1839] 



F A R i\l K R S ' REGISTER. 



44Z 



succes^lul recalls mny be anliciprtied. In the early 

 part of fliis month, they commenced with about 

 150.000 worm?, under the immediate care ol" a 

 peiisihie and inteiliirerst female, Irom the silk-fjrow- 

 iiifj district orCoiinerticut. The Mp.=prs. Cheneys, 

 vvliose cocoonery is situated on the Delaware, 

 about two miles above Burliuirton, are making 

 preparations !o iced silkworms on an extensive 

 scale, and accordiuij to the most approved modes. 

 One ol' the tiim is now in France, and another has 

 very recently returned from that country. Ttiey 

 went lliere for ihe purpose of inquiring: into the 

 imnrovements wliicli liave been made vvitiiin a 

 ft^w years in the art of rearing worms, by eminent 

 French culturists. They are now introdLicing into 

 their cocoonery the "improved svstem" of ventila- 

 tion and feedini'', of wliicii IVl. D'Arcet is the au- 

 tiioi. Their fi.xtures were not completed, l)ut as 

 far as they had been yet able to adopt (hem, the 

 results were not only chcerinjr, but astonishing. 

 JV'l. D'Arcet's mode of warming and ventilating, 

 is hy hot air furnaces f-laced in ilie cellar, at each 

 end of the huiUling, i)y which tiie external air is 

 heated when necestiiry, and conveyed through 

 pi[)es into the feeding room above. An equable 

 temperature is by this means reariilv preserved, 

 and a continual circulation kept up. The JNlessrs. 

 Cheneys' furnaces were not set up ; and in the 

 n)ean time 'hey were usiriij a common anthracite 

 pn)ve, fixe<l in the middle of ihe room, with a long 

 horizontal pipe lor the escape of the smoke. Tiie 

 mercury was kept as near as possib'e at 75 de- 

 grees. They were (ceding al-.out 250,000 of the 

 coumion uray worms, the first iiatching of whicii 

 was on ihe 30th of June. I saw them on ihe fiili 

 of July, at which time they had ixone Ihrouirli the 

 first moultinir, and a few were hecoming tor|>iil the 

 eecond time. 'I'he worms were fiul on chopped 

 leaves, eighteen times in twenty-four hours, with 

 an interval of a few hours' repose in the middle of 

 the nigtit. Under this f()rcin.i^ system, tiie worms, 

 alter showing general sIl^us of torpor, pass through 

 their mouhings and waken up with great unili)r- 

 mity in the course of six or seven liours; and ilieir 

 ordinary term of existence is abridged ten or twelve 

 days. Tlie diderence in size between worms of 

 two successive days' hatching would be incredible 

 to those who had not seen ii. It wil he hi«rldy iti- 

 teresling to know the final results of this experi- 

 ment, which it is hoped will be speedily laid be- 

 fore the public; fi)r a minute diary was kept of 

 their treatment and prnirress. The createst dan- 

 ger to be apprehended is from the substilnuon of 

 the stove Icr the fiirnace. The effect of stoves 

 wiih constant fires, as was the case with theirs, 

 and supplied moreover vviih anthracite coal, is to 

 decompose the atmosphere to a considerable ex- 

 tent. To visitors, the respiration was difficult and 

 oppiessive ; liut ii wa« not so to the attendants 

 wiio were constantly in the room. That the svs- 

 tein of heated air however has heen hisrhlv suc- 

 cessful iti France, there can he no doubt. I had 

 the (rratifii-ation of Inokinir iu'o srvpral Fieiicb 

 works which Messrs. Cheneys had impnrted : one 

 of which was a s\'nopsis of the 'reaim*^nt and re- 

 Bulls of rearintr silk-wotnis on this sv^s'pm. ui'dor 

 the fillowingr title: '■^Tableau f^ynoptiqiie. piiMie 

 sur Zes auspices dii, minislre da comme.'ce et Va. rt- 

 ciilture. Elucalion hative npre^ Ics vifth' des de 

 M. Camille Beauvais et les prnccdes di venfilniion 



I M. jy jlrcei.''''* The table has a number of 

 columns; the first shows the ages of the worms 

 I and the time of moulting; the eecond contains 

 drawings, neatly engraved and colored, of the pro- 

 ' grcssive sizes of the woitns during each succcpsive 

 day, and also of the cocoons, moths and effirs ; 

 another column gives the temperature; another, 

 tlie number of meals in the 24 hours; another, 

 the weight of Ibod, and so on. Some of the re- 

 sults are as follows : the first moulting is on the 

 5th day, the second on the 8th day, &c. They 

 began to spin in 24 dajs, in 30 tiays the cocoons 

 were all fiirmed, and in 40 days the moths had cut 

 out. Until the first moulting they were fed every 

 hour, or 24 times a day ; between the first and se- 

 cond moultinge IS times a day. The number of 

 meals was gradually reduced to 8 limes a day in 

 the last ase. The progress of Messrs. Cheneys' 

 worms was even more rapid than that indicated 

 by the table. Another work contained a "De- 

 scription of a healthy cocoonery," by M. D'Arcet, 

 illustrated by numerous plates. It is doubted, 

 however, by many skilful culluriste in this coun- 

 try, whether we shall derive any benefit from con- 

 ductinrr the "education" of the worm, in such an 

 artificial manner as it is under the improved French 

 system. Our climate, they say, is naturally favor- 

 able to ihe rearing of silk worms; and with good 

 care they begin to spin in from 30 to 32 days. 

 But we have frequently weather of several days 

 duration, especially in May, and even as late ae 

 the 1st of July, which is cool, rainy and uiicons- 

 fortable. At such times the worms are ijieatly re- 

 vived by the warmth of a brisk fire. They may 

 do well without it, it is true, but they do better 

 with it. The eilk-wnrm has been so long sub- 

 jected to artificial treatment, that if is leaeonalde 

 10 suppose it cannot be made hm artificial, as long 

 as i;s health and condbrt are |iromoted. But ihig 

 poinl'will be soon settled by the exjieiiments of our 

 pe()|,>Ie, who are always attem[)iiiig to discover (he 

 shortest way to attain their ends. At present we 

 are in 'he infancy ol" the art. We havenoB\s- 

 tem ; and as a community, we have but little prac- 

 tical knowledge. Let every one improve ilie talent 

 which has been coinniiited to him, and contribute 

 Ins mite to the general stock ; and tiie happiest ef- 

 iecl.= may be anticipated. 



Jvhj 20th, 183D. 



SEASOIC, CHIXCri-EUC; AXD CHEAT. 



For thfi Faiuifrs' R^^^sijior. 



Nelson, July I'lth, 1839. 

 Drought distressing in these pans lo all cropc, 

 Cliinch-bug ravaging Ihe corn which had pre- 

 viously willed from the fbimer cause. Unless rain 

 come ^oon, we shall have a bad propped. By ihe 

 bye — tliis year, I think, should i=etllethe ch^at con- 

 troversy finally and iia-ever. Whole fields in tf.is 

 •■ind the county of B.ickinffhrim. and perhaps e!.-e- 



* t^yiioptical Table, pubhshed under the auspices of 

 Ihe Minister of Commerce and Agriculture. Hasteiipd 

 rearing of silk-vrorms, according: to tha methods of 

 M. Camille Beauveis, nnd th« plnn of T-prtilation of 

 M. D'Arcnt.— Ep. 



