314 AGEICULTURAL REPORT. 



pensed with, the branches being so arranged as to leave open spaces 

 through which the worms may ascend antl the excrement fall down. 



5. Molting. — As the time of molting approaches the worms feed less 

 and acquire a more shining appearance. As already remarked it is a 

 critical condition, and especial regard should then be jiaid to cleanli- 

 ness. The worms of most vigorous health will first molt. Tihey may 

 be kept without feed for twenty-four or thirty-six hours in order to wait 

 for those that are later. But there will be some less healthy and so 

 late in molting that it is best to put them in a separate tray or shelf, 

 for this dilference will become greater in the succeeding moitiugs. If 

 this delay, too, is occasioned bj' disease, it may be communicated to the 

 healthy portion., 



G. S2)inning. — When the worm ceases to feed after its fourth molting, 

 I)reparations should be at hand to form proper jilaces for spinning the 

 cocoon. Twigs of the mulberry, willow, or other trees, or of stiff weeds, 

 as the mustard and rag- weed, may be laid crosswise so as to leave open 

 spaces of an inch in width in which the worms may spin. Or straw, 

 fifteen inches in length, may be tied at the ends and these pressed 

 toward each other so as to leave a similar space in the middle ; or, if the 

 feeding has been done on shelves, the straws may be cut so long that 

 by i^ressing the ends on the lower and upper shelves a like opening will 

 be made. The places where the worms are should have the light ex- 

 cluded, for the worm prefers to spin in the dark. The later worms 

 should not be kept under those that are spinning, for their excrement 

 at this time is soft. The temperature of the room should be about 80° 

 "while the cocoon is making. 



7. Hie cocoons. — A low sound is heard during the spinning, and when 

 this has ceased the cocoons may be taken out and assorted. The silk 

 around should be preserved, for, although inferior, it is used by the 

 manufacturer. The cocoons that offer most resistance to i)ressure should 

 be put together, as it indicates better silk and more perfect health. 

 lYom these should be selected such as are intended for breeding pur- 

 poses. The silk of cocoons that are very soft is generally inferior in 

 quality. 



8. Killing the clirysalis. — The worm as it is in the cocoon is called the 

 chrysalis, and in a few days it will emerge from it in a butterfly form. 

 To aid its exit from the cocoon it secretes a fluid which destroys the 

 silk at one end, and this destroys also the value of all of it, as the silk 

 cannot be reeled. To preserve the value of the cocoons the chrysalis 

 must be killed, and to do this they are placed in shallow pans, and these 

 are put in ovens heated to the boiling-point of water, 212°. Or they 

 may be put in boiling water for a short time, or steamed for half an hour. 



9. Drying the cocoon. — After the chrysalis is destroyed the cocoons should 

 be placed on shelves in a well-ventilated room, and gradually dried. They 

 should be stirred frequently until the drying is well advanced. Ordi- 

 narily it is not completed before two months. They may then be kept 

 for a long time, or sold, or reeled. There is a great tendency in this 

 country to separate the manufacture of an article from the production 

 of the raw material, and reeling will soon become established in every 

 neighborhood where cocoons are grown. Manufacturers of silk will 

 buy cocoons, and we would not advise the households to reel silk until 

 they have made progress in raising the worms, and find that they can 

 devote a part of the home labor to reeling. It does not come within 

 the province of this article to speak of the machines used for this i)ur- 

 pose ; that may be done in a future article. 



