by hot air or steam heating, has done away entirely with this. The canning 
method began also to be applied for preservation of cocoons in 1888. In 
former days, the silkworms reared in Japan belonged mostly to the univol- 
tine race (hatching once a year) which were preserved in cold storage and this 
would retard their hatching until the Autumn. By this means the so-called 
autumn silkworms are now reared very extensively with satisfactory results. 
As for the improvement of silkworm breeds themselves, many elaborate scien- 
tific experiments have been done and are being carried out with noteworthy 
results; especially the application of the Mendelian principles resulted in 
the production of several superior cross-breeds; for instance: a cross-breed 
between an Italian and Chinese breed for yellow silk, and between a Japanese 
and Chinese breed for white silk must be mentioned as a great success. 
Much attention has also been paid to the prevention of silkworm eggs to 
be sold which has reduced these defects to almost nothing. Finally we shall 
add that in the process of boiling and reeling cocoons several important im- 
provements have been accomplished. 
CHAPTER II 
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE RAW SILK INDUSTRY 
Three Branches of the Industry 
HE RAW silk industry may be divided into two branches, namely, 
the sericultural industry and raw silk reeling industry. And the 
“= sericultural industry is divided into two by its object. One of them is 
the silkworm raising for cocoon to be reeled and the other is for egg cards to 
be sold. 
These three are usually carried on as separate enterprises and their local 
distribution is also somewhat different. Silkworm rearing, or sericulture, 
which 1s mostly engaged in by farmers as an accessory business, spreads all 
over the country, as the climate of Japan is suitable for cultivation of mul- 
berry trees from southmost Formosa up to Hokkaido in the north. Silk worm 
raising for egg cards, which requires special scientific qualifications, 1s carried 
on rather a large scale as an independent business, and centers in the central 
part of the mainland. Raw silk reeling, which was in the hands of farmers 
in olden days, has mostly been industrialized and has become an independent 
industry, in which many mills have sprung up in all parts of the country, 
especially in the central four prefectures of Nagano, Aichi, Gumma and 
Saitama. 
Mulberry Farms 
As silkworms are fed on mulberry leaves, the area of mulberry farms may 
be taken as a barometer indicating the ups and downs of the sericultural 
9 24 Te