Manufacturing Outside the United States 273 
Fic. 173. Raw silk is produced only (1) where the mulberry tree will flourish, (2) where there are 
many patient workers with deft fingers, and (3) where labor is cheap. Japan produces almost 
50 per cent of the world supply of raw silk ; China about 26 per cent of it; and Italy a little more 
than 10 per cent. The small remainder comes chiefly from southern France and Spain. In 
Japan factories have been established for unwinding the cocoons and spinning the thread; but 
a, great deal of the spinning is still done bv hand, as shown here. 
The handmade articles of China take the form of beautiful woven 
silks and other textiles, delicate carvings in wood and ivory, and also 
of commoner articles such as bamboo goods, straw matting, and the 
fire crackers which almost every American boy and girl formerly set 
off on the Fourth of July. With the exception of ivory, the raw ma- 
terials of most of these handmade goods are easily produced close to 
the home of the workers, and the finished products are so small or so 
light that they can be transported long distances with little expense. 
World commerce draws from India such handmade goods as cash- 
mere shawls, print cloths, metal ware like Benares brass, and carvings 
in ivory and wood. Especially interesting are the elephants carved in 
ivory, some as small as one’s finger nail, yet so delicately carved as to 
show every feature and wrinkle. 
Japan, like China, still furnishes handmade cloths, mattings, and 
carvings. Its strong, thin, handmade paper is used in place of leather, 
nil-cloth, and glass; and its handmade porcelain and lacquered and