1S38] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



239 



coarse sieve. If a very sharp knife be not used, 

 the leaves will Idse their juice ; if they be not cut 

 very thin, they will cover and overload the sill< 

 worms. If a sieve be not made use olj they will 

 not be dis-tribuloil in an equal manner ; if the cut 

 leaves be not distributed in an equal manner, the 

 silk worms will not all eat an equal quantity. 



'J'he juice of the leaves is not very abundant ; 

 at the expiration ol" sometime, it dries up; for 

 that reason the leaves immediately alter the wa- 

 teriniT require to be sifted on the silk worms. 



The fu-st day, two repasts an hour must be 

 given them, that is to say, about forty-eight re- 

 pasts in ihe space of a day and night. 



The second day, thirty repasts must be given 

 them, in the same interval of time, and the leaves 

 which are distributed to them, must be cut a little 

 smaller. 



The third day, only twenty meals must be given 

 them (during the day and night,) composed of 

 leaves thinner than the second day. They must 

 be kept in great obscurity and heat. Generally, 

 the newly hatched worms require darkness. When 

 they recover from their sleep, or moulting, a little 

 light ought to be allowed them ; at a later period, 

 when they show a smart appetite, a great deal of 

 light must be given them. 



Same work. — j^nother mciliod. — As soon as the 

 leaves are cut very fine, they must be spread in 

 light layers with a sieve. Four repasts must be 

 given by the hour, (two of our hours,) which 

 makes about forty-eight repasts in the space of 

 one day and one nigh^ Some persons give but 

 thirty-six in the same interval of time. This is 

 my opinion. The newly hatched worms only 

 feed on the juice of the leaves. If their repasts 

 are not multiplied, they will resemble young foster 

 children who are deprived of milk from their in- 

 fancy ; consequently, they never ffiil to be weak, 

 pitiful and sickly. 



Leaves full of juice, which have been gathered 

 the preceding night, from the branches exposed 

 to the south-east, must be given them. These 

 leaves must be kept apart, in an earthen jar, and 

 cut up very fine as soon as they have been taken 

 out. 



Same ivork. — Method for diminishing the food 

 and hastening the moulting. — When the silk 

 worms are disposed to sleep, (to moult,) their food 

 must be diminished in proportion to the degree of 

 yellow or white which their skin assumes; the 

 leaves destined for their food must be cut in fine 

 shreds, and frequently spread in light layers. 



When the silk worms are completely yellow, 

 they ought to be transported, in succession, to 

 other hurdles, without caring whether the sky be 

 dark or serene, if it be in the morning or the mid- 

 dle of the night. When they have been trans- 

 ported to other hurdles, the feeding must be sus- 

 pended until they have all recovered from their 

 moulting, when they may be fed again. This is 

 called diminishing the food and deciding the moult- 

 ing. These two expressions imply, that the 

 nourishing of the silk worms, which are disposed 

 to moult, must be diminished, (care must be taken 

 not to cover or overload them with leaves,) and, 

 on the other side, the silk worms must be abun- 

 dantly fed, (which are not disposed to moult,) in 

 order that they may quickly moult. Not only 

 will the}' all moult together, but they will be ex- 

 empt from diseases caused by the accumulation of 



leaves, and the internal heat which consequently 



follows. 



Kong-sang-thnng-kiniie. — The silk worms may 

 be found in ton diU'crent situations : They may 

 be cold or hot, slarvod or satiated, sufficiently fir 

 apart, or tod near to<rether, asleep or awake ; they 

 mav cat slowly or with appetite. 



Same work. — Injurious things to the silk worms. 

 — 1st. The silk worms do not like to eat damp 

 leaver ; 



2d. They do not like to eat warm leaves ; 



3d. The newly hatched worms do not like the 

 smell offish, fried in a pan ; 



4th. They do not like to be in the neighbor- 

 hood of |>ersons who pound rice in mortars ; 



5th. They do not like to hear strokes on sono- 

 rous bodies; 



6th, A woman, who has borne a child within a 

 month, ought not to be the matron of silk worms ; 

 that is to say : ought not to be charged with the 

 raising of silk worms; 



7th. They dislike men, who smell of wine, to 

 give them food, to transport them from one place 

 10 another, or to spread them on hurdles ; 



8th. From the time they are hatched, until ma- 

 turity, the silk worms dread smoke and odorous 

 exhalations ; 



9th. They do not like to have skin or hair burnt 

 near them ; 



10th. They do not like the smell of fish. musk,, 

 or the odor of certain herbaceous animals, (like- 

 the goat, &c.;) 



11th. They do not like to have a window, ex- 

 posed to the wind, to be opened during the day ; 



12th. They do not like to receive the rays of 

 the settincr sun ; 



13th. They do not like, when the temperature 

 of their habitation is warm, to have a sudden cold 

 or violent wind introduced there; 



14th. When their habitation is cool, they do 

 not like a sudden change to excessive heat ; 



15th. They do not like dirty and slovenly per- 

 sons to enter their room ; 



16th. Care must be taken to keep all noxious 

 effluvia and filth distant from the apartments of 

 the silk worms. 



Same work. — The third day between ten and 

 two o'clock in the afternoon, three hurdles, or 

 frames, must be placed upon another stage. The 

 one above protects the worms fi-oni the dust; that 

 below protects them from dampness ; and the 

 middle one is destined to receive the silk worms. 

 Young silk worms when incommoded by internal 

 heat must be changed. A small quantity of 

 worms, occupying a space as large as a square of 

 a chequer-board, must be deposited on the middle 

 frame; they will soon cover it entirely. By de- 

 grees the quantity of food must be increased. In 

 the morning, if the weather be clear, the window 

 situated to the east can be opened, and during the 

 day, those which are in an opposite direction to 

 the wind. By degrees they will change color; 

 and, according to the color they assume, their 

 food must be increased or diminished. When 

 they are completely yellow, food must not be 

 given them. They remain motionless, and thaf. 

 is called theou-mien, (or the first moulting.) 

 When they have been removed after their first 

 moulting, six meals may be given them, during 

 the space of one day and night. The second day 



