Silk culture spread rapidly in the other Colonies, and to-day the story of the ineffectual attempts to profitably rear the silkworm in this country is as voluminous as it is interesting. Suffice it to say, as a sop to our inherent Yankee pride, that silk culture was introduced into Connecticut as early as 1737, the first coat and stockings made from New England silk being worn by Governor Law in 1747, and the first silk dress by his daughter, in 1750. This State, for the eighty-four years following, led all the others in the amount of raw silk produced. In Connecticut also, was built the first silk mill to be erected on this continent for the special purpose of manufacturing silk goods. This building was constructed in 1810 by Rodney and Horatio Hanks, at Mansfield, and is still standing as an heirloom which has come to us from the infant days of the industry. The silkworm has become domesticated, since, during the long centuries in which it has been cultivated, it has acquired many useful peculiarities. Man has striven to increase its silk producing power, and in this he has succeeded, for, by comparing the cocoon of the silkworm of to-day with its wild relations, the cocoon is found to be much larger, even in proportion to the size of the worm that makes it or the moth that issues from it. The moth’s loss of the power of flight and the white color of the species are probably the results of domestication. [Illustration: JAPAN THE NATURAL HOME OF THE SILK WORM GATHERING MULBERRY BRANCHES.[1] This picture shows a grove of mulberry trees from which branches are being gathered as food for the worms. This is often done by the children.] [Illustration: FEMALE MOTHS DEPOSITING EGGS.[1] The moths are placed upon pieces of cardboard, upon which they deposit their eggs. The cards with the eggs are kept in a cool place until the season for hatching arrives.] [Illustration: PREPARING COCOONING BEDS.[1] This picture shows two boys preparing a bed of twigs or branches upon which the worms may spin their cocoons.] [1] Illustrations by courtesy The Brainerd & Armstrong Co. [Illustration: HOW THE SILKWORMS ARE CARED FOR HATCHING THE EGGS. As the eggs hatch on the cards, the young worms are removed to other cards or trays, where they are fed and cared for.] [Illustration: REMOVING SILKWORMS FROM CARDS WHERE THEY WERE HATCHED. Every few days the young worms are changed to new and clean cards.] [Illustration: METHOD OF REELING RAW SILK. The cocoons are soaked in hot water in the basins shown in the front to loosen the gum. The silk threads then pass through the hands of the operators and are reeled on swifts in the cabinet shown in the rear. A more modern appliance for reeling the silk is shown on one of the following pages.] The foregoing pages and pictures by courtesy of Brainerd & Armstrong Silk Company, from their book entitled, “Silk, the Real versus the Imitation.”