348 



FARMERS' RBSISTEK 



which followed they began, BLiccee.=ivel3% to make 

 thpir cocoons. 



'Vo prevent the worms I'rom nillinir at the period 

 oftheir ascent JM. Aubert pla<'ed on ihe upper f)riri 

 of his epinninir friimes a band of cnnviiss aboul 6 

 indies hi<^h, fixed outside, and whiili, wiilioul in- 

 tercepting liie air, lias iJjri-aliy contributed to pre- 

 serve a birge niiniber of worms from lalis, which 

 hurt tliem and incapaciiate ilieuj from making 

 their cocoons. The expense of this was very 

 trifling and well compensated by an abundant crop 

 of cocoons. The consumption of leaves was, 

 during the firjt stage, - - 12 Itis. 7 oz. 

 2d " - - 4S " 3 " 

 3d " - - 103 "■ 

 4h " - - 276 " 

 6ih " - - 1,419 " 



Tofnl, - - - 1,858 10 



This quantity of leaves produced 157 pounds of 

 cocoons. 



The royal theoretical insliliiiion of Grisrnon did 

 not wish to be behind in the impvovemi^its regard- 

 ing this branel> of asxricultural industry, and ac- 

 cordingly M. Bells, director of that esiabiishment, 

 coituiidnced in the jear 1833 to plant mulberry 

 trees, and on ilie4ih ol July last when your com- 

 missioners went to Gnunnn, they fjund al>out 

 3| acres of ground in a perfect stale of cidiivation, 

 and planted wiih 1500 (I'et of mulberry trees ol 

 low stalks, of which liiur-fiiihs are grafed. !l was 

 with ihe leaves ga'hered from those trees that itie 

 rearing of las', summer was mac^e. 



Accordiiiif to a eiaiemein ifiven us by M. Bells, 

 his eniiie reaiing Ia>ied 39 days, and this delay 

 may be alirihnted to hi-^ cocoonery having been 

 knpi at a temperature, on un average, of 70 (leir. 

 (F ihrenheit,) and to ilie rircLnnsiance of the iher- 

 mometer falling even to 68 deL^ during the seven 

 last days of ihe 6ih aL'e. This low temperature 

 lias no doubt leiii:th med ihe time nf his rearing, 

 and was ihe ctiuse that ilie worms were ei^ht (bi_\s 

 in mounting. Another more, c-erions diradvaniage 

 has contributed no doubt to dimuiish the product 

 of the same rearing, viz : that on the filih day of 

 the fifth stage, instead of increasing the ibod of 

 the worms, he, fearing he would not have a suiTi- 

 cient quantity of leaves, diminished ihequan'iiy 

 given to them instead of increasing it in proportion 

 as he should have done. Thus the worms tu 

 which on the fourth day of the fifth age they had 

 given 151 lbs. of leaves divided into nine repasts, 

 had on the fifth day 121 lbs. instead of 190 ibs. 

 which was requisite. On the follovvinff day, and 

 until the end of the rearing, he continued to di- 

 minish the quantity of leaves at least one third, 

 and gave them only four repasts in twcmty-fjur 

 Ijours, instead of trom seven to nine, wliich was 

 necessary. Th's no doubt had a direct influence 

 on the crop, and perhaps diminished the product 

 from 15 to 20 Ibs. so that the 105 Ibs. which he 

 obtained might have reached to 120 or 125 lbs. 

 had he not learcd a scarcity of leaves. On the 

 14:h of July when we visited the planiaiion ol 

 mtilherry trees we discovered that his lears were 

 groundless atul it appeared to us that there re- 

 mained as many as 3 or 4 quintals of leaves on 

 the treea, which fifteen days previous, could have 

 been gathered with advantage to complete the 

 deeding. 



On this last pubjpcl we cannot conceal from yoO 

 ihat if we do admire the fine coeootiery of iM. de 

 G'imandei we cannoi recommend it as a model to 

 be li'llovved. Insiead o.''tvvo immense cocooneries 

 wliich touch each other and are united at right an- 

 gles, eacli of which can contain the worms pro- 

 ceeding li-otn 80 ounres of eirgs, from which 3 or 4 

 millions of worms must be produced, we should 

 have been beiter satisfied if he had distributed in 

 several parts of his profierty Irom 8 to 10 cocoo- 

 neiies, in each of which from 15 to 20 ounces of 

 eugs could have been deposited. Until now, ex- 

 fierience has shown that the reatings effected in 

 small apartments have always succeeded belter 

 than those undertaken in large rooms. 



M. de Grimaudct it is true has adapted to his 

 cocoonery the fine ventilating a[iparatus of M. 

 d'Arcet which succeeded so well in 1885 at M. C. 

 Beauvais', but is it not to be fir^ared that this ap- 

 (laratus. excellent as it may be, miirht he insuffi- 

 cient when apiilicd to too large a room, in which 

 an immense quantity of worm'^, several millions 

 lor example, will bp. assembled, thereby insuring 

 its merits as applicable to cocooneries of smaller 

 proportions 1 



'J'he worms fed in small secluded cocooneries 

 could he [(reserved Irom disease more easily than 

 in those of larger dimensions, and if situated some 

 distance I'rnm one another the contagion could not 

 spread, but would be confined to the one in which 

 the disease oriirinaied. We cannot tlierel(3re ap- 

 prove ol the vast and splendid cocoonery ol iVl. de 

 Giiaiauiiet, and fear that his system of building 

 may prove fatal to an enterprise to which we so 

 sliongly Wish success. That which M. de Gri- 

 maudet made in Villemomble in 1835 he repeated 

 near Versailles in 1836. In ihe course of the last 

 year he caused to be erected at the gate of that 

 town, near the jraies of Montreuil a new and 

 splendid cocoofiery 120 (i^et in length. 27 It^et in 

 width, and 18 feet in height. It is his intention to 

 rear therein the worms produced from 120 ounces 

 of egi/s, and in order to provide /bod ti^ir such a 

 great number he hai« already commenced near his 

 buildings a plantation of mulberry trees of several 

 acres. 



The 2d of July we visited the cocoonery of PtI. 

 Christojjhe, in Viirneux, but the worms had alrea- 

 dy spun, and tlie cocoons were ol an excellent 

 quality. — We remarkeil particularly at his estab- 

 lishment several cocoons produced from worms 

 which vve were assured had been fi'd, during the 

 first fifteen days of their existence, with lettuce 

 leaves. We mention this, bur cannot vouch lor 

 it a~ a fact — Itut if, by new experiments, it could be 

 confirmed, it would prove of some importance. 



Upon every side efforts are making to extend in 

 diflierent parts ofFiance the culture of the mulber- 

 ry tree and the rearing of the silk worm, which, 

 Ibrmerly, many persons thought belonged exclu- 

 sively to the sou I hern provinces of France. Not 

 only have all the experiments made in the neigh- 

 borhood of Paris succeeded, but the products have, 

 ill £reiieral, surpassed those obtained at the south. 



Tliese happy results are owing to the high state 

 of perlectiun to which the northern rearers have 

 brought the mode of rearing the silk worm, and 

 principally to the application of the apparatus of 

 ventilation to the cocooneries invented by M. 

 d'Arcet. A few years more and the north of 



