FARMERS' REGISTER. 



347 



have been so hurtful to the worms produced from 

 the e^gs of Valencia, in Spain. Your reporter can 

 only lueniion that he received in 1824 eggs I'rom 

 isiriyrna in tiie Levant, which, afier having tra- 

 velled by sea, were tent to hini I'roiu Tou on in a 

 jelier by mail, and the worms coming Irom this 

 seed t^hovved no particular disease, and they 

 arrived at the period of iheir maturity without a 

 greater number dying than is customary in the 

 ordinary rearing. M. 11. Bourdon in the arrange- 

 ment of his cocoonery made many useful modilica- 

 tions, of which we give the Ibilo wing account. 



Fust. — Instead of disposing end to end his hur- 

 dles which were two IJiei wide, and live feet 5i)iig, 

 he has juxia-placed them, two by two, and the 

 width oi ihe two hurdles united together is such., 

 that a Single person can diiect the leediiig on ihe 

 whole surlace in alternating li'om one side to the 

 other J thus by this juxta-positioii of the hurdles, 

 much space is gained wuhout an injury to the 

 wliole mode of operation. 



Second. — By means of light v/ooden rods placed 

 on the cross pieces oithe props the hurdles can be 

 •lemoved easily. 



Third. — The hurdles are arranged in such a 

 manner, that the one placed on the outside, cr at 

 the passage, can be removed at will, vvhich greatly 

 iacil Hates the labor chiefly lor the cleansing of the 

 iiurdles. 



Fourih. — JM. H. Bourdon makes use of nets hke 

 JM. C. Beauvais to remove his v/ovuis Irom one 

 place to another, or to divide them on the hurdles, 

 but his nets are fixed on Irames made of very light 

 wood. 



Finally, M. 11. Bourdo'a has adopted in his co- 

 coonery, to serve as props to his hu.-dles, a range 

 of single posts, vvhich can be easily taken to pieces 

 after the rearing, so tliat the locality may serve lor 

 any other use. 



All these modifications introduced in a small 

 apartment appeared to us susceptible of being 

 easily applied to a large establishment. It suffices 

 to have seen them operate, to be convinced that 

 they do not require a much greater increase of e;i- 

 pense in the fixtures. 



* * » '" H' 



M. Aubertin 1836 reared worms produced from 

 2| ounces ofei^gs proceeding from worms reared in 

 ly35 by M. Boucher, and the cocoons of which 

 did not appear to ditfer very sensibly Irom those ol' 

 the ISina species, except that tliey v/ere perhaps 

 a little smaller and weighed less. The fircl eggs 

 were placed on the 20ih of May in a hatching room 

 where the temperature was 63 degrees Fahren- 

 heit, and it was brought the Ibllowmg day to 

 74^. On the 2oLh of May, the thp.rmonicter being 

 at this last elevaiion, the hatching commenceil 

 at 2 o'clock in the morning according to M. 

 Aubert's observation, and ceased at 10, and as 

 very few worms were hatched they were not pre- 

 served. On Ihe 2dih the ihermomeier being at 

 77 deg. the hatching commenced again at 2 

 o'clock in the morning and continued until noon. 

 Many more worms having been liatched than on 

 \he [ireceding day ihey were saved and led. On 

 tlie27i!i ot'May the thermometer being still at 77 

 deg. the haichinij recommenced al)Utidantly, al- 

 Avays at 2 o'clock in the morning and lasted until 

 5 o'clock in the evening. On the next day, the 

 28th, the temperature being still the same, the 

 hatching began anew from one o'clock in the 

 morning until eleven. 



All the worms hatched during those last two 

 days were reared with those of the 26th, but those 

 liatched on the 29th, being much reduced to num- 

 ber were neglected. In this manner the entire 

 rearing was composed of worms hatched the 26lh, 

 271 h and28ih o!' May. 



The application oithe excellent system of venti- 

 lation which we owe to our iionorable colleague 

 M. d'Arcet was made in the cocoonery ol Neuilly, 

 and tha worms were inaimained in perlt-ct health. 

 During the first stsges M, Aubert led his worma 

 twelve times a daj', from six to eight times during 

 the third, and five times during the last two, to 

 v/hich slight repasts were added during the fifth 

 stage. 



On this subject we think proper to express ouf 

 opinion that it would appear more rational to re- 

 serve the twelve meals a day, for example, for the 

 last stage, which is the time the appetite of the 

 v.'orms becomes greater, and that it would be pos- 

 sible without inconvenience to reduce the meals to 

 4 or 5 during the two first ages. We advisee rear- 

 ers to make a lew experiments on this subject. 



During all sorts of weather the worms of the co- 

 coonery oi'I^Jeuilly had cleansed leaves only, and 

 they Vi?ere given to ihetn cut into small pieces un- 

 til the 3d stage. 



From the second stage until the tim^ of spin- 

 ning, M. Aubert changed the beds of his worma 

 every other day by means of Iramed nets let in the 

 hurdles. The changes were made, with the ut- 

 most lacility and the worms crawled up quickly on 

 the nev/ leaves which covered the nets, without 

 scarcely any remaining on the litter. To give an 

 idea of the promptitude with which the changes 

 were effected M. Aubert assured us that during 

 the 5th stage, two persons, besides a third one 

 charged especially to remove the litter and to 

 transport it out of the establishment, could in two 

 hours attend to the changing of 48 hurdles, form- 

 ing together a surface of 469 square feet. What 

 rendered it easier to accomplish the changes on 

 the upper hurdles was that M. Aubert caused 

 puliies to be placed in order to bring down all those 

 that were too high and beyond common reach. 



As the worms of Neuilly were hatched in three 

 different days, three sections of them were formed, 

 which during all the rearing continued to progress 

 at certain intervals from one another. There has 

 also been considerable irregularity between worma 

 hatched the same day, and when we visited the 

 cocoonery for the second time, the 13ih of June, 

 the v/orms being then at the beginning of their 

 third stage, v/e took notice of a certain quantity 

 which, as to size, appeared inferior and backward 

 by several days. Vv e observed a person selecting 

 them carefully from the hindles to put them aside. 

 The heat oithe cocoonery was 77 deg. during the 

 fiist two stages ; in the third it was limited to 72 

 decf. during the -'ih it was between 70 and 72 deg. 

 and finally ii was not nsore than 68 deifroes during 

 the 5th stage. Under the influence of this tempe- 

 rature the worms of the first section crawled on 

 thespinn'nir frames on the 2Sth d:iv, those of the 

 2d on the 30th, and those of the 3d sec'ion on the 

 32d day. To the dila'ory ones six more days 

 were required that they might all be spinning. 

 As to the worms of the Slna species, of which M. 

 Aubert only raised one eighth of an ounce, they 

 spun on the 30th day, but a very email number 

 remaining on the litter, and during the 48 hours 



