that this is but twelve per cent of the total, from which it appears that her total export alone reaches a value near $400,000,000.
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Fig. 184.—Removing silkworm eggs from sheets of paper where they were laid, preparatory for hatching, Japan.
The use of silk in wearing apparel is more general among
the Chinese than among the Japanese, and with China's
eightfold greater population, the home consumption of silk
must be large indeed and her annual production must much
exceed that of Japan. Hosie places the output of raw
silk in Szechwan at 5,439,500 pounds, which is nearly a
quarter of the total output of Japan, and silk is
extensively grown in eight other provinces, which together have
an area nearly fivefold that of Japan. It would appear,
therefore, that a low estimate of China's annual production
of raw silk must be some 120,000,000 pounds, and
this, with the output of Japan and Korea, would make a
product for the three countries probably exceeding
150,000,000 pounds annually, representing a total value of
perhaps $700,000,000; quite equalling in value the wheat
