FARMER S' REGISTER. 



281 



^ices in favor of old mode?, and every thing to 

 !earn anew, than amonir those whose uneducated 

 minds have, by long habit, become wedded lo par- 

 licular usaiies. In tlie central and noriiiprn parts 

 ■oC France," the disadvaniages of chn:iaie have 

 been in a great degree overcome by art. The 

 adoption of improvements in ihe conslriiclion ol 

 cocooneries, so as to insure warmth and that free 

 ventilation so indispensable, have enabled them to 

 obtain in the vicinity of Paris three times the 

 weight of cocoons from a given quantity of eggs 

 that is the average produce in the southern de- 

 partments, the consumption of leaves being at the 

 same time fifiy per cent. less. At the njodei es- 

 tabliphment at Bergerie^ de Senart, near Paris, 

 under the direction of M. Camiile Beauvais, the 

 results obtained have indeed surpassed ail antici- 

 pations. The silk is remarkable lor its lustre and 

 ptrenglh.and commands an exira price. With 

 1,000 kilogrammes, or one Ion (2,240 lbs.) of 

 leaves not sorted or picKed, JM. Bfauvais has pro- 

 duced 90 kilogrammes, or about 200 pounds of co- 

 coons. The mulberry plantations at Bergeries oc- 

 cupy about 35 acres of ground, and when they get 

 into full bearing are expected to supply sufficient Ib- 

 liage to roar the piodnct of at least one hundred 

 ounces of eggs. J\]. Beauvais preserves his silk- 

 worm eggs not only to any |)eriod of the ensuing 

 year most convenient to have them hatched, but 

 <'ven fill the year following this, in which last case 

 the eggs have been Ibund lo haich perfectly well 

 ^ind go through all their stages with regularitj'and 

 vigor. 



By raising the temperature and increasing the 

 number of repasts, he accoinpl'shes his feedings in 

 from twenty-two lo iwenfy-lbur days, thus saving 

 much valuable time and labor which may be de- 

 voted to trimming mulberry trees and other objects 

 connected with the business. The rapidity ol'the 

 rearing has not been found to impair ihe value ol 

 the silk. JM. Beauvais has exerted himself to dif- 

 fuse all the information upon the subject which his 

 opportunities enabled him to do. His cocoonery 

 is open to all visiters, and, during tvvo months of 

 the rearing season, he receives gratuitously those 

 ■who place themselves under him for the benefit 

 of his observations and practical instruction. 



Among the scientific individuals who have de- 

 voted special attention to the silk culture is M. 

 Robinet, member of the Royal Academy of Medi- 

 cine. He is director of the government model 

 cocoonery at Poicliers, where he has distinguish- 

 ed himself by (he success of his labors. He gives 

 gratuitous lectures upon the silk culture every sea- 

 son at Paris. The course begins in February, and 

 consists of two lectures a week, delivered on 

 Wednesday and Saturday. Immense advantages 

 must result from the lectures of Robinet, and the 

 practical course of instruction by Beauvais. 



In a recent report made by Bourdon to the 

 French Minister of agriculture and commerce,* 

 he gives a statement of the success obtained in 

 cocooneries where the new modes of heating and 

 ventilating have been adopted, to a greater or less 

 extent, compared, in many insiances, with results 

 attendant upon the ordinary plans. He first pre- 

 sents the experience of the model cocooneries esta- 

 blished in the departments of Urome and Vauclusc 

 " In the first," says he, " at Faventines, near 



Annales de la Societe Sericicole, 1838, p. .53. 

 Vol.. VIII— 36 



Valence, the beautiful race of silk-worms called 

 white Sina, obtained from JM. Beauvais, yielded 

 a product of 78 kilogrammes (or about 171 lbs.) 

 of cocoons, with a consumption of 1,000 kilogram- 

 mes (or atiout one ton ol 2,240 lbs.) of leaves. 

 Two races of worms, producing yellow cocoons, 

 one from Piedmont, the other Irom Ardeche, gave 

 165 lbs. and 158 lbs. of cocoons for the same quan- 

 tity of leaves. 



" In the second establishment, situated upon the 

 grounds of the Maiquis of Balincourt, near Palud, 

 (yaucluse,)upon the banks of the Rhone, in a 

 locality where the mulberry leaves are very wate- 

 ry and but little nutritious, M. Peltzer has obtained 

 132 lbs. of cocoons to the ton of leaves. He ope- 

 rated with the eggs of the white Sina, obtained 

 under the superintendence of M. Aubert, in the 

 Royal Domain of Neuilly, which eggs the king, 

 in his enlightened zeal for the success of the silk 

 culture, had requested to be placed at the disposal 

 of the Marquis olBalincourt." 



"The produce of the other cocooneries of this 

 proprietor, managed upon the common plan, do 

 not yield more than from 44 lbs. to 56 lbs. cocoons 

 to the ton of leaves." 



With some difference in the proportions of 

 leaves consumed, similar crops of cocoons appear 

 to have been procured by nearly all the fijedcrs 

 who have availed themselves of the salutary in- 

 fluences to be derived from a uniform temperature 

 and constant renewal of the air. 'J'hus M. Than- 

 naron, member of the Agricultural Society of 

 Drome, obtained on his estate, near Valence, 

 168 lbs. of cocoons to the ton of leaves. 



M. Robert, at Saint Tulle, near Monosque, de- 

 partment of Lower Alps, obtained the following 

 results : The product of eight ounces of eggs con- 

 sumed 18,032 lbs. of leaves, and yielded 915 lbs. 

 of cocoons of excellent quality. It must be ob- 

 served that M. Robert only gave his worms the 

 advantage of the new mode of ventilation after 

 they had passed the third moulting. Not having 

 net hurdles, his worms were fed on temporary 

 board shelves. 



Upon M. Robert's estate, the average product 

 of leedings made by his tenant?, who pursued tlie 

 old methods, was only about 61 lbs. of cocoons to 

 the ounce of eggs. 



M. Mazade, jr. at Anduzc, (Gard,) in operating 

 upon 12 ounces ofeggs, o"»tained 605 kilogrammcd 

 (about 1,331 lbs.) of fine cocoons with a consump- 

 tion of 9,103 kilogrammes (about 20.000 lbs.) of 

 leaves : that is to say, about 147 lbs. of cocoons for 

 every ion of leaves cnpsumed. 



The same amount of foliage afforded him only, 

 about 88 lbs. of cocoons in his other apartments, 

 which, though superintended by himself, had not 

 the advantages of that veniilaiion and artificial 

 temperature, together with the perfect equality 

 in the seveial stages and fi-equcncy of repasts 

 maintained in the system of Beauvais and D'Arcet. 

 The agricultural commi.^sion of Alais awarded a 

 gold medal to M. Maza<]e, with the expression 

 ol'it^ thanks, for the fine example set to his dis- 

 tric;. 



The ten)pcrature mnininined in the cocoonery 



during tile experimental feeding of M. Mazade 



ranged between 77deg. and 73 deg. Fah't. whilst 



the degrees of moisture ascertained by De Saus- 



i sure's hygrometer varied li-om 65 deg. to 85 deg. 



We learn from M. Mazide the liighlv interest- 



