3 68 



flit TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1884. 



SILKWORM UULTIVATION. 



BY U. S. VICK-CONSOX JOHN GEIF-FITT, OF SMYRNA. 



The efforts that are being made at present in the I ' nited 

 States to extend the culture of the silkworm leads me to 

 make this report, trusting it may be useful. 



I have been engaged for m >uy years in raising silkworms, 

 my object being the study of their diseas is, an I, after years 

 of experiments, have sueoee led in obtaining healthy grain, 

 tiii' basis of success in silk dture. 



I was induced to make these trials in the hope of 

 alleviating the losses that the peasants in Turkey have 

 suffered forth- last twenty-five years, aud have endeavoured 

 to interest the governors of this Vilayet in my work, in 

 order that I might obtain the moral support of the govern- 

 ment, but thus far without snccess. 



The lost suffered by Tie lav since 1857, when the silk- 

 worm disease first spread so violently, is incalculable. I 

 remember the time when the wife of every gardener in 

 the vicinity of Smyrna obtained from her crop of c ic ions 

 a sufficient return to enable her to pay for the clothing 

 of her family for the entire year. This fatal disease swept 

 away our beautiful indigenous races, and this branch of 

 industry was almost abandoned. Many mulberry trei s were 

 uprooted, those that were retained being kept by the 

 gard ners solely for the use of their branches. 



There were at that time three large silk reeling factories, 

 worked by steam, where hundreds of women were employed. 

 Work had to be abandoned for want of cocoons. The 

 Japanese race was introduced later on, with but partial 

 success. There is a very great difference between the 

 indigenous and the Japanese races; it requires at least 

 double the number of th - latter to give the same weight 

 in cocoons; that is to say, if it requires 250 fresh cocoons 

 of the indigenous race to weight a pound, it requires 500 

 of the Japanese, and the quality of the silk is much inferior. 



I obtained some years ago a quantity of indigenous grain 

 of a very fine race, but very much diseased. 1 rais 

 worms from the moment they were batched in 9 ■ 

 cells, in order that the diseased o tes might not inf 

 healthy (all the worms of a diseased moth are not diseased), 

 and from the few healthy ones 1 obtained my 

 race, which I have since then continued to impr iv 

 I now find it in every way superior to all other 

 have raised, not only as in the vigor of tie' ., 



also as to the weight of tin soon a id the | 



quantify of the silk it yields. Fromoneounce if 30 grammes 

 1 obtain invariably from 150 to 155 pounds of fresh cocoons, 

 12 pounds nf which, just taken from - i --. yield 



over one pound of silk of the best and fin 

 Another great advi my race is that it h 



more than -I to 6 pei c nf " ; .1 iu . while other 



races have from 15 to 30 per cent. 



In my experiments in raising grain, I. find that double 

 coco is should never be used for reproduction. On the 

 contrary, they should be carefulhj '. is the worms 



obtained from grain thi mothsof which issued form double 

 cocoons the next season. 



All the grain I raise is manufactured on the system of 

 the distinguished Pasteur, to whom sericulture owes every- 

 thing in tin' regeneration of the silkworm. Each moth 

 i- placi d ou i small cloth to lay its eggs, 'mil when fin- 

 ished the size of about a silver dollar 1 place my grain 

 in thin layers in a room heated vidian earthenware stove 

 and gradually bring the temperature to 70° Fahrenheit, 

 taking care to keep a vase of water constantly on the 

 stove, The grain begins to hatch in six or seven days, 

 and continues to do so for four or five days. I throw 

 away i' ty's issue, as the worms are not numerous, 

 ami weak, although not sickly. Each day's issue is kept 

 apart; to the first day's issue I give two fee, 1 ., of leaf, 

 cut up very thin«with a clean knife, and 1 give an extra 

 feed t't each day's after-issue. The first day's issue I pla se on 

 the lowest frame ot the stand, those of tie- 

 on the above, and so on. The object of this is to 



enable the worms of the last day's issue tn :h i ethers 

 in theirfirsl molt, as the higher the worms an laced 

 the stand I he greater is the heat, and this, joined to the 



extra meals enable- I belli to III .ke their first molt with 



those hatched earlier, thus forming a regularity in the 

 education, In the second, third, and fourth ages 1 feed 

 my worms four times a day, at 5 and 10 a.m.. and at :; 



and x p.m. The feeds are given with great regularity. In 

 the last age they are fed constantly from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., 

 and when I raise worms iu my large nursery I employ 

 extra hands to continue feeding them during the whole 

 night, not in large quantities, but never allowing them to 

 remain without food. It is in lispensably requisite that the 

 worms should not be crowded, especially iu their first ages. 

 I give to the worms of one ounce of grain, in their first 

 age a space of 2J square yards; iu their second age, 5 

 square yards; in their third, 10 square yards; in their 

 fourth age. 25 square vards; and in their fifth and last 

 age there should not be more than SOU or 600 worms per 

 square yard. The leaves of .the wild mulberry are prefer- 

 able for the first three ages, and the leaves of the grafted 

 mulberry should b^ given for the fourth and fifth ages. 

 The leaves should be gathered after the dew his evapor- 

 ated, and if wet by rain they should be dried before they 

 are given to the worms. The leaf is cut up to the end of the 

 third age ; after that the leaves are given entire to the worms. 



I ciean my frames twice during the second, third, aud 

 fourth ages. Once immediately after their first meal, after 

 their molt, and again the day before they began to molt. 

 This is done by placing sheets of thick paper, pierced 

 with holes sufficiently large to allow the worms to pass 

 through. These pierced sheets of paper are placed on the 

 wirms, leaves are placed on them, aud in a few moments 

 the entire batch will crawl upon the leaf. The papers 

 with the worms on are then raised and placed upon a clean 

 frame; if a few should remain iu the litter I put them 

 apart from the others. The litter should be raised very 

 carefully; no dust from it should he raised very carefully; 

 no dust from it should be allowed to spread iu the room. 



Tin- last age of the worm is certainly its most critical 

 one, and requires the greatest care. At this period the 

 worm eats twice as much as during its first four ages, ami 

 the litter remaiuing ou the frames, together with the de- 

 jections of the worms rendei the air impure and unhealthy. 

 iquently the frames should be cleaned frequently, and 

 there should be a constant renewal of fresh air. Diluted 

 chloride of lime should be kept in each corner of the room 

 during the entire period of the fourth and fifth ages. 



Five days after the worms have formed their cocoons 

 thf>y shell, I he taken off the brushes with great care, for 

 if any rl is rem in on the brushes in a state 

 of putrefaction the good cocoons would be soiled and con- 

 sequently .1. eiated in value. All imperfect cocoons 



should he separated and exposed to the sun for some days 



"v the chrysalis; the good ones steamed, Theste - 



i destroying chrysalides is far preferable to 



her; the silk is not injured thereby, as it, is ipt 

 to be by baking or exposure to the sun. I steam them 



enty minutes, the water constantly boilmg,anrl this 

 I fin 1 sufficient to destroy the chrysalis; I then place on 

 the frames in thin layers to dry, and after this is effected 

 the cocoons should be reeled off as soon as possible. 



By raising the worms of healthy grain, such as 1 have 

 above described, and by following the foregoing directions, 

 it is impossible not to succeed in obtaining a good crop 

 of COCOOhS. Years' experience has proved to me that, 



of il ducators have been to whom I 



have given grain, they have invariably obtained a remu- 

 nerative crop of cocoons, and even sometimes quite as good 

 as my own. — Mercury. 



Oil op Stab ANISE. — The Monitt ur tie la Pha.rm.aeie states 

 that one of the principal articles of commerce in the district 

 of Hanoi is oil of star anise, which is manufactured on the 

 frontier of Lang-Sou. The industry is carried on by Chinese, 

 who extract the oil by submitting the seeds to uninterrupted 

 boiling during thirty-six hours. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



This Russians and thjbir Tea Supply — The follow- 

 ing is a S • Petersburg dispatch to the London Times : — 

 " The toa plant lias lately been introduced near Souk- 

 goum Kaleh, on the Black Sea. and the Russians are 

 confident, it eeems, that thev will soon be able to do 

 without eit'ier Chines'! or Indian teas. They are natur 

 ally irritated at the thought th it after all their efforts 

 a' direct importation by the v.-sels of the Volunteer 

 Fleet, London can etill supply Russia with tea more 

 quickly and cheaply than can the Russ'an merchants, 

 though next-door neighbours to the Flowery Laud," 



