2?o. 124.] *241 



■on the tender leaves till they have moulted the 2d or 3d time, 

 when we commence feeding with branches; that is, we cut the trees 

 down to tiie ground — the trees having been cut to the ground the 

 previous spring— then take them into a common straw-cutter, antl 

 •cut them three or four inches long, branches, leaves and alL These 

 we feed to the worms. Trees can he cut twice in the season, but 

 •once is about sufficient for th* health of the tree. I should recom- 

 mend after the first cutting, to pick the leaves the rest of the season- 

 Two crops of worms can be raised with ease, and I have raised five. 

 We have no feeding frames or hurdles j we feed on the board shelf, 

 •and shift our worms by means of branches. 



I likewise consider the silk crop ?LSure crop : in eight years I have 

 failed but oiicej and that was easily accounted for — inexperience in 

 deeding. Keep your shelves well cleansed, the cocoonery well regu- 

 ilated as to heat andf air, and plenty of fresh foliage on them, and I 

 ican safely say a failure will not often occur. 



Silas C Clark, Sharpsbtirgh, Alleg^kany county^ Pa. — My 

 experience in the silk business commenced the present season. The 

 anulbsrries at my command consisted of about two and a half acres of 

 anulticaulis, standing one and two feet apart., in rows about foui- feet 

 apart, growing from roots and cuttiegs, planted in the spring of 1842. 

 The tops, wiii-ch had grown from five to seven feet high during the 

 ■season, were cut off near the ground, a portioia last autumn, the re- 

 .mair>der in the spring, excepting a few for experiment. The foilage of 

 ithe present season Vvas iherefor-e derived almost exclusively from shoots 

 of this sunmier's grovvtlx, which I may here remark proved much the 

 more prolific. The lot of eggs designed for successive crops of worms 

 during the summer had been deposited in an ice-house for preservation. 

 On opening the box containing the eggs, on the 17th of .Tune, in oider 

 •to expose a portion of tlvem, the whole were found to have hatched, 

 and the little worms, apparently a day or two old, w-ere generally in a 

 state of great activity. The box bad been accidentally placed above 

 and a little remote from the ice. Hence the misfortune. However. I 

 immediately commenced feeding, and selected as many worms as 1 sup- 

 ^posed 1 should be able to provide v/ith foliage. For a cocoonery 1 oc- 

 cupied an op ew building.^ in whicJi there was a. free circulation of air, 

 corresponding and varying with the surrounding atmosphere. No arti- 

 ficial heat was used, and no elfort was made to regulate the state of the 

 temperature, which ranged from 56 to 92 degrees. 



The variety of v/orms was the common peanut. In the result I 

 have little of which to boast, although nearly meeting my expectations. 

 That the manner of hatching engendered disease among a portion of 

 the worms can hardly he doubted. Still, but a comparatively small 

 number of the worms was sickly, and a yield of about 60 pounds of 

 •cocoons to an ounce of eggs was realised. However, another loss 

 -chargeable to inexperience was subsequently sustained, through an un- 

 successful atteir)pt to stifle the chrysalis by the use of camphor. The 

 eggs for the next crop—of a species called, I think, the Canton peanut 



[Senate No, 124.J Ff 



