[ ±15 ] 1^8 



humidity that exhales from the chrysalides. Should the temperature 

 rise to 78° or 82°, the cocoons must be put into a cooler place, as a dry 

 cellar. 



4. Daily loss in weight of cocoons, from the time of their forma- 

 tion till the moth escapes froin them. 



It is a common opinion that the weight of the cocoon, after diminish- 

 ing, increases for a certain period. This old error induces persons 

 to give their cocoons too soon to the spinner, before they lose their 

 weight, or too late, when they keep them back, in hope they will soon 

 recover weight. The following is the result of the decrease of 1,000 

 cocoons, in a temperature of between 71° and 73°. 



Gathered from the cabins and cleaned, the cocoons 



weighed ------- 1,000 ounces. 



First day following - - - - - 991 



Tenth day 925 



The decrease in weight was gradual, but not regular. The cocoons 

 lose, in ten days, seven and a half per cent, by the drying of the 

 chrysalis alone. The four first days, they lose three per cent, in the 

 the last days, they lose rather more. 



It is a loss for the purchasers of cocoons to receive those that are 

 of different ages, because, when in some cocoons the moth is prepar- 

 ing to come forth, and other cocoons are not so forward, the spinners 

 are at a loss whether to let it come directly, or to kill the chrysalis to 

 preserve the cocoon.* If the rules which have been recommended 

 are exactly followed, this loss will be avoided, and the cocoons will 

 be perfectly formed, and ready to be reeled off at the end of seven 

 days, reckoning from the day they first rose upon the bushes or frames. 



Great care must be taken to preserve cocoons from ants, which will 

 destroy them as certainly as they do the silkworm. 



CHAPTER XIL 



SEVENTH AGE OP THE SILKWORM. 



Birth and coupling of the moth; of laying the eggs, and the preset' 

 vation of the eggs. 



This seventh and the last age of the silkworm, comprises the entire 

 life of the moth. 



•In making' a contract, therefore, in the early part of the season for cocoons, the 

 cultivator should attend to the above points. 



