500,000 Miles Of Thread.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 337, 19 January 1937, Page 2

500,000 Miles Of Thread.

Tit silk for the Coronation robes for inembers of the Royal Family is being: spun in England, behind the ancient walls of Lulllngstone Castle, Eynsford, Kent, states a London writer.

Five hundred thousand miles of thread are required, and to fulfil the order of 1,000,000 cocoons will have to be "reeled bff;”

The iHk industry in Drita'n is at once one of the oldest and newest. After the feign of Charles 11. it languished, but in feeent times, thanks to the vision add enterprise Of Lady Hart Dyke, who adopted silk as a childhood hobby, and then saw its commercial possibilities, the business is-flourishing. Her “farm” at Lulllngstone Castle has alreadyachieved fame, and is one of the "sights” of Kent. It is, indeed, the only silk farm in England. Lady Dyke is not the original owner of the castle, but she took over the old place when the "family” was forced to move under pressure of heavy taxation—a fate which has befallen many landed gentry since the war.

Having engaged an expert manager. she co-operated with him in obtaining the latest information concerning silk production in China and Italy. She then purchased large quantities of silkworm eggs and installed the best machinery. The silk produced cn the LullingBtone. farm is considered too valuable to 'be used in the making of even the most expensive silk stockings.

Already a large area of land has been plinted with about 50,000 mulberry. trees and bushes to provide fodder for future hatches.

Queen Mary inspected the farm recently, and expressed keen interest.