In the province of Valencia, the same causes which lessened the output in 1900 prevailed in 1901; the silkworm, which had been damaged by the cold, was not strong enough to combat the various diseases which attacked the pod. In Murcia, also, the weather was responsible for the loss.

The French specie continues to be cultivated almost entirely in Spain. The product in general has been somewhat less satisfactory than in 1900. For 1901, 111⁄2 to 12 kilograms (25.3 to 26.4 pounds) of silkworm pod were necessary for a kilogram of silk in the regions of Valencia and Murcia.

Of the total crop, 77,000 pounds were used in making fishing nets, leaving 2,112,000 pounds, which in 1901 produced in crude silk 176,000 pounds against 184,000 pounds in 1900; 171,600 pounds in 1899; 176,000 pounds in 1898; 160,000 pounds in 1897; and 264,000 pounds in 1896.

SILKWORMS IN ITALY.

In reply to inquiries from a resident of Georgia,* Consul William Jarvis, of Milan, sends the following:

Silkworms bred in Italy are exclusively those which feed on the mulberry leaf, so that the yama-mai and the eri and the muga have no place in the Italian market. The breeds cultivated in Italy are:

1. The pure yellow, which is the old race of the country. This uncrossed breed forms a large part of the national production.

2. The white indigenous, cultivated only to a limited extent. 3. The Japanese cross, produced from the pure yellow moth and the moth of the green Japanese breed. The worm of this cross is extremely robust and the cocoons are abundant and generally reliable. The produce is considered of less value than the pure yellow, but forms an important part of the national culture.

The Chinese cross is produced with the pure yellow moth and the white (spherical cocoon) Chinese moth. This cross makes a smaller cocoon, which is consequently of less weight than the pure yellow, but is equal to it in comparative value. No public office exists for testing and sorting eggs. The seller who supplies eggs which do not give satisfaction loses his customers. The value of eggs is established by the results in past seasons.

There is no fixed rule in regard to planting mulberry trees. Thousands of square miles of these trees are planted in rectangles, the average distance from each other being 9 yards by 17 yards, thus forming avenues 17 yards broad with the trees in lines 9 yards apart. If the ground be pasture land, trees can be planted even 3

*To whom the original letter has been forwarded.

No 270-03-7

yards apart, but the earth must be always good and dry, with deep subsoil. Trees can be planted either in spring or autumn, and can be transplanted. If in good condition, they live from fifty to seventy years. They are not planted in bush form in Italy. Ordinary trees under usual conditions will produce from about 35 to 65 pounds of leaves in a year-that is, only that quantity is obtained from the first growth. The leaves must not be taken a second time in the same year. These leaves, under normal conditions, cost about 3.50 to 4.50 lire (67.5 to 86.8 cents) per 100 pounds. The worms produced from 1 ounce of eggs will consume from 1,700 to 2,400 pounds of leaves during the season.

The price obtained for fresh and good cocoons is from 3 to 3.50 lire (58 to 67.5 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds), according to locality where produced and to quality of eggs. Dry cocoons fetch about 10 lire ($1.93) per kilogram, but with the guaranty that 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of cocoons will yield 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of silk. The value of pierced or damaged cocoons may be as low as 50 centimes (9.6 cents). The cultivation of silkworms occupies only about forty days, dating from the birth of the worms until the cocoons are formed. In the first stage, one woman can take care of the worms produced from 2 ounces of eggs. A few days later, as worms grow rapidly, four or five persons must be engaged. Later on, when the worm begins to seek the prepared twigs and branches, five or six women are not too many to feed and otherwise care for the worms produced from 1 ounce of eggs. It is here assumed that the leaves are gathered by other hands during the seven or eight days when the worms require much attention. In the last stage, preparatory to formation of cocoon, many hands must be engaged, working day and night.

COMMERCIAL NOTES FROM ITALY.

The following extracts are from the annual report of Consul Richmond Pearson, of Genoa, to appear in full in Commercial Relations, 1902:

COTTON MANUFACTURING IN ITALY.

I have received from the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce an exhaustive report on the cotton-milling industry of the Kingdom, from which I have compiled the following statistics. The importation of cotton in recent years has increased as follows:

1870.......

1880..

1890..

1900..

Tons. 14,695

47, 254

101, 736

.... 122, 690

It is seen that, in the past three decades, the imports of cotton have increased from 60,000 bales to 536,000 bales.

came mainly from the following countries:

The imports

Tons.

United States.....

British India......

Egypt....

93, 459 14, 399 6,929

The United States furnishes four-fifths of the cotton consumed by Italian mills. The number of operatives in the mills in 1900 was 135, 198, classified as follows:

The total number of operatives in 1876 was 53,000. ing table gives other data:

The follow

The value of the output in 1876 was 51,000,000 lire ($9,843,000); in 1900, it was 304,000,000 lire ($58,672,000).

The principal increase in the industry has taken place in Lombardy and Piedmont, and especially around the cities of Milan, Turin, Novara, Como, and Bergamo, which enjoy the triple advantage. of abundant and constant water power, cheap labor, and excellent climate.

Average wages per day.

Labor is still cheaper in southern Italy and in Sicily, but the population in those parts of the Kingdom is not as industrious as that of Liguria, Piedmont, and Lombardy.

It is natural that the best water power in Italy should be found along the streams from the lakes which are fed by the rains and melting snows of the Alps. The water courses which have their sources in the Apennines either diminish greatly in volume or dry

up entirely in the summer, because there is no snow even on the highest peaks during eight months of the year, while the eternal beds of snow on the Alps furnish an abundant supply of water for the lakes of northern Italy in the driest and hottest season. Some of these lakes are 1,000 feet deep and 25 miles long, and they lie at varying elevations above the sea, the smaller ones sending their overflow into Maggiore, Como, and Garda, which in turn find outlets into the Po. In location, volume, and constancy this water power is simply ideal, and goes far to compensate Italy for the absence of coal; in fact, it gives her what the French call "houille blanche," or white coal.

WATER SUPPLY OF GENOA.

It would be difficult to imagine a more perfect supply of drinking water than that furnished to the city of Genoa. Since the introduction of pure water, there has been a marked improvement in the health of the city. Owing to the peculiar situation of Genoalying, as it does, in a kind of shell, sloping seaward from the Apennines to the Mediterranean-and on account of the dense population living along the two streams which run into the sea on the east and west of the city, the water supply was found to be rapidly deteriorating, and a new source was recognized as necessary. The problem was surrounded by physical obstacles which seemed insuperable, but its solution was as successful as it was bold and costly. A reservoir on the sea slope of the mountains being out of the question, the new company, composed of enterprising Belgians, determined to bring the water from the other side of the range, and for this purpose they purchased an extensive area of land on the north and west slopes of the Apennines. This land was wild and sparsely settled at the time, and is now absolutely uninhabited, not even sheep or cattle being allowed to range upon the watershed. Two enormous dams of granite were constructed to catch and confine the water, and then a tunnel, nearly 2 miles in length, was built through the heart of the mountain to conduct the water by gravitation to the Genoa side of the range. The work is a monument to the engineer, Mr. Nicolo Bruno. The first cost is practically the only cost, and the water is entirely pure. It yields about 10,000,000 gallons daily and is used exclusively for drinking purposes, the supply for other uses coming from the two old aqueducts leading from the streams above mentioned.

OPENINGS FOR AMERICAN ENTERPRISE IN ITALY.

Coal. It is certain that the American firm which first establishes itself in Genoa in the coal trade, and handles the business even at a very narrow margin of profit, will in time make money. Four

years ago, the importation of our coal here amounted to only 20 tons; the next year the quantity imported was 28,000 tons; the following year, 78,000 tons; while in the first half of the current year, notwithstanding the strikes, the imports of American coal have exceeded 65,000 tons. This port requires 2,000,000 tons per annum now, and the demand increases every year. The greater part goes to the interior, to the mills in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Switzerland. Ninety-five per cent of the coal imported here comes from Wales and England.

Cotton. -Another field for American enterprise is the establishment of an agency here to import cotton direct from the Gulf and South Atlantic ports. Genoa requires 500,000 bales of American cotton annually. Much of this goes to Liverpool or Havre, where it has to be rehandled and transshipped to Genoa. It goes without saying that direct trade, avoiding intermediaries, would save money for the shipper.

Elevators.-American elevators, if once introduced here and elsewhere on the Continent, would quickly and surely supplant the cumbrous, uncertain, and inefficient machines turned out by the factories in Milan and in various parts of France. The houses in this city average 7 stories in height. Elevators are greatly needed; the few that are installed were purchased in Milan, and the contrivances are almost comically defective. They take passengers upstairs at a snail's pace, and can not bring them down at all.

Mill machinery.-There is a most promising field here for American cotton-mill machinery. Three-fourths of the mills now in operation are equipped with old-fashioned machinery, made in France.

Bath tubs.-American plumbing supplies, especially modern bath tubs and water-closets, are gaining a foothold on the Continent, mostly in the large hotels. An American commercial traveler tells me that his house has just installed twenty-four porcelain-lined bath tubs in a new hotel at Stuttgart. This fact alone assures the patronage of American tourists.

Locks.-American door locks and keys ought to supplant the grotesque and ponderous concerns found everywhere on the Continent. The key to this consulate is nearly 8 inches long and weighs about half a pound. The transportation of this quaint implement on the person would require a specially constructed pocket, and the key itself might easily be mistaken for a deadly weapon.