FAMOUS SPINNERS 113 
that are set about to keep the room warm, and 
to help with the cocoons, and the mother and 
the girls to do the winding, spinning and weav¬ 
ing. 
“ About the only breathing space is during the 
moulting periods. For then the silkworms refuse 
to eat. But it is an anxious time for the growers; 
often the worms die during the moult. Poor lit¬ 
tle creatures, growing a coat isn’t as easy as some 
would think apparently. The little worms turn 
yellow and hump up their bodies, crawling about 
restlessly at first, and then as the skin grows 
tighter they remain very still. By and by the old 
coat gets so snug that the ‘ cloth ’ needs must 
give; the garment splits across the shoulders, and 
the worm wriggles the upper part of its body 
free. Soon afterwards it is out, but oh, so tired! 
In twenty minutes or more, however, if it is a 
strong specimen, it is quite rested and climbs up 
on the clean sheet. 
“ ‘ Yum-yum! how good fresh mulberry leaves 
are! ’ it seems to say, and as it eats it moves its 
head from side to side in evident enjoyment, while 
the leaves disappear at a great rate. Sometimes, 
particularly in our own southland where the 
worms are coming to be grown more and more, 
Osage orange leaves are fed instead of the white 
mulberry. But worms so fed make a coarser and 
less valuable grade of silk. Leaves from the 
