6. Kinkiang.—A very small quantity of raw silk is produced in the northern part of the province of Kiangsi, but the quality is inferior, and none is exported. The worms are fed on mulberry-leaves.
7. Wuhu.—Of the raw silk produced in the province of Anhwei, the colour is somewhat inferior and the quality coarse. The average yearly quantity is 600-800 piculs from worms fed on mulberry leaves. The export in 1879 was 400 piculs of raw silk.
8. Chinkiang.—Domestic worms are reared on mulberry-plants. These latter are of two kinds, wild and cultivated. The wild kind is sturdy in growth, but has thin small leaves, so the general practice is to graft the cultivated variety upon it. The plantations are made on high plains. The trees are pruned back to a height of little over 5 ft. They are liable to the attacks of two insects, one penetrating below the bark, the other not. The former is detected by a greasy exudation from the bark ; the place is cut open, and the larvfe are destroyed, or, if they have already become insects, they are killed by the insertion of a wire or the introduction of wood-oil into their holes. The second kind attacks the leaves ; it is destroyed by sprinkling the trees with a strong solution of the juice of tobacco-stalks. The wild mulberry is neither grafted nor pruned, the largest trees reaching a height of 50-60 ft. The silk of worms fed on the wild mulberry is very coarse and inferior. Worms that have once tasted cultivated leaves will not eat wild ones. There are ten precepts observed in breeding the worms :—(1) The eggs when on paper must be kept cool ; (2) after hatching, they require warmth ; (3) during moulting, they must be kept hungry ; (4) between their sleeps, they must be well fed ; (5) they should be neither crowded nor too far apart ; (6) during sleep, they should be kept dark and warm ; (7) when their skins are cast, they need coolness and plenty of light ; (8) for a short time after moulting, they should be sparely fed ; (9) when fully grown, must never be without food ; (JO) the eggs should be laid close together but not heaped up. It may be added that smoke, draughts, aud smells of all kinds are injurious to the worms, and great care needs to be taken that the leaves shall always be fresh, dry, and quite clean.
The worms, as fast as they are ready for weaiing their cocoons, are transferred to hills made, of straw. Any that are black or putrid are discarded. When the spinning is finished, the cocoons
are removed, freed from the loose silk around them, an.cl spread out on large trays in a cool spot. Flossy, maggot-bitten, sick, misshapen, urine-stained, and double cocoons are carefully picked out, as being unfit for reeling. The hardest, cleanest, and whitest cocoons are reserved for breeding purposes.
Wild worms are fed on- Quercus sinensis, Q. serrata, and Q. mongolica. The last is 5-6 ft. high, and is grown around the villages for its leaves. The silk produced by it is hard. Two crops of cocoons are gathered annually from wild worms. They are smaller than the domestic ones, and of greyish-black colour.
9. Shanghah—In the province of Chiangen, the average quantity of raw silk produced for export from worms fed with mulberry-leaves is about 500,000 lb. ; and in the province of ChaoMang, about 6,500,000 lb. The product from wild worms frequenting mulberry-trees is about 4000 lb. The exports from Shanghai in 1879 were 60,350 piculs of raw, thrown, and yellow, 620 of wild raw, 6134 of refuse, and 1888 of cocoons ; the exports are mainly destined for France, India, and Great Britain.
10. Ningpo.—The production of raw silk by worms fed with mulberry-leaves is about 6,500,000 lb. ; and by wild worms found on mulberry-trees, 4000 lb., only in the district of Sharanglin. The export in 1879 was 350 piculs of raw silk.
11. Canton.—The average production of raw silk in this district may be staled as follows :— Exported to Europe, 12,000-14,000 bales (of 213 lb.); to Bombay, 3000-4000 pi, uls ; to America, 10,000 boxes (of 150 lb.); and produced for native use, 20,000 piculs. This is exclusively afforded by worms fed upon mulberry-leaves. There is also a kind of raw silk spun by a worm frequenting the leaves of the camphor and kindred trees, not only on the Lofou Hills, but generally throughout he province of Kwangtung, though nowhere very abundantly. It is not cultivated, and very little silk is obtained from it, its chief use being for making " gut " (see p. 610), for which purpose, it is considered superior to the mulberry worm. The exports from Canton in 1879 were 16,200 picu/s of fine raw silk, 130 of thrown, 7500 of refuse, 3500 of wild raw, and 2000 of cocoons.