by Lena Giesbrecht Isaac (Village of Unsettled Yearnings, p. 126-127)

My mother, Elizabeth Wittenberg Giesbrecht, born November 13, 1884, in Altonau, Molotschna colony, was an enthusiast who was always eager to start a new venture. Settling in Yarrow in 1928, however, and raising a family of 10 during the miserably lean years of the Great Depression, meant endless hours of demanding chores. Yet the hard work did not quash her creative energies. Invariably she found the time and passion for unique projects. One such project early on was learning the English language. What could better facilitate this than using the Eaton's catalogue as a textbook? Many an hour was spent with the postmaster, Eva Siddall, writing out catalogue orders, and the two developed a close friendship. During one of their sessions, Mother was encouraged to take up silkworm cultivation, a hobby she had practised back in Russia. The silkworm industry had been strongly promoted among the Mennonites in Russia by Johann Cornies (1789-1848), a successful farmer, businessman, and political leader. By 1845 some 207 families in 35 colonies were involved in this enterprise. Cornies invested much of his own time and money to further the silkworm industry, including building a special girls' school in Orloff, in the southern Ukraine, that offered instruction in silk reeling. Eventually, however, competition from the French and Italians and a silkworm plague resulted in the death of the industry.

After settling in Yarrow, Father, always ready to cooperate with Mother's ventures, responded to her new interest by planting a hedge of some 20 mulberry bushes. These grew very quickly, and within two to three years the leaves were ready for harvesting. In 1940, Eva Siddall contacted government officials in Ottawa, who then ordered and imported silkworm eggs from Japan. Mother was able to start her project.

There are four stages in the life cycle of a silkworm: egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. The eggs are round, somewhat flattened, and about the size of a turnip seed. Mother kept the eggs in cold storage until the greening of the mulberry bushes in spring, then placed them in the rearing room, where the temperature was 70 to 75^° Fahrenheit. The eggs hatched within 10 days. The larvae, about 1/8 inch in length, were immediately ready to receive food. To prepare for feeding them, Father had constructed a raised platform of about 3 1/2 by 15 feet in a small farm building. Here, the larvae were placed on trays with fresh mulberry leaves. Since the larvae fed most of the time, the leaves were quickly devoured and needed replenishing three or four times daily.

The worms grew rapidly, until they were about three inches long. This period of growth lasted 30 to 40 days, during which time the larvae underwent four stages of molting. During each stage, they held their heads up, were motionless, and appeared to be asleep, indicating that feeding would cease for at least 24 to 26 hours. The final molt was the most critical, and disease lurking in the worms would manifest itself at this time. While the worms were molting, special precautions had to be taken: the worms could not be disturbed or fed stale, damp leaves, and trays had to be cleaned twice daily.

When the worms were ready to form cocoons, they crawled over the leaves, shrank somewhat in size, and became transparent. Restless now, they raised and waved their heads as if searching for something to climb upon. And they began to throw out threads of silk. When she noticed these signs, Mother placed branches with small twigs on the trays so the worms could mount the twigs and spin between them. It took three days for the worms to surround themselves with silken strands. The outer threads, known as floss, were spun first to serve as a network. After securing the network, the chrysalises discharged from their inner spinnerets yard upon yard of silken strands, winding the threads around themselves until they finally became invisible in their cocoons.

Eight days after the first worms had begun their spinning, a number of cocoons were set aside to allow moths to emerge, thus ensuring a supply of eggs for the following season. The chrysalises in the rest of the cocoons were then destroyed using one of several methods: placing the cocoons for several hours in an oven set at 70 to 75^°, exposing them to the hot rays of the sun, or steaming them. After this, the silken cocoons were ready for reeling.

In the summer of 1942, Mother raised 400 cocoons and experienced much pleasure from the use of her spinning wheel, handcrafted by John Ratzlaff Sr. of Yarrow. After the silk had been spun, she knitted socks, stockings, scarves, sweaters, and shawls for members of the family. These were always very much appreciated.