Trama

The eggs of the silkworm, called graine, are hatched out by artificial heat at the period when the mulberry leaves are ready for the feeding of the larvae. The moth of the silkworm lays about two hundred eggs. A view of the eggs hatching is especially interesting. Pieces of paper, punctured with small holes are placed over the trays where the eggs are hatching, so the worms can creep through to the light and scrape off any fragments of shell which adhering to the shell, might kill them by constriction. The little worms, of voracious appetite feed on the mulberry leaves. As the molting periods approach, the worms lose their appetite and cease eating. The silkworm molts about four times. When the caterpillars a e mature which takes about a month, and ready to undergo their transformation into the pupa condition they cease eating and ascend the brushwood branches or echelletes provided for them and in which they set about spinning the cocoons. They complete their cocoons in from three to four days, and in two or three days thereafter the cocoons are collected and the pupae killed to prevent further progress. Such cocoons as are selected for the production of the graine, on the other hand, are collected, freed from the external floss and preserved at a temperature of 66 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit and in about two weeks the moths appear. The coupling, which immediately takes place, is carefully attended to; the males are afterward thrown away.—Moving Picture World synopsis