276 THE CULTURE 



<lays from their being hatched, they need 

 not be cleaned at all, but may lie on the 

 fibres which they make, without being re- 

 moved from them, thefe form a foft warm 

 -bed, and the litter which comes from the 

 worms, being then as fine as duft, foon 

 dries, and, finking among the fibres, doth 

 not at all incommode them. This, I fay, 

 is the cafe provided you have fed them 

 properly, not keeping the worms too thin- 

 ly fcattered, and fo being obliged to throw 

 more leaves on them than they can con- 

 fume before they wither, by which means 

 they would be buried and inveloped in the 

 old leaves, which curl about them ; this 

 throws perfons under a neceflity of difen- 

 gaging the worms, which, befides the end- 

 iefs labour of it, wounds and hurts multi- 

 'tudes of them : and here I muft repeat 

 what I have formerly mentioned, that flice- 

 ing the leaves for the young worms great- 

 ly tends to hinder their curling about them, 

 befides it makes the leaves go farther and 

 produces lefs litter ; a few handfuls of 

 leaves are quickly fliced, which fliould be 

 done more or lefs, in proportion to the 

 age of the worms, till they have pafled 



their 



