228 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
in the act. At this molt it is perhaps better to give the more forward 
individuals a light feed as soon as they have completed the change, in- 
asmuch as it is the last molt and but little is to be gained by the retar- 
dation, whereas it is important to feed them all that they will eat, since 
much of the nutriment given during the last age goes for the elaboration 
of the silk. At each successive molt the color of the worm has been 
gradually whitening, until it is now of a decided cream color. Some 
breeds, however, remain dark, and occasionally there is an individual 
with zebra-like markings. During these last few days the worms require 
the greatest care and attention. All excrement and litter must be often 
removed, and the sickly and diseased ones watched for and removed 
from the rest. The quantity of leaves which they devour in this fifth 
age is something enormous, and the feeding will keep the attendant 
busily employed. 
Summed up, the requisites to successful silk-worm raising are: Ist. 
Uniformity of age in the individuals of the same tray, so as to insure 
their molting simultaneously. 2d. No intermission in the supply of 
fresh food, except during the molting periods. 3d. Plenty of room so that 
the worms may not too closely crowd each other. 4th. I’resh air and as 
uniform temperature as possible. 5th. Cleanliness. ‘The last three are 
particularly necessary during the fourth and fifth ages. While small, 
the frass, dung, and detritus dry rapidly, and may (though they should 
not) be left for several days in a tray with impunity, but he who allows 
his trays to go uncleaned far more than a day during the ages mentioned 
will suffer in the disease and mortality of his worms just as they are 
reaching the spinning-point. 
PREPARATION FOR SPINNING. 
With eight or ten days of busy feeding, after the last molt, the worms, 
as we have learned before, will begin to lose appetite, shrink in size, 
become restless, and throw out silk, and the arches for the spinning of 
the cocoons must now be prepared. These can be made of twigs of 
different trees, two or three feet long, set up upon the shelves over the 
worms, and made to interlock in the form of an arch above them. 
Interlace these twigs with broom-corn, hemlock, or other well-dried 
brush. The feet of each arch should be only about a foot apart. The 
temperature of the room should now be kept above 80°, as the silk does 
not flow so freely in a cool atmosphere. ‘The worms will immediately 
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. When- 
ever one worm is about to spin up too near another, it should be care- 
fully removed 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, 
