FARMERS' REGISTER 



19 



1839 



Aug 



Sept. 



76 70 

 62 61 

 6260 

 73 70 

 73 69 



72 70 



7672 



7672 

 7472 

 74 70 



78 74 

 7876 



30 54 70 60 



Wi7id. 



N. W. 



do. 



Variable, 



do. 



do. 



do. 



do. 



Calm. 



S. W. 



Variable, 



do. 



do. 



N. E. 



do. 



N. W. 



N. 



Calm. 



S. E. 



N. E. 



S. E. 



do. 



S. 



do. 



do. 



N. 



do. 



do. 



do. 



N. E. 



S. 



do. 



do. 



Variable. 



Calm. 



do. 



do. 



S. W. 



do. 



N. 



S. 

 N. W. 



N. 

 do. 



S. 



N. W. 



Remarks. 



Transient clouds with oc- 

 casional showers. 



Do. do. 



Do. do. 



Do. do. 



Cloudy with thunder and 

 frequent showers. 



Transient clouds with 

 thunder and occasional 

 showers. 



Do. do. 



Clear. 



Do. 



Do. 



Clear in the morning, in 

 the evening rain with 

 thunder. 



Clear. 



Cloudy. 



Do. 



Clear. 



Do. 



Do. 



Cloudy. 



Do. 



Do. 



Transient clouds. 



Do. 



Do., with showers. 



Transient clouds. 



Clear. 



Do. 



Transient clouds. 



Clear. 



Clear, and white Crost in 

 the vallies. 



Clear. 



Do. 



Do. 



Transient. 



Clear. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



White frost on the hills 

 and vallies. 



Clear. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



Silk-worms of several varieties, some of which 

 are mentioned in the foregoing record, commenced 

 hatching on the 1st of July, and continued hatch- 

 ing in small parcels daily until the 10th. They 

 were very healthy, and reached maturity about 

 the 32nd day ; the time which Dandolo assigns as 

 the natural period. The cocoons were firm and 

 neatly formpd, but were about, 25 per cent, lighter 

 than those produced by the same varieties in 

 June, which were three days later in coming to 

 maturity. The cause of this dJHereace in the 

 weight of cocoons, 1 do not pretend to know; it 

 was certainly not caysed by neglect of the late 

 rearing, for they had the most attention and were 

 fed as well, and cleaned with more regularity. It 

 is evident however, that these facts do not agree 



with a theory found in the Chinese treatise, which 

 is becoming quite popular in this country, viz : 

 " that the longer the worms remain in the cater- 

 pillar state, the less will be their production of 

 silk." In the treatise alluded to at page 116, we 

 tind the following language: " b'ood must be given 

 to the silk-worms without fail during the day and 

 night. If the repasts are multiplied, it will neces- 

 sarily result that they will soon arrive at maturi- 

 ty; but if their meals are rare, and not numerous, 

 they will attain their growth slowly. When the 

 silk-worms attain maturity in 25 days, one frame 

 or hurdle will liirnish 25 ounces of silk. If in 23 

 days only 20 ounces can be obtained, and if the 

 time be one month, or forty days, one hurdle will 

 liirnish but 10 ounces of silk. Those persons who 

 feed silk-worms ought to endeavor not to sleep. 

 Laziness has serious inconveniences.^^ Now, 

 while I have no apology for negligence, and fi'ee- 

 ly admit that indolent and careless persons are not 

 likely to make as good cocoons as the industrious 

 and careful, I am constrained to say that this 

 theory does not agree with facts as they have been 

 drawn from my experiments. I have conducted 

 twelve rearings of silk-worms in four successive 

 seasons, and of the cocoons of the two-crop worm 

 formed between the 25th and 30ih day, from 700 

 to 800 were required to weigh a pound ; and of 

 cocoons formed from the 30lh to 35ih day, 350 to 

 400 weigh a pound. The cocoons of other varie- 

 ties also, were found 50 per cent, lighter than those 

 formed alter the 32nd day. 



Feeding with wet leaves. — The prevailing opi- 

 nion lor centuries has been, that wet leaves are in- 

 jurious to silk-worms. The Chinese among va- 

 rious things which silk-worms " do not like,'" nien- 

 tion loet leaves. From recent developemenis how- 

 ever, it is highly probable, that experience will ere 

 long show conclusively that this opinion, venera- 

 ble for its antiquity as well as the respectable vvri- 

 lers who support it, is a bugbear of the imagina- 

 tion, and deserves to be classed with other hoary- 

 headed traditions which have for centuries been 

 propped up by authority. Some months ago, ex- 

 periments tending to show that wet leaves'do no 

 harm, had become so numerous in Connecticut, 

 that the editor of the 'Silk Culturist' says "the no- 

 tion that wet leaves are injurious to the worms, is 

 now generally exploded." Besides these, three 

 quite decisive experiments made in Virginia havf? 

 been reported,* to which may be added three of 

 my own, one made in 1838, and two in 1839. I 

 cannot discover that feeding with wet leaves does 

 any injury. It is certainly not the cause of the 

 tripes, lor I have for two seasons /bund more of 

 that disease among worms fed exclusively on dry 

 leaves. The disease called the tripes, is nothing' 

 but suffocation caused by a neiilect of cleanliness' 

 or a confined atmosphere surcliarged wiih carbon- 

 ic acid gas. The efficacy of chloride of lime, in pre- 

 venting this disease, has long been known, and ig 

 doubtless owing to its absorption of carbonic acid, 

 by which the atmosphere is kept near its natural 

 state, or in that condition, most suitable for the 

 respiration of animals. In cocooneries, especially 

 when large rearings of silk-worms are made, it is 

 necessary to keep up a very Dee circulation to 

 prevent the atmosphere becoming surcharged with 

 this deleterious gas. 



By Mr. Archer, Mr. Carter and T. S. Pleasantf. 



