BABY SILKWORMS ARE NO BIGGER THAN PIN-POINTS

   You probably know that silkworms give us the silk fibers that are spun into thread and woven into silk cloth. baby silkworms are very small. They are hatched from eggs that are no bigger than pin-points. But they grow very fast. while they are growing we must feed them many times a day and even in night. Young Mulberry leaves are the food they like best and they are always hungry. We can observe the worms on trays in our house. For about six weeks they eat nearly all the time. When the worms stop eating they are as long as a finger. Then each worm will wind itself in a cocoon.

   The silkworm spins its cocoon from a fine fibre that comes out its head. The fibre is almost as fine as a cobweb. It is very wonderful, the way worm wraps itself round and round with the fibre until it is hidden away in the cocoon. When the cocoon is finished , we must put them in hot water to kill the worm inside. You know, perhaps, what would happen if we did not do that ? The worms would soon change into moths and break their way out of the cocoons. In coming out they would tear the fibre and spoil it. When the worms are dead, the cocoons are dried. Then they are sold. Big factories of Japan in towns buy them for manufacture of silk cloths.