Mongzong Lo

Alan MacCormack
Power and Imagination
April 13, 2015
Silk with a Future?
Silk is a luxurious item which was first developed by the Chinese. It has
a beautiful luster which shines compared to the dull appearance of cotton,
and although being light, it is still warm to the touch. As such a fine fiber, silk
was collected exclusively in the east due to native mulberry trees growing
only in Asia, Europe and Africa. The leaves of these mulberry trees,
especially the white mulberry leaves are the primary food source for
silkworms, the larvae of the silk moths, which are the producers of silk in its
raw form. Since silk in its raw form is too fragile to be used for weaving
alone, multiple strands of the raw silk are combined to form a thread, which
can then be woven into silk fabric for clothes and other uses. Silk today
remains as a luxury item and this may be attributed to the delicate process
of creating silk, however even though the silk industry holds potential to do
well economically, it seems to be declining in other countries.
Today, silk remains as one of the best fibers in the world for apparel
because of its ability to insulate heat, absorb water and dry quickly. Another
feature of silk, the luster makes for good formal clothing such as a dress, or
the suit and tie. The shine from the fabric also looks great as decorations on
furniture or as a wall covering. Being a very traditional fabric for Asian
culture, silk remains a widely popular fabric in Japan, China, and India. It
plays a huge role to make Japans kimonos or the Chineses intricate designs
of clothing. Folks in India also make traditional silk outfits for Indian women
called sari/saree. Currently Japan is known as the leading consumer of raw
silk, buying about 50% of Chinas silk production for Kimonos and other
products. Although not related to silk as textile, silk being a natural material
makes it good for use in the medical field. Instead of being entirely used for
apparel or decoration, silk may be mixed with biodegradable products to
form composites, such as silk sutures which are used to keep separated body
tissues intact.
The process of making silk is long, beginning with raising and
cultivating silkworms; known as sericulture. The most prevalent silkworm
used in the silk industry is the larva form of the bombyx mori, which has
been used to produce silk long before America was founded. In the raising of

silkworms, there must be a bombyx mori present to lay the eggs (or you
could buy silkworm eggs from other source), where it may lay around 300400 eggs. The eggs must be kept warm for about ten days before they hatch.
Once the eggs have hatched, the silkworms will search and begin to eat
mulberry leaves continuously until it is ready to spin its cocoon. After
approximately 6 weeks of continuous eating, the silkworm should change
into a yellowish color and prepare to spin its cocoon by attaching itself to a
frame or structure, an example would be the inside of a toilet paper roll or
so. During the spinning, the silkworm secretes saliva, which hardens and
becomes the raw silk that will be cultivated later. Additionally, the silkworm
rotates to spin the silk around itself until it forms a cocoon. Normally, a
bombyx mori should hatch from the cocoon and continue on with its life
cycle, however the silk will become ruined when the silkworm releases
destructive saliva in order to get out of its cocoon. Instead of allowing the
silkworm to hatch, it is set and killed in boiling water. Boiling the cocoon in
the water also softens the raw silk, and allows it to be reeled into bobbins.
While reeling in the raw silk from the cocoon in the boiling water, as said in
the beginning paragraph, the silk thread by itself is too fragile to be used
alone for weaving, so multiple strands are intertwined through a process
called throwing, to make a stronger silk thread. When everything is finished,
the silk thread may be sold to others, such as companies across the sea, so
they can make textiles out of the silk. Selling raw silk to other countries must
go through a testing process and pass the accepted standards before being
marketed. Grades will be determined based on the amount of quality the silk
possesses. This type of marketing is usually done by the government or
other agencies of the country who are willing to process the silk, such as
China, Japan, or India. The International Silk Association has set up a grading
system to be used by countries that produce silk.
The silk industry has massively increased from the 1900s up to the
early 2000s, where silk has become more mechanized in factories. Prior to
the invention of machines, people had used manual loom machines to reel in
silk thread by hand and foot, which would have taken days to make. But
automated machines have enabled the reeling to be powered by sources
such as water-power, steam, or electricity. These machines are able to do the
job within hours supervised by a single person and much more accurately,
meaning that the quality of the silk is worth more than by hand. These loom
machines are part of the final process that the silk thread may undergo,
which consists of two main operations called warping and weft. Warping is
when the thread is rolled onto a beam under the same tension, parallel

together or in a certain order. The threads may be called warp yarn. The silk
is then wrapped around a pirn or reel and weaved between the warp yarns to
spin and create the silk textile. Afterwards the silk can be dyed a certain
color or be used to make all sorts of clothing. An optional step to make silk
look more unique, is printing patterns onto the silk textile by using a printing
option such as roller printing; using engraved rollers and rolling them over
the silk textile to imprint the pattern.
Known to have an enormous number of agricultural workers, China
remains as the biggest producer of silk. Most of the land in China is
composed of the rural area, allowing plenty of land for cultivation and
sericulture. In 2013, China produced up to 130 thousand metric tons of silk,
which is approximately 80% of the total amount of silk collected overall in
2013. The second largest producer of silk is India, which only produced
around 26 thousand metric tons of silk. These two countries remain and
continue to rise within the silk industry. However, two of the more notable
countries such as Brazil, and Japan are gradually declining in production.
Japan had been the greatest producer of silk in the 1930s with up to 24
thousand metric tons of silk, but in 2008 it had produced up to only 96
metric tons. It further decreased to 30 metric tons in 2013. Brazil produced
1200 metric tons in 2008, but in 2013 ended up with only 550 metric tons of
silk. Some of the other known countries like Syria, Egypt, Colombia, South
Korea, and Philippines barely just reach up to one metric ton of silk, showing
just how much more Silk is being produced by the Chinese in the silk
industry.
Japan appears to have the biggest decline from top producer in the
1930s to one of the lowest producers of silk in the early 2000s. The
decrease in Japans silk production may be related to the younger generation
and the advancement of urban civilization. With many new city jobs available
and companies expanding overseas, many young people in Japan may prefer
living and having a job in the city over the strenuous but delicate hours put
into agriculture in the rural area. In most factories (including silk factories), a
person is only going to have one mindless or repetitive activity to do, which
may make it seem more appealing than taking time to raise a silkworm.
Through the rise of urban cities and jobs, the Elderly are left in charge of
agriculture without any successors to take their place, meaning a decline of
people who are willing to raise silkworms. Regarding agriculture, Japan is
fairly small compared to a huge land like China, which would obstruct Japan
from expanding their agricultural industry. The decline in their silk production
may also be related to the continually growing Chinese and Indian silk

industry, since Japan can just trade and import silk from China or India
instead of raising their own silkworms.
The effects of growing technology have led to increases in production
of the silk industry, though it has also led to disadvantages. Although silk has
a beautiful texture, it is hard to take care of because it can be harmed by
sunlight or chemicals such as our perspiration. Because of these
disadvantages, silk has become less popular in the modern culture.
Alternative fibers have been created, such as nylon and polyester, which are
both heat resistant and have become more popular than silk (with polyester
becoming most popular, being a cheaper option), since theyre both easier to
take care of compared to silk. Since part of the process of reeling in silk
includes boiling silkworms alive, an organization called People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) has looked down upon silk. They claim that
every pound of silk is the result of three thousand silkworms killed, which
would mean that China has killed up to 390 million silkworms since they
produced 130 thousand metric tons of silk in 2013. Also, after centuries of
silkworms of being domesticated, the evolved form of the silkworm is unable
to fly because it has adapted to being dependent on human beings. PETA
therefore promotes other alternatives, such as cruelty-free synthetic fibers
made from companies like Primaloft (known to produce polyester clothing),
which have similar properties compared to silk, such as insulating
capabilities and quick drying properties.
Before the United States gave up on the silk industry, in the early
1800s people have tried sericulture. The conditions in the U.S werent great
for growing mulberry trees, but it was still possible. However, in 1844 most
the mulberry trees in the U.S contracted a blight which ended the silk
business. The sericulture business required a lot of patience and manual
labor because modern technology such as factories and machines werent
invented yet. The most challenging problem families were faced with was
raising silkworms in their homes, because silkworms take up a huge chunk of
their homes. Even with the invention of factories, silk production became less
popular and eventually disappeared in the United States, being
overshadowed by cotton, and synthetic fibers.
Although some countries have stopped producing silk, this does not
mean that silk is now unprofitable. Silk still remains a luxury item because it
is rare and only produced in regions that have the right climate to raise
silkworms and mulberry trees. Comparing silk to synthetic fibers in
production, silk only has up to 139 thousand metric tons of silk produced in

2010, while the synthetic fibers went up to 44 million metric tons in 2010,
showing how small of a margin silk is. This makes silk production still viable
for the future as there isnt a very efficient technique for mass producing silk.
An article about Kenya displays that the silk farming is promising and may be
profitable for Kenya farmers and those who are currently in poverty. Right
now Kenya is suffering drought, unable to grow crops and raise their
livestock. Still, Mulberry trees are able to withstand drought, meaning that
Kenya farmers can grow mulberry trees in place of their crops. However, one
of the challenges for the Kenya farmers is getting the silk eggs they need to
cultivate silk. Only 50 or so farmers have silkworms, but even then they have
small amounts of silkworms. It is written by Gilbert Koech that Kenya could
potentially produce up to 10 thousand metric tons of silk, showing that Kenya
has the potential to become a big producer in silk industry. The other
problem for Kenya or African farmers in general is that they have no
knowledge about the process of silkworm bearing. This makes it hard for
them because they would need supervision until they learn how to farm silk
themselves.
In an effort to prevent the silk industry from declining further in other
countries, the International Sericultural Commission (ISC) has asked for
volunteers who are experts in sericulture; who can supervise African, Asian,
and Latin American folks who are unable to hire people to teach them about
silk farming. The ISC is hoping in the next three years that it will be able to
contact the government of other countries, collaborating with them and
expand sericulture across the world. Since Japan and Brazil are declining
from the silk industry, this gives an opportunity for the African, Asian, and
Latin American regions to develop in sericulture. In regards to the article
about Kenya that Gilbert Koech wrote about, the ISC plans to promote
sericulture to Kenya since there seems to be people interested in silk at the
markets in Kenya. Additionally, silk was imported to Kenya, signifying that
people do have a demand for silk there. With a demand of silk in Kenya,
more silk markets would show up and start a silk trade connection. From the
ISCs perspective, they believe that Kenya has plenty of available land for
sericulture, a lot of people who are unemployed and need jobs, and that the
people will be able to learn how to do silk work if taught. If Kenya was to be
supported on those aspects from the outside, they could become successful
in sericulture.
The silk industry holds the potential to do well in the economy because
there is some demand for silk. Although China has produced over 130 metric
tons of silk, Japan has imported half of the silk to make their clothing. Italy,

although not known to have silk farming, has been importing silk to dye or
print patterns on the fabric. Furthermore, Italy uses the silk from China to
make lady blouses and silk scarfs for export to other countries. In Lyon,
France, another buyer of Chinas silk, has bought and used the silk to make
interior designs for houses such as curtains, bed sheets, and wall covers.
Germany has also imported silk goods from China for their markets. Though I
may have only mentioned China as a huge producer, Germany buys silk
goods from India as well as Thailand. However, with China as one of the
biggest producers of silk, it has opened many opportunities for trade with
other countries. Countries such as Kenya and the Philippines may be able to
open up their opportunities as well by using the silk industrys potential.
Some countries such as the United States, Japan and Brazil are
withdrawing or declining within the silk industry, and synthetic fibers like
polyester have become more popular, yet silk still remains as a luxury item
with its quality attributes as a natural fiber. Having such a long procedure
serves as an advantage which brings the prices up, along with the demand
for silk from the outside countries. The potential of the silk industry can still
be harvested by other regions like Africa and Latin America, which just needs
some support from an external source like the ISC. Toward the future, though
not pertaining to the U.S, silk may come to have a much greater demand in
Japan, Germany, Italy and France as more silk is produced by upcoming
countries who are introduced to the silk industry.

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