SILK CULTURE. 913 



breeding purposes. They issue most abundantly during the early morning 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 by their broader 

 antennae and smaller bodies, as also by the incessant fluttering of their wings. The females 

 remain comparatively quiet, their abdomens being heavy and distended with eggs. A few 

 hours after issuing, the sexes, in equal numbers, may be placed together, great care having 

 been taken to destroy any that are at all deformed, in order to keep the breed as fine as pos 

 sible. They should be placed upon paper or card-board, and the room should be kept as 

 dark as possible in order that the males shall not uncouple themselves. For the complete 

 impregnation of the eggs, the sexes should be kept together six hours, neither more nor less, 

 and occasionally visited in order to replace those males which may have become separated. 

 Should there, on this day, more males than females issue, the superfluous males may be put in a 

 closed box and kept till the next day, when the state of things may be reversed. Should there, 

 on the other hand, be a superfluity of females, a sufficient number of the strongest and most 

 vigorous males should be uncoupled at four hours and placed with the unpaired females for 

 six hours more. As the pairs are uncoupled at the end of six hours, care should be taken to 

 injure neither sex. The female should be held by the wings with one hand and the abdomen 

 of the male gently pressed with the other. The males may then be laid aside in a box, as 

 there may be use for them before all the moths have appeared. After all the females are 

 impregnated, however, their mates may be thrown away. 



The females, as soon as separated, should be placed for a few minutes upon sheets of 

 blotting-paper, where they will free themselves of a quantity of greenish-yellow fluid. From 

 the blotting-paper they should be transferred to trays lined with cloth upon which the eggs 

 are to be laid. This cloth should be of the smoothest sort of woollen stuff rather than of 

 inen or paper, if it is desired to remove the eggs at a future time, as they will stick so fast 

 o the latter that it will be difficult to remove without bruising them. Upon these trays they 

 may be placed in rows, and will immediately commence depositing. It is advisable to tie up 

 the trays at one end so that they incline a little, as the moths are then more apt to lay 

 their eggs uniformly. They should also be kept in the dark, in accordance with the noctur 

 nal habit of the moth. The temperature of the room should be kept at about 75, and 

 plenty of air given during oviposition. All of the thoroughly impregnated eggs will be laid 

 in about twenty-four hours, and the moth should be removed after that length of time. She 

 may continue depositing a short time longer, but the eggs should be kept by themselves and 

 not mixed with the others. It will be well, also, if the best and purest breed be desired, to 

 keep the eggs of those moths which were coupled with males that had been used before 

 separated from the eggs laid by those which were coupled with virgin males. &quot; The eggs 

 are best preserved on the cloth where originally deposited, as they are protected by a natural 

 coating of varnish, and, being fastened, the worms, when hatching, eat their way out better. 

 For commercial purposes, however, they are usually detached during the winter by immers 

 ing the cloth containing them in cool soft water for a few moments; the moisture being then 

 drained off by means of blotting-paper and the eggs gently removed with a paper-knife. 

 They are then washed in soft water, thoroughly dried, and put away for keeping. All eggs 

 which swim on the surface are considered bad and discarded. The Japanese producers sell 

 their eggs on cards or cartoons made of coarse silk. The cards are placed in wooden frames, 

 the rims of which are varnished, so that the moths disliking the varnish are made to 

 confine their eggs upon the cards, which are consequently covered in a very regular and 

 uniform manner.&quot; 



Reeling Silk from the Cocoons. If the mere rearing of the worm and the 

 production of the cocoons is simple, the reeling of the silk is by no means so, as the greatest 

 skill is required to accomplish the work properly, and the value of a hank of silk depends as 

 much on the skill of the reeler as upon the quality of the original thread. In the best 

 cocoons the silk will measure upwards of a thousand feet in length, and, though it appears 

 single, it is in reality composed of two threads, which are glued together and covered as they 

 issue from the spinneret of the moth with a glossy varnish, which enables the worm to fasten 

 the silk where it wills, and which is soluble in warm water. In countries where there are 

 steam-reeling establishments, it is generally more profitable for the small raiser to sell his 

 cocoons, and not go to the trouble and expense of reeling by hand; but, unfortunately, there, 

 is no market for choked cocoons in this country, and the raiser will be under the necessity of 

 reeling his own silk . if he wishes to make the most of them. It will be desirable, then, in 

 this article, to state the facts and principles which should govern the unwinding and reeling, 



