102 ON REARING 



j 



worms. The eggs thus washed, produce the best silk 

 worms. 



The worms of which the eggs were not washed, are 

 called Ho-tsan, that is to say, ardent silk worms, (they are 

 those of Autumn.) They are less esteemed than the pre- 

 ceding. 



In the work entitled Sang-tsan-tchi-choue, we read : 

 " Those who wish the eggs to hatch quickly, often unfold, 

 and roll up one by one, the leaves of the paper where the 

 moths have deposited their eggs. (This paper should be 

 manufactured of cotton, or the bark of mulberry trees. 

 According to the ideas of the Chinese, they banish from 

 the nurseries every thing made of hemp ; for example : 

 ropes and hempen cloth. Our European paper would be 

 very injurious to silk worms.) Those who wish to retard 

 the hatching, unfold the leaves at distant intervals, and 

 afterwards roll them in a tight manner, without leaving the 

 least empty space in the centre of the roll." 



HOANG-SING-TSENG, SAYS 



The twelfth day of the last moon, in December, or in 

 January, if there is one intercalary month, the eggs must be 

 soaked in salt water, and taken out the twenty-fourth day. 

 Then the silk will be much easier to wind. 



ANOTHER AUTHOR, SAYS : 



The eighth day of the last moon, the leaves covered with 

 eggs must be dipt in water where the ashes of the mulberry 

 branches have been boiled, or the ashes of grass. They 



