474 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



the worms then, after their hatching, their ar- 

 rangement, and their distribution upon the papers, 

 6 pounds of young mulberry leaves, clean, and 

 chopped or pliced very small. In the second age, 

 the quantity should be increased to 18 pounds, 

 but cut up less finely; in the third, 60 pounds of 

 leaves will be required, still less cut; and, lastly, 

 in the iburth, the quantity of leaves must be in- 

 creased to 180 pounds, the leaves only cut about 

 to half the size. 



However, there may arise some unforeseen cir- 

 cumstances, of which It would be difficult to cal- 

 culate the effect in advance. But with care, and, 

 above all, with foresight, we may be able to eticct 

 the hatching precisely when the trees offer tender 

 leaves, and which will acquire more or less firm- 

 ness in proportion to the advancement of growth 

 of the worms. If the contrary case should occur, 

 it would compel the loss of the stock of worms, 

 (unless another brood could be procured,) when- 

 ever a bad season should greatly retard the shoot- 

 ing of the leaves. If after hatching the worms in 

 good and apparently settled weather, it becomes 

 inclement unexpectedly, it is easy to retard the 

 rate of growth of the worms, at least during some 

 time, and thus to suit their after progress to that 

 of the before suspended growth of the leaves. In 

 the case when the leaves shall not have the re- 

 quisite qualities, they should further be diminish- 

 ed or increased for the repasts, according to 

 circumstances. For, all the quantities which have 

 been determined by approximation, although con- 

 firmed by reiterated experiments, depend almost 

 entirely upon the degree of heat in which the 

 worms are kept and fed. In fine, the economy or 

 procedure prescribed in such cases, does not pre- 

 vent them from devouring their food with great 

 appetite, digesting it easily, and beinti preserved 

 constandy in a state of vigor, and excellent con- 

 dition. 



To economize the food and to obtain a crop of 

 cocoons as abundant as possible to have, such are 

 the principal objects which every silk-culturisl 

 should have in view. It is known,"by experience, 

 that by over-loading the worms with food, there 

 is not only lost the value of the food wasted, but 

 also, by the accumulation of litter, the little vigor 

 which the worms enjoy during some moments of 

 their existence undergoes changes in the time of 

 moulting, which make them pass from having good 

 appetite, to astate of visible languor; and Tf^arc 

 and attention are not redoubled, the worms be- 

 come weak, languishing, sick, and do not wait 

 lon^ to perish. But if, to the contrary, nothing is 

 neglected of the attentions which should beob- 

 gerved, and if the course advised lor the best de- 

 velopement of the worms is followed exactly, 

 there will be saved a quantity of cocoons propor- 

 tioned to the quantity of eggs pet, and of the mul- 

 berry leaves consumed. For JVl. Dandolo as- 

 sures us, 1st. that when 110 or 120 pounds of 

 cocoons are obtained from one ounce of ecgs, there 

 will have been consumed very nearly 1650 pounds 

 of leaves ; 2d. that when from an ounce of eggs, 

 there is obtained but 55 or 60 pounds of cocoons, 

 there will have been used about 1050 pounds of 

 leaves ; in which supposition, there would be re- 

 quired about 2100 pounds of leaves to obtain, 

 from two ounces of eggs, the first named quantity 

 of 110 or 120 pounds of cocoons ; 3d. that the 110 

 pr 120 pounds of cocoons obtained from a single 



ounce of eggs, are worth much more than the 

 same products from two ounces of eggs. 



If, as JVl. Dandolo affirms, from an ounce of 

 eggs, hatched and well taken care of, we may ob- 

 tain about 165 pounds of cocoons, any deduction 

 from that amount must be considered as so much 

 actual loss ; even though the consumption of leaves 

 may have been much more considerable. And if 

 there is added to this loss the injurious influence, 

 which the worms which die in the course of their 

 developement, have upon the survivors, the 

 amount will be greatly increased. The dead bo- 

 dies increase the indisposition and feebleness of 

 the living; and the more the number is diminish- 

 ed, by want of care, the less silk of good quality 

 will be furnished by the remaining worms, in pro- 

 portion to the number. It is much to be desired, 

 to remove all doubts on this subject, that there 

 should be established a parallel between the qua- 

 lity and quantity of cocoons produced by a good 

 manner of treating the worms, and the bad, which 

 results almost always from the common routine of 

 practice, and from prejudices, as much as from 

 negligence. A series of tables, vi^hich even though 

 but approximations to truth, in a succession of 

 many years, with the meteorological indications 

 of the atmosphere, during the season, would be 

 the best means to employ for the purpose of know- 

 ing well the losses caused by the state of igno- 

 rance, out of which the managers of silk-worms 

 are not willing to be drawn, whatever efforts may 

 have been made for their instruction and benefit. 



The first age. 

 Tlie first day. Scarcely are the worms hatched 

 and distributed on the squares of paper, as describ- 

 ed above, when it is necessary to give them food 

 four times, in quick succession. [3| pounds in the 

 twenty-four hours.] For that purpose, the young 

 leaves are cut into slender shreds, either with a 

 sharp knife, or in a suitable cutting box, [con- 

 structed upon the principle of a straw-cutter,] and 

 distributed with moderation for the first repast, to 

 be augmented for the second, third and fourth, at 

 the distance of six hours from each other. There 

 is not necessary to the worm but an hour and a 

 half, or two hours at most, for it to be filled and to 

 fall then into a sort of torpid state, during which 

 there is need to watch and keep the temperature 

 constantly equal, and to avoid all changes of hot 

 and cold. For five ounces of eggs, it is proper to 

 place the sheets of worms upon a space of the 

 shelves of 36 square feet, 8 inches ; and to distri- 

 bute over them very nearly 4 pounds of young 

 leaves, tender and cut small ; while for one ounce 

 of hatched eggs, it will not be necessary to ex- 

 ceed a pound and a hall" A space of twenty 

 inches square suffices also to contain them, so that 

 the leaves will be found eaten through. As the 

 worms as yet reject no excrement, it would be 

 useless to change their place. Then they are so 

 frail and delicate that they should not be touched 

 with the hands. If any of them get too much 

 scattered, they should be carefully lifted with a 

 slender twig, or a large needle, to be put back to 

 their place. For gathering up the leaves scatter- 

 ed too far from the worms, a little broom will be 

 found useful. At this stage of its life, the silk- 

 worm will eat its own weight in leaves in twenty- 

 four hours; therefore, all, for one repast, should 

 not be distributed at once. On the contrary, some 



