FARMERS' REGISTER. 



649 



and (lo<T, and Ibr the yearly consumption of the 

 hundred iaiiiilies that cotnpoee the Htile conjnmni- 

 ty of Nishney-Kolymyk, at least three millions o( 

 herrings are requiied. Many other kinds of fish 

 are caught at tiiis time, among which is the Nebna, 

 a large description of salmon trout, but the first 

 fitjh are generally thin, and are mostly converted 

 into yukhala lor the dogs ; that is to say, cut open, 

 cleaned, and dried in tlie air. From the entrails 

 an abundance of train oil is obtained, which is 

 used for food as wi II as lor fuel. The yukola is 

 distinguished from the yukhala merely by the 

 selection of a better kind of fish, and by greater 

 care in the preparation. 



"The proper season Ibr bird Iinnting is when the 

 animals are moulting, when having lost their lea- 

 thers they are unable to fly. Large detachments 

 are then sent off Irom the fishing stations, and 

 numbers of swans and geese are killed with gims, 

 bows, and sticks. The produce of this chase is 

 said to have diminished greatly of late years. For- 

 merly it was no unusual thing for the hunters to 

 bring home several thousands of geese in one day, 

 ■whereas now they are content if they can catch as 

 many during the whole season. 



"While the men are fishing and hunting, the 

 women make the best use of the interval of fine 

 weather to collect the scanty harvest which the 

 vegetable kingdom yields them, in the shape of a 

 lew berries and aromatic herbs. The gathering 

 in of the berries is a season ol' gaiety, like the vin- 

 tage in southern climes. The young women wan- 

 der about in large parties, spending the nights in 

 the open air, and amusing themselves with song 

 and dance, and other innocent diversions. The 

 berries themselves are preserved by pouring cold 

 water over them, and freezing them, in which con- 

 dition they form one of the lavourite dainties du- 

 ring the winter. Besides the berries, they collect 

 at this time the makarslia, a inealy root Ibund in 

 large quantities in the subterranean store-houses ol 

 the field-mice. The young girls appear to have a 

 peculiar tact in discovering the magazines of these 

 little notable animals, whom, without the least re- 

 morse, they j)lunder of the fruits of their provident 

 industry."' 



method ror rktardikg tiik hatching of 

 silk-worms' kggs in ice-houses. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 



The following plan fjr retarding the hatching 

 of Bilk-worms' egcs by ice-houses, for successive 

 crops, I have found more successful than any 

 hitherto adopted,* and it is now communicated for 

 publication in the Farmers' Register, lor the use 

 of such persons as design making liirther experi- 

 ments on the subject. I do not claim originality 

 for the plan in all Us features, because it is only a 

 modification of that successfully practised by the 

 Rev. D. V. McLean, of New Jersey, in 1839. 



A box is made of strong inch-plank, 15 inches 



* In boxes similar to those described I have retard- 

 ed the eggs, by burying them uuder ground until the 

 middle ot June. These eggs hatched well and pro- 

 duced very healthy worms. But before a minute de- 

 scription of this method is published, I wish to subject 

 it to th€ test of further experiments. 

 Vol. V11I.-S2 



deep, 20 inches long and 20 inches broad. To the 

 bottom of this a bottomless box, made of sinnlar 

 plank, 8 inches deep, 9 inches long and 9 inches 

 broad, is nailed. The vacuum between the large 

 and small box is filled with pulverized charcoal, 

 which is confined by nailing pieces of plank to the 

 edges of the small box, and sides of the large one. 

 The eggs are then rolled up in separate packages^ 

 of about an ounce each, (always placing a blank 

 sheet over the eggs,) and 5 or 6 of these packages 

 are placed in a square tin canister, of dimensions 

 that will allow its being placed in the small wooden 

 box without difficulty, and in height correspond- 

 ing with the small wooden box. The lop of the 

 canister is then put on in a loose manner, so as not 

 to exclude the air, similar to the plan adopted by 

 retail grocers with their tea-canisters, and it ia 

 then placed in the small wooden box. The top ia 

 then nailed on the large box, and it is placed in 

 the ice-house, so that the ice will come within 

 three inches of the lop. Two holes are bored 

 with a spike gimblet a()out two inches below the 

 top of the box. The boxes are examined (but 

 not opened) from time to time, that they may be 

 placed in their original position, which will be 

 changed by the mehing of the ice. 



By this method I retarded the eggs last season, 

 from the 20lh of April until the 4'.h of July, or 74 

 days alter the natural period of hatching.* 1 

 have endeavored to describe the plan accurately, 

 because I believe that careless management may 

 lead to disappointment and loss. 



The boxes must not be opened until the eggs 

 are wanted for hatching, and when once opened 

 the eggs must not be lei't in the ice-house. The 

 practice of placing large parcels of eggs in a box 

 which is frequently opened in the ice-house ia 

 dangerous, and 1 think has produced many of the 

 failures of the last season. 



The eggs of silk-worms, and also of other in- 

 sects, that will not hatch under ordinary circum- 

 stances, until the spring or summer of the follow- 

 ing year, pass through a hibernate or winter state^ 

 and during this period the embryo is dormant, qui- 

 escent or inactive. If this be not the case, hovir 

 shall we account for the well known fact, that the 

 vitality of the eggs will be destroyed by subject- 

 ing them to a very low temperature alter very 

 warm weather in the spring, when eggs of the 

 same kind in all other respects, if plsced in the ice- 

 house between the 1st and 10th of Fei)ruary, 

 have hatched well as late as the 4ih of July, and 

 even as late as August, and produced healthy 

 worms. 



By frequently opening the boxes and introducing 

 the warm air, this state of inaction of the embryo 

 may be disturbed, and, when disturbed, attempts 

 to retard its progress, unnaturally, will either de- 

 stroy vitality, or if the worms emerge from the 

 eggs they will drag out a feeble existence, and 

 nearly all die before they are ready to form co- 

 coons. It is well known to all persons familiar 

 with the hatching of silk-worms' eggs, that a gra- 



* These eggs were placed in the ice-bouse on tho 

 10th of February, but the 1st of February is full late, 

 and if delayed much beyond that period, it may be 

 found impracticable to retard the hatching without in- 

 jury to the eggs. The natural period for hatching in 

 latitude 38°, was the 20th of April. This was proved 

 by leavii>g eggs exposed during the whole cf the pre- 

 ceding winter. 



