1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



291 



persons never clean them at all till the third moult- 

 ing. Ft should, however be observed that, where 

 much litter and filth have accumulated, the hurdles 

 should be cleared of it; for if warm damp weather 

 occurs, it will be likely to cause (tjrmentation, and 

 disease in the worms. 



After the third and fourth moultings, the most 

 convenient mode of changmg and cleaning the 

 hurdles is, to place a net-work hurdle immediately 

 over the worms — so near them, that they can rea- 

 dily ascend upon it through the meshes, and place 

 fresh leaves on it ; the worms will soon get upon 

 the fresh hurdle, and thelowerone may be drawn 

 out, and the filth carried off. 



Until after the two first moultings, the worms 

 will occupy but a small space ; they will require 

 about double as much space after the first moult- 

 ing as they occupied previously, and should be dis- 

 tributed to it when the hurdles are cleaned. For 

 example: the worms that occupied one hurdle or 

 table fully, up to the time of the first moulting, 

 should be distributed on to two hurdles when they 

 revive; afier the second moultmg, they will re- 

 quire four or five ; after the third, ten to fifteen ; 

 and after the fourth, thirty to forty, or even more. 



The cocoonery should be divided into three parts, 

 or, at least, the worms should be kept in three dis- 

 tinct portions — say one portion in each end, and 

 one in the middle — that each day's hatchings may 

 always be kept by themselves. When the several 

 day's hatchings have been kept promiscuously 

 together, the moultings are irregular, and the 

 formation of cocoons very inconveniently so. Be- 

 sides, the worms that are moulting are disturbed 

 by the feeding of those that are not, or the latter are 

 injuriously kept without food. A successfijl result 

 can scarcely be secured without attending to this. 



The air in the cocoonery should always be kept 

 dry and pure, and this is one of the difficulties to be 

 encountered, that sometimes baffles the best exer- 

 tions. Happily for the silk cause in our country, 

 we are blessed with a climate peculiarly dry, and 

 consequently better adapted to the production of 

 silk than any other country except the north of 

 China, and not less so than that. But we do often 

 have times of damp, drizzly weather, and we must 

 then resort to the use ol fire. Mr. Whitmarsh's 

 cocoonery is supplied with hot air furnaces under 

 each end, fi-oni which he can, at any time, let hot 

 and dry air into the room, and thus expel the damp 

 air. 1 am well convinced that this is a very lar 

 belter plan than stoves or fire-places. But what- 

 ever mode of drying be used, it must be applied 

 whenever the air is damp, at all times during the 

 feeding of the worms, but more particularly when 

 they are spinning their cocoonsjor beginning to spin. 



I have never seen this part of the art of silk ma- 

 king treated with sufficient force in any European 

 work. Writers generally refer to it, as a desirable 

 condition of the atmosphere, but seem to attach lit- 

 tle importance to it. Mr. Whitmareh, in his late 

 excellent little treatise notices it, and entorces 

 the necessity of a dry atmosphere, with great judg- 

 ment and propriety; as also does Mr. Ruffin, in 

 the Farmers' Register. I am glad to receive the 

 countenance which the concurrence in my opinions 

 of such gentlemen affords. A writer in the last 

 number of this Journal, (Dr. Emerson,) also 

 enforces its necessity by explaining clearly and 

 philosophically the reason of it, and 1 will now 

 only refer the reader to his remarks. There is one 



point, however, which he has omitted to notice. 

 The silk fluid, as it leaves the apertures of the 

 worm, requires the aid of a dry, cool and pure 

 atmosphere to make perfect silk. Before it is 

 exposed to the air it is a thin viscid fluid, and 

 without the aid of the air would remain so. Now 

 if the air be very damp, its proper efl'ect will be 

 more or less prevented, and the silk will be flimsy, 

 and of a very inferior quality; on the contrary, if 

 it be dry, cool and pure, the silk will be of the best 

 possible quality. When we dry the air by artifi- 

 cial means, it is true it will be warm ; but it is 

 better to be warm and dry, than cool and damp. 

 But when heat is used to expel moisture, a free 

 circulation can be kept up, which will be of great 

 benefit. 



Formation of Cocoons. — We now come to the 

 mounting of the worms and spinning of the cocoons. 

 I believe the best and cheapest contrivance for the 

 worms to spin on, is small wisps of rye straw, 

 about a foot long, tied firmly together at the lower 

 end and spread out at the other. These are set 

 in rows about a loot apart, across the hurdles or 

 shelves, with their tops spread out and pressing 

 against the bottom of the shelf above to support 

 them in their places and to keep the straws spread 

 apart. On a hurdle or shelf five feet long and 

 two and a half wide, there will be three wisps in 

 the rows across, and five rows, making fifteen to 

 each hurdle. I was formerly in the habit of using 

 broom -corn straw, with the seed cleaned off, the 

 stem cut off close to the junction of the straw, and 

 the top spread out as in the above, and always 

 found the worms to do well with it. Mr. Whit- 

 marsh, however, has tried both, and gives the 

 preference to the rye straw. The worms readily 

 climb into and spin their cocoons among the bran- 

 ches formed by the straws, and the cocoons are 

 readily gathered from them. 



Cocoon Frames, Sfc- — I have never seen any 

 of the numerous frames that have been recom- 

 mended for this purpose ; but from the descriptions 

 I have had of them, there appears to be several 

 objections to them, viz: the trouble and expense 

 of preparing them, and the labor of gathering the 

 cocoons from them. The frames that seems to 

 obtain most lavor are those made by tacking laths 

 edgewise across the bottom of ihe shelves, two 

 inches apart, and then prepaiing small ladders 

 of twine leading from the shelf below to the laths. 

 It is said the worms readily climb these ladders, 

 and spin their cocoons in the angles formed by the 

 laths and Uie bottom of the shelf It must be ob- 

 vious, howevpr, that a great deal of labor will be 

 required to prepare them. I should suppose each 

 li-ame would cost as much as all the cocoons it 

 would contain would be worth. It is needless to 

 be more panicular with this part of Ihe subject, 

 as i have found that e^'ery body who has fed silk 

 worms, has had sufficient genius to suggest an 

 apparatus ol'snme kind for them to spin on ; and it 

 is very rare that we find two persons who use 

 exactly the same ; and this fact leads to the infe- 

 rence that the worms are not very particular in 

 this respect. 



The time of spinning will be ascertained by the 

 appearance of the worms. They will become 

 somewhat transparent, of a slight amber color, 

 cease eating, hold up their heads, apparently look- 

 ing about for some object above them, and occa- 

 sionally leaving fibres of silk on the leaves. 



