es 
230 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. _ 
before the cocoon is injured for reeling purposes by the egress of the 
moth. This can be done by stifling them with steam or choking them 
by dry heat. Steaming is the surest, quickest, and best method, if the 
facilities are at hand: it ean be done at any steam mill. The cocoons 
are laid upon shelves in a tightly sealed box and the steam is turned 
in. ‘Twenty minutes will sufiice to do the required work, and the co- 
coons are then dried in the sun. The dry-heat method ocenpies a much 
longer time. The coecons are placed in shallow baskets and slipped 
on iron drawers into an oven which is kept heated to a temperature 
of about 200° Fah. This should not be increased for fear of burning 
the silk. This operation lasts from two to twenty-four hours. A cer- 
tain humming noise continues so long as there is any life, and its cessa- 
tion is an indication that the chrysalides are all dead. Where the chok- 
ing is well done there is little loss, only about one per cent. of the 
cocoons bursting at the ends. After choking in this manner, the 
cocoons should be strewn upon long weoden shelves, in the shade, with 
plenty of air, and, for the first few days, frequently stirred. After re- 
maining on these shelves for about two months, with occasional stir- 
rings, the chr ysalides become quite dry and the cocoons will preserve 
indefinitely. They are, however, still subject to the attacks of rats and 
mice, and the little beetles known as “museum pests,” belonging to the 
genera Dermestes and Anthrenus, are attracted by the dead chrysalis 
within and will penetrate the cocoon, injuring it for reeling purposes. 
In the warm Southern States the dry-heat choking can be accomplished 
by simple exposure to the sun. This was done by M. L. Prevost in 
Southern California, and is practised habitually by Mr. Crozier in Silk- 
ville, Kans., who says: “Here the cocoons need only to be fully exposed 
to the rays of the sun, from nine o’clock in the morning until four o’elock 
in the afternoon. Two or three days of such exposure are sufficient. 
But, as sometimes strong wind can annihilate the effect of the sun’s 
warmth, it is good to have for that purpose long boxes, 4 feet wide, sides 
6 inches high, to be covered with glass frames. This will increase the 
heat, and by absorbing the air of the box, stifle your chrysalis most 
surely.” Ed. Miiller, another Cahfornia grower (Nevada County), al- 
ways makes use of this method of stifling by the sun’s rays, but says 
that a crack the glass cover of the box should be left open to allow the 
evaporation of the moisture, which otherwise would collect in large 
drops upon the glass, and, fallmg back upon the cocoons, would keep 
them moist for alonger time. Do not, however, allow the ants to creep 
in at the crack, as they, too, will penetrate the cccocn to feed upon the 
chrysalis. 
In the colder climates it has been suggested that the chrysalis could 
be well choked, with no injury to the coccons, by placing them in a 
vacuum box and exhausting the air. Chloroform has been used toa 
certain extent, and experiments are now eee made in France with 
sulph-hydri¢ acid gas, a vapor which is evolved from the mixture of 
dilute sulphuric acid and sulphide of ‘babe also, with bisulphide of 
carbon. 
EGG LAYING—REPRODUCTION. 
In from twelve to twenty days from the time when the worm com- 
menced to spin, the moths will begin to issue from the cocoons laid 
aside for breeding purposes. They i ssue most abundantly during the 
early merning hours, from four to eight o’clock, and as they appear 
they should be taken by the wings and the sexes kept apart for a 
short time. The males may be readily distinguished from the females 
