248 



F A R M L] il S ' REGISTER. 



[No. 4 



to the width of the shelf, and the distance between 

 the posts; say 3 feet by 3 leet 10^: inches, which 

 will allow a quarier ol' an inch play between the 

 posts. The vacant spaces between the hurdles 

 and opposite to the posts, should be closed by strips 

 ol'a suitable size when the worms are ready to spin; 

 otherwise, some oftiiem will Ibrm their cocoons in 

 these vacancies. The Irames of the luirdles are 

 made of laths 2 inches by fths.- The most expe- 

 ditious, as well as the strongest, way of putting 

 them together; is to lay the lalhs flat in a mitre 

 box ; and saw o(f the pieces into proper lengths. 

 Then with a brace- bit, bore a hole (in horizontal 

 direction,) at each corner of the frame, and laslen 

 together with pins. It is best that the hole should 

 be bored as near to the inner angle of the corner, 

 as the length of the bit will allow ; and it would 

 add still more to the strength of the I'rame, to dip 

 the pins in glue, and even to glue the joints. The 

 network, which is made of well twisted, smooth 

 cotton twine, is first tied to each corner of the 

 frame, and then stretched by means of a string 

 passed through the outer row of meshes, and 

 drawn over tacks or small nails driven on the up- 

 per side and near the inner margin of the laths, at 

 distances of three or lour inches I'rom each other. 

 The meshes are about an inch square, tied to- 

 gether at the corners like a seine. This net is 

 obtained at the north at a very moderate cost, not 

 exceeding 8^ cents the square yard. Tiiere is an 

 inferior article which is woven, that costs aliout 6 

 cents. Either of them, however, could readily be 

 prepared in most families. 



Thechanging of the worms renders it necessary 

 that the number oT hurdles should be groater than 

 merely sufficient to occupy the shelves at any one 

 time. Perhaps half as many more would consti- 

 tute a full supply. In fijeding, the hurdle lies on 

 the shelf with that side underneath, and in contact 

 with the shelf, to which the network is attached. 

 When the operation of shifting the worms and 

 carrying off the litter is to be effected, a fresh .hur- 

 dle is placed in the same position, immediately 

 over the one which contains the worms, and rest- 

 ing upon it. Cut leaves are then to be sprinkled 

 over it ; and in a short time, a fev/ hours at most, 

 worms will have crawled upon the upper hurdle, 

 when the lower one is to be withdrawn and emp- 

 tied of its contents. By this process, great num- 

 bers of worms are changed in the course ofa day, 

 without any necessity lor handling or even touch- 

 ing them. 



But the chief merit of a cocoonery, such as I 

 have attempted to describe, consists in the accom- 

 modations which are allbrded to liic worms lor 

 spinning. Immediately over the worms, at the 

 bottom of the shelf above, amongst I lie sills and 

 sleepers (so to say,) on which the floors of the 

 shelves are laid, they find a place adapted to all 

 their wants. In the recesses ioimed by the junc- 

 tion of the laths with the planks of the shelves, 1 

 have seen thousands of cocojiis beautifully and 

 regularly arranged. According to this plan, it will 

 be necessary to have an extra shelf fitted up in 

 the same manner, above the highest one on which 

 the worms are reared. The advantages of this 

 fixture for spinning, are several. It offers to the 

 worms a quiet and secluded situation, at a lime 

 when thej' should not be subjected to interruption ; 

 while such as are backward in mountinir, may be 

 attended to, and supplied with food as ususal. The 



cocoons are gathered with much greater facility. 

 Instead of the old mode of picking them, one by 

 one, out of brush and dried leaves, and separating 

 them li'om the litter, a handltil may be collected at 

 once, without a particle of litter u[)on them. The 

 situation, moreover, appears to be gratifying to 

 them. They do not leave it in such large num- 

 bers as they frequently do other accomniodalions, 

 to wander over the ceiling, or amongst the rafters 

 of the building, before ihey can find a resting place.- 

 To enable the worms to ascend more readily, 

 ladders of very siinple construction are prepared. 

 Take two very small laths, about half an inch 

 square, and 3 feet long — lay them down on a work 

 bench, at distances fi'om each other equivalent to 

 the spaces between the shelves, (say 13 or 14 

 inches,) and connect them together by a twine 

 cord, fastened to tacks driven in the laths every 

 three or four inches. The tacks on the upper lath 

 are not per|)endicularly over those in the lower, 

 but over the middle of the intermediate space; 

 by which, the twine is inclined, as in the zigzag 

 lines (b b, 8fc.) of fig. 3. When the worms are 

 ready to climb, the ladders are suspended over 

 each end of every hurdle, near the posts, by loops 

 a a, attached to one of the strips of the ladder. 



a a 



Fig. 3. 











Another fixture for saving labor, is a car which 

 runs up and down the passages — to be filled with 

 leaves when the worms are ied, and to receive the 

 litter when they are cleaneil. It is made low 

 enough to pass under the lowest shelves, and the 

 wheels are kept in place by means of strips nailed 

 down to the floor of the room, like the rails on a 

 rail-road. It serves very much to facilitate the 

 progress of operations in a cocoonery where labor 

 is not abundant^ and indeed, under any circum- 

 stances, it is a great convenience. 



The materials !br fittinii up a cocoonery shoulJ 

 be of the lighest wood, either poplar or any spe- 

 cies of pine; and though not absolutely necessa- 

 ry, it would contribute greatly to the neat appear- 

 ance of the whole work, il all the pieces were 

 dressed, however slightly, with a jilane. 



It may be ihouaiit that the plan ol" having dou- 

 ble rows of shelves, as in Count Dandolo's co- 

 coonery, and indeed in many in this country built 

 afior the model of his, would possess advantages 

 over the one now described. - The wide passages 

 which would thereby be gained, would certainly 

 be a great acquisition ; but it is at least (|ucsiiona- 

 blc whether the inconvenience of having to reach 

 over shelves six feet wide, would be at all compen- 

 sated by this advantage. But to say nothing of 

 feeding, the fixtures for spinning, though they 

 might be fitted up in one case as well as in the 

 other, would scarcely be available when the lime 

 arrived fijr gathering the cocoons. The wide 

 shelves however, are now generally disapproved. 



