REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 935 
W. Poreelain tubes on wire holders, between which the threads pass 
to reach 0. Glass eyes may be substituted for the first pair of these 
tubes with equal advantage. 
an. A grooved arrangement by means of which the long guider work- 
ing to and fro distributes the thread to the reel “‘ in the cross.” Unless 
the thread is thus wound “on the eross,” it cannot be unwound at the 
mills when required to be thrown, and is, therefore, unsalable. 
o. The top of the reel on which the silk is wound. One of the arms is 
furnished with the screw-hinge attached, by means of which the length 
of the arm is diminished to take off the silk. 
p. Handle of the machine. (The letter in the cutis in the wrong 
place.) 
The adult reecler sits on the stool in front of the cocoons, and the other 
stool is occupied by the child who turns the crank. 
FOOD PLANTS. 
The traditional food plant of the silk-worm is the Mulberry (botanical 
genus Morus). There are two species of Mulberry indigenous to the 
United States, namely, the Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) and the Small- 
leaved Mulberry (Morus parvifolia), neither of which is suitable silk-worm 
food. I have tried in vain to rear the worms upon rubra, but they either 
refuse its leaves entirely or dwindle and soon die upon it. The imported 
species which are most used are the white (JL. alba), the Multicaulis, and 
the black (If. nigra). This last is inferior to the other two as silk-worm 
food. 
The mulberry grows readily, being easily propagated by cuttings or 
layers or from the seed. The white mulberry, in particular, grows well 
from cuttings, and this is perhaps the readiest and most economical 
method of planting to secure a stock. 
The cuttings should be started in rows, 3 or 4 inches apart, in ground 
prepared by deep plowing and harrowing. They should be about 6 inches 
long, and should be cut just before an eye in every case. They should 
be almost entirely buried. The quickest way to get a supply of leaves 
is to grow dwarfs. Set out the young trees from the nursery in rows 10 
to 15 feet apart, and 6 to 8 feet between the rows, and form the crown 
of the tree by cutting down toa foot or so fromthe ground. The height 
of the tree and its form are easily regulated by pruning, and upon this 
process depend not only the vigorous growth of the tree, but also the 
ease with which the leaves may be gathered when desired. The pruning 
may be done in February or March, either every year or every other 
year. All dead twigs and dried bark should be removed and the limbs 
kept as smooth as possible, as this greatly facilitates picking. The best 
time for planting is in the fall, from frost until December, and in the 
spring, from March until May. 
For growing standard high trees, a practical raiser gives the following 
directions: The cutting should remain two years in the nursery without 
pruning. The third year it is cut down close to the ground and trans- 
planted. The finest shoot is then allowed to grow, and in good land it 
will reach a height of 8 or 10 feet in one season. The fourth year it is 
cut back to 6 feet or thereabouts. Then, the three or four terminal buds 
only being allowed to grow, all others are removed as often as they 
appear by passing the hand along the stem. 
The Moretti, a variety of the White Mulberry, is profitably grown in 
the form of a hedge, and the large size of its leaves makes it a very de- 
sirable variety. 
