Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/300

292 STEAM FILATURE SILK.

Raw white steam filature silk is by far the most valuable of silk exports, accounting for Tls. 39,047,350 of the total of Tls. 89,084,034 exported during 1907. There are filatures at Shanghai, Canton, Soochow, and Hangchow, the best prices being realised by the products of the Shanghai filatures. The cocoons are collected in the farming districts, and the filatures have to pay exorbitant prices for them; but, owing to the superior processes employed, the filatures are able to reel off silk worth from Tls. 700 to Tls. 800 per picul, while the native hand-reeled silk is worth only about Tls. 500 per picul. The cocoons used in Shanghai are brought chiefly from Wusieh district in the Kiangsu Province, where the silk is by nature the finest in the world; and from Showshing, in Chekiang Province, where it is almost as good in quality but not of so brilliant a white. The cocoons are sorted according to district, size, and colour; the waste silk—the loose silk bag or nest in which the cocoon is suspended—is picked off by hand and forms one of the by-products, and the cocoons are then reeled. In the process of reeling the silk the cocoons are first placed in bassines, which are filled with water kept at about boiling point by means of steam. The cocoons float on the surface, and the water acts as a solvent upon the gum in them, enabling the "brushing girls" to collect the loose ends of silk. The cocoons are then ladled out to two reeling women, who sit on the opposite side of the bassine table, and each woman takes some five or more and passes the filaments over guides and on to the reeling machine. In passing through the guides the filaments are twisted together, and the thread thus produced is the raw silk of export. It takes from 3,000 to 3,500 cocoons to reel one pound of silk, and, like the hand-reeled product, the steam filature silk is hanked into bundles of nine pounds and made up into bales of one picul each. Canton steam filature silk is not of such fine quality as that produced at Shanghai, and realises from Tls. 150 to Tls. 200 per picul less in the market. The principal producing districts and places of destination are shown in the accompanying table.

YELLOW SILK.

Raw yellow silk originates in the provinces of Szechwan and Shantung, the chief producing districts being Chefoo, Kiaochau, Chungking, Ichang, Shasi, Hankow, Shanghai, Pakhoi, and Tengyueh. The export consists entirely of hand-reeled silk, which is collected from the farmers in the same way as other products. The export values for the past five years are given in the appended tabular statement.

WILD SILK.

Wild silk comes principally from Newchwang and Chefoo, other contributing districts being Antung, Darien, Chinwangtao, Kiaochau, Shanghai, Canton, and Lappa. It is the product of a silkworm fed upon oak leaves, and is very coarse in comparison with white and yellow silk. The cocoons are about three times as large as those of other species, and are pear-shaped, for the reason that they are slung from twigs. The piece-goods manufactured from this silk, which is of much the same colour as a pale cocoanut fibre, are known as tussahs.

COCOONS.

Cocoons form only a small item of export. Shanghai, Canton, Lappa, and Hangchow are

Original Export from principal Customs Districts. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907.

Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels.

Shanghai ,095,183 ,112,638 .335770 ,195.187 ,948,298 Canton ,838,478 ,137,988 ,848,318 ,336,761 ,192,402 Cliief Countries to which Exported. Tads. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Hongkong ,838,478 ,137,988 ,848,318 ,336,761 ,192,402 Great Britain ,620 ,462 ,668 ,030 — France — — .755.513 ,027,783 ,239.592 Italy — — .663 ,573 ,034,770 U.S.A. (including Hawaii)... ,559-925 ,356,128 ,960,105 ,280,302 .573,948 RAW YELLOW. RAW WILD. Original Export from principal Customs Districts. . . . . . Taels. Taels. TaeU. Taels. Taels. Kiaochau ,280 ,137.765 .144 .934 ,477,908 Chungking ,304,836 ,179,224 ,684,238 ,496,957 ,778,169 Hankow .315,778 ,105,203 ,350,622 .577,550 ,142,740 Chief Countries to which Exported. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Hongkong .198 .347 .444 ,039 ,248 British India .285 .193,267 ,493,086 .020,437 ,964,406 Great Britain ,980 .954 — — — Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Aden, Algeria, &c. ,820 .304 ,248 ,302 ,363,966 France — — ,678 ,578 .444 Italy — — .775 ,732 ,082 Original Export from principal Customs Districts. . . •905- . . Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Taels. Newchwang .259.634 .821,344 ,786,567 .549.753 ,192,536 Chefoo ,669,130 ,246,329 .330.297 ,240,649 ,492,294- Chungking .387 ,542 .509 ,080 i 125,764 Shanghai ,772 ,938 ,363 ' 57,248' . ■ 49.7 M Canton .405 ,141 ,911 .459 1 • 64,077, Lappa ,026 ,617 ,879 ,174 .270 Chief Countries to which Exported. Taels. Taels. Tads. Taels. Taels. Hongkong .928 ,811 ,226 ,946 .674 Great Britain ,232 .195 .791 ,002 ,316 France — — ,002,288 ,139,097 ,534.025 Italy — — ,280,294 ,083,334 .408 Japan (including Formosa) ,492 ,207 ,443,880 ,132,217 ,460 United States America (including Hawaii) ,374 ,410,287 .551.404 ,351 ,968