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FARxMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 4 



PLAN OF A COCOONERY, 



AND FIXTURES FOR THE SPINNING OF THE 

 SILK-WORMS. 



The 'Directions for the management of Silk- 

 worms,' translated for and published in the last vo- 

 lume of the Farmers' Register, (commenced at 

 page 464,) stopped at the period when the worms 

 were ready to spin their cocoons. This was be- 

 cause it was not thought desirable to present the 

 very troublesome and yet defective European me- 

 thods of arranging the "hedges"' or arcades of 

 heath, bushes, &c. for the worms to climb and spin 

 upon. We are now enabled, by the aid of a cor- 

 respondent who has seen and observed much on 

 this subject, to redeem the promise then made, oi 

 presenting a more simple and yet more perfect 

 plan of fixtures, for this part of the business, here- 

 tofore the most difficult for novices to understand 

 from description, and still more difficult to execute. 



As a connecting link of the former 'Directions,' 

 ivith the following communication,it is proper to say 

 here, that after the general indications of the silk- 

 worms being ready to climb and spin, such of them 

 as still require more food, should have it given with 

 care and moderation. Alter nearly all have moimt- 

 ed, there will always be some slower ones remain- 

 ing, from their not having received enough food, or 

 some other cause of injury. These should be remov- 

 ed to a place of greater heat, and well aired, which 

 will hasten the maturity of all except such as may 

 be too much injured lo form cocoons.— En. F. R. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



Much as has been written on silk-culture at 

 large, I have not observed in any of the publica- 

 tions of the day, such a description of the fixtures 

 of a cocoonery, according to the most approved 

 and convenient plan, as would enable an inexpe- 

 rienced culturist to have one constructed. It is, 

 tndeed, a difficult subject to treat in an intellin-ible 



manner ; but, with the aid of diagrams, the diffi- 

 culty may possibly be overcome. 



The advantages of the modern over the old fix- 

 tures, must be apparent on the slightest examina- 

 tion, to every person who has any experience in 

 the rearing of silk- worms. The slow and tedious 

 process of shifting the worms, and cleaning the 

 shelves of litter, is now entirely superseded ; and 

 all the careful provision of brush and dried leaves, 

 or of broom-corn and straw, is totally dispensed 

 with. The management of the silk-worm is at 

 present conducted with a savinsr of labor and a 

 iiicility which were not attained in former tin)es. 

 It is true that the expense of putting up these fix- 

 lures is considerably greater ; but the additional 

 cost is fully compensated by the substitution of 

 durable, in the place of perishable materials — by 

 neatness for clumsiness — by the attainment of in- 

 creased facilities in conducting the operations — in 

 short, by a more perfect adaptation to the end to 

 be obftiined. 



Having enjoyed the opportunity of inspecting a 

 number of cocooneries during the past feeding 

 time, and being desirous of contributing my mile 

 to the great work which is now exciting so much 

 interest, 1 submit a description of the building 

 which appeared to me to unite the greatest num- 

 ber of advantages. 



The building is 100 feet long by 30 feet wide, 

 in the clear, and two stories high, besides the base- 

 ment or cellar. The dimensions of a house, how- 

 ever, unless it is erected expressly for a cocoonery, 

 are of secondary importance. If 30 feet wide, 

 which is a very convenient size, there sliould be 

 lour ranges of shelves running lengthwise of the 

 room. Each of these ranges, or rows of shelves, 

 occupies a space of three feet of the width of the 

 room, which will leave 18 feet to be divided into 

 five aisles, or passages, each three and a half feet 

 wide, viz. : two of the passages outside of the 

 shelves and between them and the walls, and 

 three between the several rows of shelves. There 

 should also be three passages across the room, 

 namely, one at each end, and one in the middle, 

 opposite the doors. The annexed drawing, though 

 not well proportioned, may convey an idea of the 

 ground-work, or manner in which the rows of 

 shelves and passages are laid ofl^. 



Fig. 1. Part of ihe horizontal plan of the shelves, and passages. 



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