30 
worms, and made to interlock in the form of an arch above them. 
Interlace these twigs with broom-corn, hemlock, or other well-dried 
iN 
Fic. 19.—Method of constructing arches upon which the cocoons are spun (after Roman). 
brush. The feet of each arch should be only about a foot apart. The 
Davril cocooning ladder, described in Chapter III, may be used with 
advantage in the place of the brush arches. 
The temperature of the room should now be kept above 80°, as the 
silk does not flow so freely in acool atmosphere. The worms will imme- 
diately mount into the branches and commence to spin their cocoons. 
They will not all, however, mount at the same time, and those which 
are more tardy should be fed often, but in small quantities at a time, in 
order to economize the leaves, as almost every moment some few will 
quit and mount. There will always be a few which altogether fail to 
mount, and prefer to spin in their trays. It is best, therefore, after the | 
bulk have mounted, to remove the trays and lay brush carefully over 
them. The fact that the worms already mounted make a final discharge 
of soft and semi-fluid excrement before beginning to spin makes this 
separation necessary, as otherwise the cocoons of the lower ones would 
be badly soiled. ; 
As the worms begin to spin they should be carefully watched, to guard 
against two or three of them making what is called a double or treble 
cocoon, which would be unfit for reeling purposes. Whenever one 
worm is about to spin up too near another, it should be carefully re- 
moved to another part of the arch. In two or three days the spinning 
will have been completed, and in six or seven the chrysalis will be 
formed. 
GATHERING THE COCOONS. 
Hight days from the time the spinning commenced, it will be time to 
gather the cocoons. The arches should be carefully taken apart, and 
the spotted or stained cocoons first removed and laid aside. Care should 
