of worm eggs, or 1| loth, yields 67 
Vienna lbs. of cocoons, which require 1,333 Vienna 
lbs. of leaves. 
Silk culture, as well as farming is carried on by 
persons who rent the land or trees for half the silk 
crop; the land owners furnishing one-half of the 
worm eggs, and the colono or renter, the other half 
of the seeds, and all the labor and care the worms 
require. 
Raw Silk. —The crysalides within the cocoons, 
are killed by exposing them to the hot air of heated 
ovens or to steam; the cocoons are then thrown in¬ 
to boilers or kettles filled with warm water; the 
threads of 3, 4, 5 or more cocoons are united to form 
one thread; the product is called raw silk. The 
kettles are mostly heated in the common way, but 
of late, and especially in Lombardy, they are now 
heated by means of steam; and for a large reeling 
establishment, the steam is generated in one or two 
boilers, and is conducted to the kettles by means of 
pipes, whereby not only a great deal of fuel is eco¬ 
nomized, but the silk produced in that way is consi¬ 
dered better and of a handsomer appearance, which 
is ascribed to the uniform temperature which can be 
kept up with steam. To each kettle two women 
are required, one to attend to the reeling (malstra) 
and the other to turn the reel. 
Upon this operation depends the evenness and 
beauty of the thread. The silk growers therefore 
pay great attention to it, and the superior quality 
of Lombardy silk is to be ascribed to the perfect 
management of this simple operation. 
The number of kettles in use in Lombardy during 
the above mentioned operation amounts to about 40,- 
000 which are employed in about 3,500 Filandas, to 
which 90,000 persons are required. 
The operation of reeling lasts from 40 to 50 days; 
in this space of time the cocoons are all converted 
into raw silk. 
The wages for an overseer, are from 35 to 50 
kreutzers; for a maestra, 22 to 30 kreutzers; for the 
hands to turn the reel, from 8 to 13 kreutzers per 
day exclusive of a meal (minestra.) 
They must keep close at wopk from early in the 
morning till late in the evening, with only one hour’s 
recess. 
The quantity of wood required for heating the 
kettles in the ordinary way, averages 50 to 60 lbs. 
per day; when steam is used, half the amount of 
fuel is sufficient. 
To each kettle belongs a reel, and it is estimated 
that a reel can work up 800 lbs. of cocoons in 50 
days. 
11| lbs. of cocoons yield 1 lb. of raw silk; in 
Brianza it requires less cocoons for 1 lb. of silk, 
but on an average 1 lb. of raw silk requires 12 lbs. 
of cocoons. _ * _ 
* One Florin is 50 cents. The florin has 60 kreutzers. 
June, 
In the operation of reeling, arises an offal con¬ 
sisting of a coarse kind of thread which covers the 
cocoon. This layer .must be carefully removed. 
The husk which covers the crysalides is used for bed 
covers, or spun for common silk stuffs. The offal or 
strata amounts to 10 per cent, of the weight of raw 
silk, and sells for 12 to 24 kreutzers per lb. The 
price of raw silk averages 12 florins 30 kreutzers per 
pound. 
Filatores or Twist Mills. —At the Filatores 
the raw silk is twisted for the warft (organzin) and 
weft (trama.) It is done by means of large ma¬ 
chines, set in motion by water and horse power. 
Twisting is carried on the whole year round; this 
operation makes a loss on silk from the breakage of 
the threads, knots, &c., whiah amounts to from 3 to 
6 per cent. 
In Lombardy, the number of Filatores amounts to 
about 500, which employ 3,750 men, 7,040 women 
and 2,015 children. To twist a pound of silk, costs 
from 1 fl. 27 to 1 fl. 34 krs.; when to this, the cost 
of reeling is added with 44 kreutzers per lb., the 
expense of working up the cocoons into twist, costs 
about 2fl. 15 kreutzers per pound. 
The total value of silk of the different countries 
of Austria, is estimated at 50,500,000 florins, which 
is to be divided:— 
For the Cocoons,. 42,700,000 florins. 
Reeling or producing Raw Silk. 2,900,000 
Twist,. 4,400.000 “ 
Offal,. 500,000 “ 
The raw material has a value of about 43,000,- 
000 fl., which amount is increased to about one sixth 
of its value, or 7| millions through the operation 
of reeling and twisting. 
Although silk culture is carried on in the same 
manner all over Lombardy, the Venetian kingdom, 
and the southern part of Tyrol, yet each province 
produces a peculiar kind of silk, each bearing a dif¬ 
ferent character. The best silk is produced in Bri¬ 
anza; it is superior to any in Italy, or in the whole 
world; the next best is that of Varese, in the pro¬ 
vince of Como, and Bergama. 
Silk culture has especially been improved in Bri¬ 
anza, through the influence and labors of the silk- 
growers’ societies of Mayland and Como. Through 
various improvements and good management, silk 
has there obtained greater lustre, softness and sup¬ 
pleness, which was formerly only possessed by the 
silk of Turin. 
The finest and most glossy stuffs are manufactur¬ 
ed from the silk of Brianza, and the industrious and 
highly intelligent inhabitants of that district are 
considered masters in the treatment of the silk worm, 
as well as in the operation of reeling and twisting. 
Bergamos silk has an old established reputation, 
and is much sought after for the English market. 
Brescia silk comes next, then Cremona, and that 
of a part of Mantua, where silk culture has been of 
late much increased and improved. 
Lodi and Pavia are, from their low situations and 
practice of irrigating the meadows and fields, less 
favorable to the culture of silk. The worm there 
spins a coarse and less uniform thread, which is to 
be ascribed to the dampness of the atmosphere, in 
which the worm works more sluggishly than in pro¬ 
vinces of a greater altitude, where the air is more 
pure and dry. 
Verona and its vicinity, with several districts of 
Mantua, produce the most celebrated sewing silk. 
It is not long since the operation of reeling was 
left in the hands of inexperienced reelers, who pro¬ 
duced a dirty, unequal and spotted thread; but of 
late, more attention has been paid to the operation ; 
the cocoons are now picked and the double ones 
