576 MONTHLY SUMMARY. 



Some precautions are necessary at this stage to prevent the 

 young ^vorm dropping off the leaves into the water, in which the 

 young twigs may be put to keep them fresh while in the house, 

 or to the gi-ound, when put out in the open air; an eje must also 

 be kept upon them while they are small, to prevent their being 

 carried off by birds, ants, or sucked dry by wasps. 



" October. By the beginning or middle of October the worms 

 will have finished feeding and begun to spin their cocoons- 



Whenever the cocoons are finished, they should be gathered 

 and Stirling up like beads in any convenient place, — a drawing-room, 

 a ' cottage, a stable— in short, any place where the temperature 

 ranges from GO'' to 70° Fahrenheit. 



They will remain in this state all the winter. Should the cultiva- 

 tor wish to increase his stock of Ailanthus plants, he may do so 

 by striking cuttings or breaking up the roots in autumn. * 



June^ next year. Nothing new occurs nntil about the 8th of 

 June, when the moths come out of the cocoons. 



The process then goes on with this brood the same as with its 

 parent generation fed in the previous autumn. The' insect takes 

 about thc'same time (45 days) to grow from the eggiintil it forms 

 the cocoon, therefore the cocoons of this brood will be spun up 

 about the end of July. 



These, however, instead of remaining inactive for seven months, 

 continue so only for about one month, when the moths come out. 

 The eggs are laid— the worms fed, and the cocoons are again 

 spun in the month of October in the same way as already 

 described. 



The cultivator has then to" collect the empty cocoons and sell 

 them. Mr. Lister of Bradford is ready to purchase one million 

 of pounds at the price of from Is, to Is. 6tZ. per pound. 



So much for the cultivation or education of the moth, as tho 

 French call it. 



"When the cocoon of the Common Silk-woem is to be made 

 use of, the flossy silk surrounding the cocoon is taken off 

 and sold for floss silk. The cocoon is then put into hot water for 

 the purpose of melting the gum by which the silk adheres together, 

 and allowing it to be wound off. " This usually kills the chiysalis 

 inside, although sometimes the temperature is so managed that 

 the silk can be wound off and the chrvsahs left still alive in the 

 chrysalid inside. The cocoon is of little or no value after the 

 moth has cut or burst its way out of the cocoon, for the silk is 

 eut right across all the way up, diminishing the length of the 



