On the Management of Silk-Worms* 105 



the other sheets for the next remove: it sometimes hap- 

 pens, that a few of the worms do not come upon the 

 leaves ; these should be taken up with a large needle. 



The silk-worm casts its skin four times during the 

 time of feeding; and at the first moulting, which is a 

 week, or perhaps longer, from its hatching, is very 

 small. Previous to this, the worms lie in a manner tor- 

 pid, with their heads erect, and are averse from food ; 

 but, perhaps, a few of them, not so forward as the 

 rest, may require food longer, and therefore here and 

 there we may lay a few leaves for them ; but at these 

 times we should take care not to meddle with them 

 at all, for when they moult they do it best by their 

 skins sticking among their litter, by which means 

 they creep out of them with more ease, and we should 

 observe this through all their four moultings. After 

 this, they eat more voraciously than before, and the 

 better they are fed, the sooner they will spin, and 

 make the richer cocoons ; but we ought to be parti- 

 cularly careful when we give them the leaves, that 

 they be free from moisture of every kind, and we 

 should secure them from cats, rats, mice, and ants ; 

 a smaller species of this last, which is very common 

 in Pennsylvania, is peculiarly destructive to the silk- 

 worm. 



If our worms have been accustomed to a room 

 warmed by either a chimney or stove, and a cool 

 rainy season should come on, it would be proper to 

 warm the room moderately in such weather ; other- 

 wise they will be liable to droop and grow languid. 



o 



