State Agricultural Society 431 



building accumulates too much chilling dampness, wnich is as detri- 

 mental as the changes of the temperature. A double wooden wall, with 

 a false roof, would secure all the advantages and be liable to none of the 

 objections to brick. But the same object can be much more cheaply and 

 as effectually secured by covering the sides and roof of the cocoonery 

 with tules. The tule makes a covering of the best non-conducting 

 properties. Neither the sun, the wind, nor the dampness of a rainy day 

 will penetrate a wall of tule a foot thick. The southern and western 

 sides of the building and the roof only need be covered. The sun should 

 alwa} T s be allowed to strike the east side of the building early in tho 

 morning. It will shorten the time necessary to carry the worms through 

 to cocoons from two to three days, and give them more certain health 

 and better results. Two men can cut tule and cover a building fifty feet 

 square, if they be handy, in two or three days. We speak in reference 

 to this kind of covering from experience. 



ARTIFICIAL HEATING. 



With respect to artificial heat in cocooneries there are many opinions. 

 In this dry climate we all know that the degrees of heat and cold are 

 not so sensibly felt by the animal system as in a more clamp climate. 

 The dry air is a poor conductor of heat; but a damp atmosphere, on the 

 contrary, becomes a good conductor, and hence in a damp climate we 

 feel the changes of heat and cold much more readily. So with the silk- 

 worm. We should take these facts into consideration when determining 

 the question of artificial heat for our cocooneries. 



We think it may be well to have the facilities for heating at hand, but 

 use them only sparingly. We would prefer that the thermometer should 

 not fall below sixty nor rise above eighty degrees in the cocoonery. If 

 it could be kept at the mean of seventy degrees it would be better. If 

 the thermometer falls below sixty degrees and remains any length of 

 time it may be best to use a little fire. But if it only gets down to that 

 figure in the latter part of the night to rise at the approach of the sun, 

 we would not start the fire. The Chinese on such occasions use a quick 

 charcoal fire, which they carry through the building in a furnace. Heat- 

 ing by an open fire or blaze, as in a fireplace, is much better than by a 

 close stove. 



HATCHING THE EGGS. 



Silkworm eggs will not hatch as a general thing with the thermome- 

 ter below forty-five degrees. We say generally, because the bivoltines 

 will hatch at a considerably lower temperature than annuals, and Japan- 

 ese annuals will hatch at a lower temperature than French annuals. If 

 your eggs have been kept in a place below forty-five degrees and you 

 wish to have them ready for hatching in about ten days, change them to 

 a locality where the temperature remains at about fifty degrees, and in a 

 day or two increase the temperature to tdbout sixty degrees, and then up 

 to seventy, and keep it at this point until they begin to hatch. 



Two or three days before hatching you will notice the eggs changing 

 color from a brownish slate to a grayish blue, and the day before hatch- 

 ing to quite a light blue. The worms hatch from six to ten o'clock in 

 the morning, and when you see the little fellows coming out, cut up 

 some tender leaves in narrow strips and lay them around the edge of 

 the paper to keep them from crawling off; also, some through the center. 

 As the worms get out of the eggs, they start immediately for the leaves 

 and begin to eat. 



