«F.Î.V»
As it is known, every year Fergana Province sends up to 50% of its silk products abroad, primarily to Italy (Milan) and France (Marseille). Up to 25% of silk reeled off was sent to the Bukhara Khanate, Persia and Afghanistan.
As it comes to cottage silk industry in Fergana itself, local merchants believe that it requires no more than 4500-5000 pood of silk [1 pood = 16 kg]. The figure seems insignificant, and it would be highly desirable to increase it to the extent possible, given that cottage silk-weaving industry is a source of substantial support for local residents.
They manufacture two kinds of fabrics and textiles in general: semi-silk and pure silk. For the former, Moscow manufacturers bring to Fergana up to 15,000 pood of different cotton yarns every year. This yarn mixed with silk is used to produce beneres, aklyk, dagir, bekasob, adras, pripasha, and similar fabrics. For the weft they use cotton yarn, while the fabric “base” is made of local silk. Five weight units of cotton yarn usually take one weight unit of silk. Thus, for 15,000 pood of imported yarn 3,000 pood of locally spun silk is used.
On average, the total value of semi-silk fabrics produced in Fergana equals one and a half to two million rubles. Besides the aforementioned semi-silk fabrics, pure silk products are manufactures predominantly in Samarqand. Silk alone is used to make shawls, scarves, covers… Local pure silk manufacturing requires no more than 1,500