292 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 



V/iiCnever these indications are observed, prepa- 

 ration should be made lb*' iheir accomniudation 

 with the wisps of si raw, or other means. Kul lew 

 will ascend at first, but in ih i course of the first 

 and second day they will wd.'.y all liave mcjnted. 

 They must be looked to occasionally, and these that 

 not readily mount should be put upon the straw 

 by hand. The room should be darkened, and kept 

 soft-om the commencement of the spinning, as they 

 always mount and spin more reudily in the dark 

 than in the glare of light. If tiie weather be dry, 

 the ventilators should also be opened, and as much 

 air given them as possible, without producing a 

 current of wind. Iftlie weather be damp, it should 

 be dried, and kept so till the cocoons are finished. 



During the wliolc process of feeding and spm- 

 ning. the cocoonery should be kept quiet ; but this 

 is particularly necessary while the worms are spin- 

 ning. I once tried an experiment of the effect of 

 a sudden shock upon ihem vvhile spinning. When 

 they had been two days at work, I let a large 

 weight fall upon the floor ; it made a loud noise, 

 and jarred the house considerably. On reelingthe 

 cocoons, I found the fibre was broken invariably, 

 when they were about half wound off. N'arious 

 other experimeius satisfied me that they require 

 quietude to enable them to finish the cocoon with 

 an uninterrupted fibre. 



The worms generally require about four days to 

 finish the cocoon ; but they should generally be 

 Jeft undisturbed six to eight days liom the time oi 

 the last of their mounting, when the cocoons 

 should be gathered and reeled immediately, or 

 cured for future reeling. 



Curing the Cucoons. — Various expedients are re- 

 sorted to forsmoihering the chrysalis in the cocoon. 

 In Europe, they bake them in ovens constructed 

 Tor the purpose — the heat being rejrulated so as to 

 prevent scorching the silk. The heat of the sun j 

 in this country is generally sulficierit to kill lliein, 

 and it is recommended as the simplest process by | 

 various writers. They spread the cucoons out lor 

 several days to the sun, until they become dry, 

 when they may be put away in a dry room lor 

 future use. Great care is necessary, however ; 

 for, if tiiey are not killed, the moths will make their 

 way out ol the cocoons, and thus spoil them ; and 

 if the cocoons be stored before the chrysales are 

 isuffieienily dry, the moisture will spoil the cocoons. 

 A little experience will enable any one to judge 

 when they are properly cured. When they are tho- 

 roughly dry or cured, the chrysales can be rubbed 

 into powder with the thumb and fingers. Believing 

 this plan to be the best, it is deemed unnecessary 

 to describe the others. 



If time allow of its being done, the cocoons should 

 be reeled without curing, as they reel nmch more 

 easily than when dried. 



Providing J^ggs, — Before curing the cocoons, 

 enough should be selected to produce eggs lor the 

 next season. They should be the best; lor, we 

 must infer that the worm thut makes the best co- 

 coon was in the best state of health, and will be 

 most likely 'o have the most healthy progeny. 

 Two hundred and thirty cocoons will make an 

 ounce of e<igs, or 40,000 ; but in selecting them, 

 it is best to take two hundred and fifty for each 

 ounce of egirs reijuired lor next season, that due 

 allowance may be made lor losses from various 

 circumstaces, such as death of moths, &c. These 

 cocoons should be spread out on a table, and in 



abuut ten days fi"om the linie the cocoona were 

 finished, the moths will come out, and couple, 

 wheti they sliould be placed on sheets of paper, 

 the room darkened, and left to themselves. They 

 will separate of themselves, and the females will 

 deposile their eggs on the papers. As soon as the 

 papers are covered with eggs, they should be rolled 

 up, and placed in some metal or earthen vessel, 

 and kept in a cellar or ice-house till wanted next 

 year. Be careful not to close them air-tight, or the 

 eggs will be killed, as they reijuire the aid ot' air 

 just as much as animals do. 



Hats, mice, ants, and cock-roaches are destruc- 

 tive to silk worn)s in all stages of their existence, 

 and must be guarded against. 



Silk worm eggs are not injured by any degree 

 of cold ; but they should not be exposed to great 

 changes of temperature suddenly ; lor this reason, 

 they should be put in a cellar or an ice-house, ajid 

 kept constantly there till wanted for hatching. If 

 kept in an ice-house horn the time they are first 

 laid, they may be kept from hatching till the latter 

 part of the next summer, and thus successive 

 crops may be reared. I am not prepared to say, 

 however, that successive crops will be found pro- 

 fitable. I still believe that one crop, at the proper 

 season, will be found ultimately the most profita- 

 ble. I also think it very probable that keeping the 

 eggs from hatching much beyond the natural 

 period, will be very likely to injure the constitution 

 of the insects. If this plan be resorted to, there- 

 fore, I would recommend thai eggs for next year's 

 use be always produced from the first crop. This 

 plan will obviate all difficulty on that score, as the 

 worms of the first crop will never be subjected to 

 th.e protracting treatment. Besides, you will then 

 always be sure of a supply of eggs for next year, 

 whatever accident may befid the succeeding 

 cro[)s. 



hiseases 0/ Silk fVor7ns. — The French and 

 Italians describe many diseases to which silk 

 worms are subject, and attribute them to various 

 causes. Cleanliness and pure dry air, however, 

 are the only preventives, as well as remedies, and 

 it is, therefore, deemed unnecessary to go into 

 details. Those who keep their cocooneries pro- 

 perly ventilated, and firee from damp, and their 

 hurdles clean, will have no diseased worms ; or, if 

 disease does occur under such circumstances, 

 there is no remedy for it, the cause being attribu- 

 table, probably, to some mismanagement of the 

 eggs, or the worms from which the eggs were 

 obtained having been unhealthy. When disease 

 is caused by foul air, arising from filthy hurdles, or 

 other etHuvium, the cause of the foul air must be 

 immediately removed, by cleaning the hurdles, and 

 removing the filth, and sprinkling the floor with a 

 solution of either the chlorides of lime or soda. 

 The diseased worms should also be immediately 

 removed. 



It is a irood plan to have a couple of days' sup- 

 ply of leaves always gathered beforehand; so 

 that, in case of rain, feeding with wet feaves may 

 be avoided. The importance ol avoiding wet 

 leaves will be learned from experience by all who 

 neglect the precept. 



I must conclude this long chapter with the 

 remark, that notwithstanding the long timeneces- 

 sarially occupied in the description, the practical 

 operator will find the whole art of raising silk 

 worms exceedingly simple, and easy of perfbr- 



