r 



T792. ' ov the si/k-wann. 543 



Jong as is necefsary •, so that during the winter they 

 occasion no sort of trouble. If there be but abundance 

 of eggs provided, it is in the pov. cr < f any person in our 

 climate to bring them forward, :<i ,%!iaLcver time they 

 'Ihall incline, and in the quantities that may suit their con- 

 venience. 



Convenience must be studied, and a great part of the 

 profit depends on the oeconomising so well, as to give as 

 equal employment as pofsible to all the persons concerned, 

 and not to cause them be too much hurried at one time 

 more than another. During the time the worms •continue 

 to eat, the gathering leaves is a considerable labour ; and 

 if the works are extensive, it will facilitate the businefs to 

 have two breeds coming forward at one time ; one of 

 which may be eating, in general, while the other is in its 

 sickly state ; or one breed may follow another. 



If the animal be allowed to undergo its natural changes 

 unchecked, muCh of the silk would be lost ; for in ma- 

 king its pafsage through the cocoon, the moth so much 

 deranges the threads of silk, as to render it very difficult 

 to be unwinded ; and as it is not pofsible to overtake the 

 winding of the silk at this hurried season, it becomes ne- 

 cefsary to kill the aurelia in the cocoon, so as to prevent 

 its producing this evil, — a proper number being always re- 

 served for producing eggs. This is best done by expo- 

 sing the cocoons, for a proper time, to the heat of an 

 oven duly regulated, which not only destroys the life of 

 the animal, but dries up its moisture so as to enable it to 

 be kept without putrefaction for a reasonable time. The 

 cocoons thus dried can be kept till the autumn and v>'in- 

 ter, when they can be winded off at leisure by those 

 hands that were busily employed during the summer in 

 providing food and attending the worms. 



A considerable degree of ingenuity has been exercised 

 , for discovering the best mode of unwinding the cocoons, 

 ' and a vzry ingenious contrivance has been devised for 



