916 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



them to a carbolic-acid spray from an atomizer. In this way all fungus spores will be 

 destroyed. In fact it will be well to wash off the trays or shelves once in a while with 

 diluted carbolic acid, as a sure preventive. It is the best disinfectant known to science. 

 The cheapest kinds may be used with the same efficacy as the more expensive. Another 

 disease, known as pebrine, has proved extremely fatal in Southern Europe, and for twenty 

 years has almost paralyzed silk culture in France. It is a disease which, in its nature and 

 action, except in being hereditary, bears a striking analogy to cholera among men. &quot; The 

 worms affected by pebrine grow unequally, become languid, lose appetite, and often manifest 

 discolored spots upon the skin. They die at all ages, but, as in ?iiuscardine, the mortality is 

 greatest in the last stage. It is hereditary on the mother s side, because the moth may have 

 the germ of the disease and yet oviposit. Indeed, the eggs may be affected and yet look fair 

 and good, the microscopic psorospermite not being visible, so that the only true test of disease 

 or health is an examination of the parent moth ; and by killing off all infected moths the 

 disease can be controlled. 



&quot; Both the diseases mentioned are, therefore, in the strict sense of the word, silk -worm 

 plagues; the one of a fungus and the other of an epizootic nature. Each may become 

 epidemic when the conditions are favorable for the undue multiplication of the minute 

 organisms which produce them, or when the checks to the increase of such organisms are 

 removed by carelessness or ignorance.&quot; Cleanliness and purification are absolutely necessary 

 in treating both these diseases, and in pebrine care must be taken to see that the eggs are 

 sound by a microscopic examination of the moths. This may be done after the eggs are laid, 

 and if the corpuscles be found in the mother, her eggs should be discarded. Silk-worms are 

 subject to other diseases, but none of them have ever acquired the importance of those 

 described. What is called gattine by older authors is but a mild phase of pebrine. The 

 worms are apt to be purged by unwholesome leaves; too great heat makes them sickly; or 

 they may become yellow, limp, and die of a malady called grasserie or jaundice, which is 

 almost sure to appear in large broods, and which is very common in those reared in this 

 country. When the worms die from being unable to moult they are called lusettcs. and such 

 cases are most abundant at the fourth moult. All these different ailments, and others not 

 mentioned, have received names, some local, others more general; but none of them warrant 

 further notice here, as they are not likely to become very troublesome if proper attention and 

 care be given to the worms.&quot; 



Silk Culture in the United States. There is no reason why the successful 

 rearing of silk-worms may not be practiced in any portion of this country that lies south of 

 40, the principal objections to be met being the expense of labor, and the want of a ready 

 market for the cocoons. Professor Riley states that there is at present a general and wide 

 spread interest indicated in this country on the subject of silk culture. He mentions the 

 obstacles to be encountered, and the fact that under a heavy protective tariff our silk 

 manufacturers have rapidly grown in importance and wealth, until during the recent annual 

 report of the Secretary of the Silk Association of America, raw silk to the value of nearly 

 $12,000,000, and waste silk and cocoons to the value of $769,186 were imported at the ports 

 of New York and San Francisco, while our manufactured silk goods reached in value 

 between $35,000,000 and $40,000,000, and says: &quot; The obstacles which I have set forth are 

 none of them permanent or insuperable, while we have some advantages not possessed by 

 other countries. One of infinite importance is the inexhaustible supply of Osage Orange 

 (Madura aurantiaca) which our thousands of miles of hedges furnish; another is the greater 

 average intelligence and ingenuity of our people, who will not be content to tread merely in 

 the ways of the Old World, but will be quick to improve on their methods; still another may 

 be found in the more spacious and commodious character of the farmers barns and outhouses. 

 Every year s experience with the Madura confirms all that I have said of its value as silk-worm 

 food. Silk which I have had reeled from a race of worms fed on it, now for eleven 

 consecutive years, is of the very best quality, while the tests made at the recent silk fair at 

 Philadelphia showed that in some instances a less weight of cocoons spun by Madura-fed 

 worms was required for a pound of reeled silk than of cocoons from mulberry-fed worms.&quot; 



Silk culture is admirably adapted to the invalids and children of the family, as well as 

 to all other persons who desire some light and pleasant employment, as for instance those 

 members of the farmer s household who are not otherwise engaged in more remunerative 

 employment. 



