REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 229 
GATHERING THE COCOONS. 
Eight days from the time the spmning 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 
be taken not to stain the clean ones with the black fluids of such worms 
as may have died and become putrid, for there are always a few of these 
in every cocoonery. The outer cocoons of loose or floss silk are then 
torn from the inner cocoons or pods, and the latter separated according 
to color, weight and firmness of texture; those which best resist pressure 
indicating that the worm has best accomplishedits work. Too much care 
cannot be taken to remove the soft or imperfect cocoons, as if mixed with 
the firm ones, they would be crushed and soil the others with their con- 
tents. Thevery best of the firm cocoons are now to be chosen as seed for 
the next year, unless the raiser prefers buying his eggs to the trouble of 
caring for the moths and keeping the eggs through the winter. Eggs 
bought from large establishments are, however, apt to be untrustworthy, 
and it is well for all silk-raisers to provide their own seed. These co- 
coons should be chosen for their firmness, and the fineness and color of 
the silk, rather than for their size. Mr. Crozier says: “If white, take 
them of the purest white, neither soft nor satin-like; if yellow, give the 
preference to the straw-colored, which are the most sought after; and, 
last, if they are the green of Japan, the greener they are, of a dark, 
sharp color, very glossy, the better is the quality of the thread. Dis- 
ecard the pale shades in the last breed.” If there are any double or 
treble cocoons in the batch, of the right color, quality, and consistency, 
they should be used before the others, as they are just as good for breed- 
ing purposes, though unfit for reeling. In estimating the quantity that. 
will be required, the following figures will be of use: The general esti- 
mate is always made of 40,000 eggs to the ounce, and also that each 
female lays from 300 to 400 eggs. Taking the higher estimate, it will 
require only 100 females to lay an ounce of eggs; taking the lower, it 
will require 153. It will, therefore, not be safe to take fewer than 200 
cocoons, half males and half females, if an ounce of seed is desired, and 
from that to 225 would be safer. While it may not always be possible 
to determine the sex of the cocoons by their shape, we may approxi- 
mately separate them by weighing. The whole quantity set aside for 
breeding purposes is first weighed in order to get the average, and then 
each one is weighed separately, and all above the average may be pretty 
accurately considered females and all below it males. These breeding 
cocoons should now be either pasted upon card-board on their sides, or 
strung upon a string, great care being taken to run the needle through 
the silk only and not deep enough to injure the chrysalis, the object 
being in both cases to secure the cocoon so that the moth can the more 
readily make its escape. They can be laid aside in a rat-proof place to 
await the appearance of the moths, and in the mean time the other co- 
coons should be taken care of. 
CHOKING THE CHRYSALIS. 
In most silk-producing countries the parties who raise the cocoons sell 
them to the reeling establishments before suffocation is necessary, as 
these establishments have better facilities for this work than are to be 
found in private families. If, however, the reeling is done by the raiser, 
or some time must elapse before the cocoons can be sent to a reeling 
establishment, some means must be used to kill the contained chrysalis 
