1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



469 



desired to make them Imtcli. They must he pro- 

 tected Irom light aiui from humidity; ami, provided 

 that the tem|)erature is kept at hetween 46 to 59 

 degrees [of Fahrenheit's thermometer,] it is sul- 

 ficieiil.* All these attentions do not require more 

 than an hour and a half. 



2. In oriler to be ahle to estahlish the tempera- 

 ture which suits best for hatching of the silk- 

 worms, and in order to regulate it and keep it al- 

 ways equal, it is necessary (or the conductor of 

 the' business to liavc at his disposition, and under 

 his eyes, a well constructed and well graduated 

 thermometer. For that purpose, those of mercu- 

 ry are best ; but as these, if large, are very dear, 

 M. Lagarde, optician at Paris, (Quai de Gevres, 

 No. 10,) makes them ofspirit of wine, with which 

 it is impossible to commit errors, fie has con- 

 structed them upon the plan of a physician of 

 Milan, and by instructions of M. Dandolo himself. 

 For "the distance marked from the freezing to the 

 boiling point upon ordinary thermometers is too 

 small, the degrees are too near together, which 

 sometimes causes mistakes to be made. To avoid 

 this inconvenience, I have made, for the hatching- 

 room, thermometers with long scales, the distance 

 from the mark ol'one degree to another beingequal 

 to that often degrees of common thermometers. In 

 this manner, 1 have been able to divide each de- 

 gree into five fractions, which are easily distin- 

 guished, even at some distance. Thus, the least 

 changes of the temperature of the apartment may 

 be perceived. These thermometers have a sign 

 which indicates the point at which the column of 

 colored spirit of wine ought to stop." It will be 

 most proper then, for the purpose of operating in 

 a manner as certain as it is possible to do, to pro- 

 cure thermometers of this kind.t 



3. The hot-house hatching room is made of a 

 small apartment, 12 feet square, of which the 

 walls [of brick] are quite dry, and in the midst of 

 which, on one side, must be placed a furnace made 

 of baked earth, or rather of very liirht bricks. 

 The furnace, or stove, should be capable of being 

 heated with but little fuel, and gradually, in order 

 that it may prolong and preserve its heat as much 

 as possible, or that it may be augmented or dimin- 

 ished, as required, without lettincr any smoke get 

 into the room. Thermometers should be placed 

 at proper distances, to mark and show that the 

 heat is every where the same; (or, if it is certain 

 that all the eggs of caterpillars do not come to the. 

 hatching point until surrounded by an atmosphere 

 hot enough to cause the germ of life to be deve- 

 loped, and as silk-worms in our climates cannot 

 certainly obtain the degree of heat which they 

 would meet with in those recrions whence they 

 were brought originally, it is then absolutely ne- 

 cessary to supply that temperature, in order to 

 make them hatch together, and that they may be 



pounds French, are seven pounds and twelve ounces 

 American weight. — Translator. 



* In the original, the degrees of temperature are 

 marked by Reaumur's scale, which are changed to their 

 equivalents in Fahrenheit's throughout this transla- 

 tion. — Tr. 



t The degrees marked on Reaumur's thermometer, 

 the kind referred to in the text, are each equal to 2^ 

 degrees of Fahrenheit's, which is used in England and 

 the United States. Therefore, the objection made to 

 the small divisions of the degree, does not so much 

 apply here as in France. — Tr. 



developed in the same manner. There should 

 be arranged, in advance, trays of wicker-work, 

 or hurdles, or moveable frames, or shelves of fir, 

 fixed near the walls by means of cross-pieces, 

 whirh are implanted in the walls in such manner 

 as not to leave between each two but 22 inches of 

 interval, to place upon them the necessary boxes, 

 constructed of paste-board, or of very thin white 

 wood. The boxes of paste-board should be 8 

 inches square, with sides half an inch high, lor an 

 ounce of eggs to each. When it is desired to 

 place more eggs than this quantity, wooden boxes 

 are provided,"of greater or less length and breadth, 

 ami with edges more or less elevated, upon which 

 their respective numbers are to be marked. They 

 are placed near each other, leaving between 

 each two an interval of two inches width ; and 

 placed always at a convenient height to be exa- 

 mined at the ease of the manager, and for him to 

 be able to move the egffs, from time to time, with 

 a wooden spatula, or shallow spoon, which serves 

 well to stir the eggs, without risk of crushing them. 



By means of very sensible thermometers, it will 

 he very easily perceived which are the places in 

 the hatching-room where the heat is lowest; and 

 thus it will be known where to put the eggs of 

 which it is desired to advance or retard the hatch- 

 ing, according as the season may have been fa- 

 vorable or unfavorable to the putting forth of the 

 leaves. By also adding some light tables, upon 

 which may be deposited the boxes in which the 

 worms are hatched, they can easily be changed 

 li-om place to place on the shelves, at will, and as 

 required. 



With one window of large glass, the room will 

 be well enough lighted. The light can do no 

 harm to worms of the first age ; and if there is 

 need to moderate the heat, there may be fitted in 

 the sash a moveable pane of glass, which will be 

 opened or closed according to the degree of heat 

 desired to be maintained, or there may be con- 

 structed an opening in the door, or, better still, an 

 air-hole or ventilator through the middle of the 

 floor, to he opened or shut by means of a trap- 

 door. When the hatching of the worms is finished, 

 ihis hatching-room should be put to the common 

 uses of a laboratory, or feeding-room ; and in it 

 may be placed worms to be fed and reared, unless 

 subsequent hatchings are desired to be made. 



4. To properly order the time of hatching the 

 worms, there will be need to observe the progress 

 of atmospheric temperature, compared to the put- 

 ting forth of the leaves ; and ten days belbre the 

 worms are desired to be out of the egir, they 

 should be put into the boxes. The time should be 

 noted, and written down, when each parcel of eggs^ 

 entered the hatching room, with the number of 

 the box which contained each parcel. By giving 

 spaces between the boxes, it will be impossible for 

 one parcel to be mixed with another. 'Vhe wicker 

 hurdles, or other moveable frames, will be cover- 

 ed with paper in the hatching-room, which should 

 be heated from the first moment to 64 degrees of 

 Fieat, and so kept for two consecutive days. The 

 third day, the heat must be raised to 66 degrees ; 

 the fourth, to 68 ; the fiiih to 71 ; the sixth to 73 ; 

 the seventh to 75; the eighth to 77; the ninth to 

 80 ; tenth, eleventh, and twelvth, to 82 decrees. 



By the signs which we are going to indicate, it 

 will be very easy to know the preci.se time when 

 the hatching of the worms is to be expected. For 



