Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we 

 can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the 

 best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond. — Hypatia. 



The Guide to Nature 



EDUCATION AND RECREATION 



Vol. I 



DECEMBER, 1908 



No. 9 



Silkworm Rearing as a Popular Pursuit 



BY T. A. KELEHER, EXPERT SILK CULTURIST, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



HE fascinating work of silk- 

 worm rearing has become a 

 popular pastime with some 

 people and many an inter- 

 esting hour is spent by 

 these amateur silk cultur- 

 ists in following the grad- 

 ual development of the "worm" from 

 the day it issues from the tiny 

 egg, watching its every movement, 

 its growth to maturity, the re- 

 markable energy it displays in the 

 building of its silken home, and at 

 length its emergence from the cocoon 

 as a beautiful cream-colored moth 

 whose sole object is to lay eggs for the 

 perpetuation of its snecies. 



In various books, silk culture is brief- 

 ly mentioned, but to gain a better 

 knowledge of the nature and habits of 

 the wonderful little silk producer than 

 can be obtained bv the mere studv of 



pictures and descriptions, one should 

 secure some silkworm eggs, which 

 when hatched out may be easily cared 

 for and will offer an excellent chance 

 to observe each day how these little 

 creatures pass through their different 

 phases of development. 



The eggs may be obtained during 

 winter and kept in a cool dry place 

 until the mulberry leaves are out in 

 the spring. A perforated tin box makes 

 a good receptacle to protect eggs from 

 rats and mice, which are very fond of 

 them. 



Following is a description of how 

 the silkworm is reared and silk is 

 made : 



NATURE OF THE SILKWORM. 



The silkworm proper, or the species 

 which has been under domestic culti- 

 vation in China for manv centuries, 



Copyright 1908 by The Agassiz Association, Stamford. Conn. 



