266 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



After the worm commences the cocoon, it must not in any manner bo 

 disturbed, and if allowed to proceed unmolested it will finish in from 

 three to five days. In from six to eight days after the cocoons are 

 formed they should be gathered, and all except those selected for hatch- 

 ing, must be exposed for three or four days to the direct rays of the sun, 

 to kill the chrysalis within. It will be well to expose them longer, so as 

 to be sure to completely dry up or evaporate the fluids or moist sub- 

 stances of the chrysalis — otherwise there is danger of injuring the silk, 

 by staining it with the putrid matter of the decaying chrysalis. It is 

 also important that this chrysalis be thoroughly dried, to prevent the 

 bad smell that would otherwise be emitted from the cocoons when stored 

 away, and also to prevent their heating. If you are prepared to reel 

 the cocoons at home, this work may be now eominenced ; or if the 

 cocoons are to be sold, they are now ready for market. But in any event 

 it must be remembered that mice will destroy the cocoons if not kept 

 out of their reach. So fond are mice of the chrysalis that one mouse in 

 a very short time will destroy hundreds of dollars worth of cocoons. 



PRODUCING EGGS. 



Before exposing the cocoons to the sun, if it be desired to save any 

 eggs for the reproduction of the worms, cocoons must be selected for 

 this purpose and placed in any convenient place for hatching out the 

 moth or miller. In order that the size and vigor of the worm may be 

 continued or improved from generation to generation, it is important 

 that only the very best cocoons should be chosen for propagating the 

 species. Select the largest and most regularly formed, and as near as 

 may be an equal number of male and female. The cocoon from which a 

 male moth will hatch is generally smaller than that containing the 

 female, and is depressed in the middle and more pointed at each end, 

 while that of the female is more oval or egg shaped, and blunt at each 

 end. All the floss or loose silk should be carefully stripped from the 

 cocoons thus selected, that it may not entangle the moths when they 

 come out. If the weather is warm and favorable, the moth eats its way 

 out of the cocoon in about twelve days after it is completed. 



Immediately ufter. emerging, the male seeks the female for the pur- 

 pose of pairing. And as the reproducing qualities of the eggs from which 

 you ar*e to propa^ato the species depends entirely on the operation, it 

 becomes important that every female be paired with a male, and the 

 sooner this is done after she comes out of the cocoon the better, as the 

 more sure will she be to become properly impregnated. If left alone, 

 there being a large number of males and females all mixed promiscu- 

 ously together, it is not probable that more than two-thirds of the 

 females will bo properly paired with a male, and hence a large number 

 of your eggs would be valueless. Hence, then, is work necessary to be 

 done, and done thoroughly and at the proper time. The moths gener- 

 ally come out of the cocoons in the morning, before nine o'clock each 

 day, in about the same order that the worms commence spinning cocoons. 

 Hence, when you see the first moths, you must make it a regular stated 

 business to be on hand about half-past eight each morning, and first pick 

 out all the moths that are coupled, by taking carefully hold of the wings 

 of each and lay them one side on a paper, being careful not to separate 

 them. When you have removed all that are coupled, pair each female 

 not already paired with a male, and lay them one side in like manner. 

 When they have remained together about six hours, you must just as 



