'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎167v] (339/610)

300
On being removed to the tilimbar, the sil^
wOTm^^The^asant^lmwever 1 ■when^he^weSher'is^threaterdi^, tiffnaJly endeav-
Z^o obtain'a^ood supply^of feaves which have not been exposed to the ram.
Great cold and great warmth are both injurious to the worms.
At the expiration of about 40 days worms become of a transparent toe,
cease to eat, and exhibit a desire to climb the boughs to form their coons^
This is a season of universal jubilee to the peasantry of Gilan, d h t
laUmirppaqes Tudeed thev have every reason to rejoice, as in tms aamp auu iiy
cmXthfgathering of the y branches is no ordinary toil, and often occasions deadly
■£0Y0j’g >
R ’ llt . Vl o nf the box tree the leaves of which the worms never eat, are now
placed iii the bed, when the’insects ascend and begin to spin. The ladder is then
piaceu in wie ucii, an( i a n gooess forbidden during ten days. At
the end a of this time the proprietor accompanied, if the silk-worm eggs were
the end 01 tnis ti , ( r , , < n^rabereh ’ or some other like system
obtained unde ^ the importer of grain, enters the tilimbar, and having
remo/ed the boughs with which the nlace is encumbered, they behold the entire-
roof covered with the beautiful white and yellow cocoons.
The ropes holding the bed are cut and the cocoons fall to the ground and are
fathered and weighed by the villagers.
^ The ‘ ra’ayat ’ retain a third o/ the produce and the proprietor and importer
of grain take the remainder. , , ,
Should the villager be in debt to the proprietor, this latter pays himself out of
the villager’s share but on the distinct understanding that the villager s cocoons-
will be valued at the same price at which the proprietor sells his cocoons to the
foreign exporter. , „ .
Until ouite recently both proprietors and villagers disposed of their cocoons
for readv ensh now however, the villager, to increase his income, spins the
silk. He is also bound to spin the proprietor’s silk; if the latter so uesires, and -.his
without remuneration. x
When the villager does not dispose of his fresh cocoons to the exporters,
he, to destroy the chrysales, spreads the cocoons ima room which ^ hermetmaUy
.1 ’ .i ...n.i which he burns some one or two ponds (dbto ios;ui nu
husks of riefe The cocoons are left there for 24 hours and then spread m the sun
to dry. Should there be no sun, they are submitted a second time to the above
mentioned treatment.
asleep, he will not venture to awaken it; he believes that a 300 ( f°rl)ad‘ t raccolta^
dpuends entirely on its favour, and should it die, his silk crop shall be a total ta lure
If a man is at enmity with another, the greatest injury he caninflict upont
to kill his snake.” This was narrated by Holmes in 1843 and one voum nave
tVionsht that durin" the intervening 60 years this superstition would have
ouf Such howevlr, is not the case, a well informed landed proprietor of the-
strict of Fumln related to me exactly the same thing and seemed convinced
that his silk crop was dependant upon the snakes which had
tilimbars their ^abode; . mporteT }ssxles to the landowners or producer, seed free of
charge, and in repayment receives a proportion of the cocoons. t mT . era t ur e-
* Exporters kill the chrysales by steaming them m a room with a temperature
of 80° for 5 minutes. They are then placed on wooden trays in the a ^e t
storeyed sheds which are common m the silk P r . od " c ™? f ^^.p^lv^chrvsalis
about 2i months. In Ju ly when dried so thoroughly ^ do Pene ( i fhe cmisa
inside crumbles into dust, they are packed m bales weighing 1 poud (36 i »)
export.