924 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
the Chinese Annuals. Varieties are also known by the color of the 
cocoons they produce, aS greens, or whites, or yellows, and also by the 
country in which they flourish. The white silk is the most valuable 
in commerce, but the races producing yellow, cream-colored, or flesh- 
colored cocoons are generally considered to be the most vigorous. No 
classification of varieties can be attempted, as individuals of the same 
breed exported to a dozen different localities would, in all probability 
soon present a dozen varieties. The three most marked and noted 
European varieties are the Milanese (Italian) breed, producing fine 
small yellow cocoons; the Ardéche (French) producing large yellow 
cocoons, and the Brousse (Turkish) producing large white cocoons of 
the best quality in Europe. Owing to the fearful prevalence of pébrine 
among the French and Italian races for fifteen or twenty years back, the 
Japanese Annuals have come into favor. The eggs are bought at Yoko- 
hama in September, and shipped during the winter. There are two 
principal varieties in use, the one producing white and the other green- 
ish cocoons, and known respectively as the white Japanese and the 
green Japanese Annuals. These cocoons are by no means large, but the 
pods are solid and firm, and yield an abundance of silk. They are 
about of a size, and both varieties are almost always constricted in the 
middle (Pl. I, Fig. 4, ¢ green, d white). Another valuable race is the 
white Chinese Annual (P1. I, Fig. 4, e), which much resembles the white 
Japanese, but is not as generally constricted. Plate H, Fig. 4, a and b 
represent, respectively, white and yellow French Annuals. 
WINTERING AND HATCHING THE EGGS. 
We have already seen the importance of getting healthy eggs, free 
from hereditary disease, and of good and valuable races. ‘There is little 
danger of premature hatching until December, but from that time on, 
the eggs should be kept in a cool, dry room in tin boxes to prevent the 
ravages of rats and mice. They are most safely stored in a dry cellar, 
where the temperature rarely sinks below the freezing point, and they 
should be occasionally looked at to make sure that they are not affected 
by mold. If, at any time, mold be perceived upon them it should be at 
once rubbed or brushed off, and the atmosphere made drier. If the tin 
boxes be perforated on two sides and the perforations covered with fine 
wire gauze, the chances of injury will be reduced to a minimum. 
The eggs may also, whether on cards or loose,* be tied up in small 
bags and hung to the ceiling of the cold room. The string of the bag 
should be passed through a bottle neck or a piece of tin to prevent injury 
from rats and mice. The temperature should never be allowed to rise 
above 40° F., but may be allowed to sink below freezing point without 
injury. Indeed, eggs sent from one country to another are usually 
packed in ice. ‘They should be kept at a low temperature until the Mul- 
berry leaves are well started in the spring, and great care must be taken 
as the weather grows warmer to prevent hatching before their food is 
ready for them, since both the Mulberry and Osage orange are rather 
late in leafing out. One great object should be, in fact, to have them 
all kept back, as the tendency in our climate is to premature hatching. 
Another object should be to have them hatch uniformly, and this is best 
attained by keeping together those laid at one and the same time,’and 
by wintering them, as already recommended, in cellars that are cool 
enough to prevent any embryonic development. They should then, ag 
*¥or explanation see what follows under egg-laying. 
