STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 263 



■worm, from the day of hatching to the spinning of cocoons, depends in 

 a great degree on the favorableness and uniformity of the weather, and 

 the frequency and regularity of feeding with fresh food and the quiet 

 allowed them while moulting. The different varieties of worms also vaiy 

 as to the period of their whole lives, as well as to the time between each 

 moulting. As a general ride, however, under favorable circumstances 

 the several moultings will occur about as follows : The first moulting 

 when five days old; the second when nine days old; the third when 

 fifteen days old; the fourth when twenty-two days old. Whenever the 

 worm is about to commence moulting, he leaves off eating, attaches him- 

 self rigidly to the most handy thing he finds, and stretches up his head 

 as if in pain. The fore part of his body increases and the latter part 

 decreases in size, and the whole body assumes a glossy appearance. 

 Thus he continues to swell up about the head until the old skin bursts 

 and slips back towards his tail. He then crawls out of the old skin a 

 changed being, looking shriveled and gaunt and hungry, and at once 

 begins to look for his food. When care has been taken to keep only the 

 worms of the same age together, and they have been fed carefully and 

 uniformly, all the worms on the same paper, or on the papers of the first 

 day's hatching, will go through these several moultings at the same time. 

 And so of the second and third day's hatching. Thus, when one worm 

 wants to be quiet, and absolutely requires it, so does every other one on 

 the same paper, and consequently all are gratified — no one crawling over 

 or disturbing the other. Experience teaches that upon a proper separa- 

 tion of the several days' hatching depends, as much as upon any other 

 one thing, the success of a feeding and consequent success of a crop of 

 silk. 



Next to proper care in feeding often and on fresh food, and keeping 

 the worms of the same age together, it is important, as intimated above, 

 that they should be properly thinned and spread out over greater sur- 

 face as they grow larger. They should have room, so as not to be 

 required to lay one upon the other too much. This is necessary, both 

 for convenience in getting at their food, and is very essential to the 

 healthful growth and maturity of the worm. Besides the exercise of 

 judgment, assisted by the appearance of the worms themselves, it may 

 be well to be guided in thinning them out by the rules laid down in this 

 article as to the space required for five hundred thousand worms in the 

 several ages. To make this subject familiar, I will repeat here the space 

 required for that number of worms, in connection with the amount of 

 food they will require for consumption during each of the several ages: 

 Five hundred thousand worms, for the first age, should be allowed one 

 hundred square feet of surface, and it is estima'ed that during this age, 

 or the first five days of their existence, they will consume one hundred 

 and twenty-five pounds of leaves. During the second age, or the next 

 four days of their lives, they should occupy about two hundred square 

 feet of surface, and will consume three hundred and seventy-five pounds 

 of leaves. During the third age — from nine to fifteen days old — they 

 should occupy about four hundred and fifty feet of surface, and will con- 

 sume eleven hundred and fifty pounds of leaves. During the fourth age 

 — from fifteen to twenty two days old — they should occupy one thousand 

 one hundred feet of surface, and will consume three thousand four hun- 

 dred and seventy-five pounds of leaves. During the fifth and last age 

 — from twenty-two to thirty two days old, the age of going to spinning 

 — they should occupy two thousand five hundred square feet of surface, 

 and will consume nineteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-five 



