260 Instructions on the cultivation, ^c, 



bushes, on little sticks of any wood you please. Be 

 careful that these branches or sticks are neither too close 

 nor too open. In the first case, the worm will be embar- 

 rassed in its moments of fastening the first threads of the 

 cocoon ; in the second, the too great distance will pre- 

 vent their fas^tening them. 



The cocoon of the silk worm is perfectly finished only 

 at the end of five days, and this can be ascertained, by 

 the degree of resistance which it offers when touched by 

 the finger. A more certain mark is, that of shaking the 

 cocoon, for if the worm has finished its work, and changed 

 into a chrysalis, the cocoon will give a sound. But these 

 means of discovering the maturity of 'the cocoon, as well 

 as by the other trials, have inconveniences. The risk is 

 incurred of spoiling the cocoon, by interrupting the en- 

 closed insect by the pressure or shaking. These trials 

 are besides superfluous ; use and practice will teach us 

 to distinguish with an observing eye, the perfect cocoons 

 from those which are not so. Besides, we can judge 

 from the length of time the worms have been working. 

 In gathering your cocoons, use baskets, taking care how- 

 ever not to entangle or mix them, for the weight occa- 

 sioning the pressure on the chrysalis, will destroy the 

 cocoon. 



