No, 124,] 265 



one upon each side of the building, which enables me to ventilate it 

 freely. Unless the weather is cold, 1 allow the windows and doors 

 to remain open during the day and some of the windows during the 

 night. The space occupied by my first crop of worms the preser.t 

 season was nine shelves thirteen feet long and three and a half feet 

 wide, also twenty-seven hurdles 3 feet square, and ten, 2 feet by 3. 

 From a single shelf, 13 feet by 3i, I took down 15 pounds of good 

 cocoons, 



I have not paid much attention to regulating the temperature. 

 When it was cool and damp, I have generally used artificial heat. 



I have never fed in an open shed or tent, but have no doubt but 

 the plan would prove successful in the early part of the season. I 

 should have tried the experiment the present season had it been con- 

 venient, 



I have fed two kinds of worms, the large peanut and the sulphur 

 variety: though principally of the peanut, which I consider more 

 hardy and less liable to disease than the sulphur. Though my sulphur 

 worms have generally done well. 



The trees used are the white mulberry and multicaulis. The mul- 

 ticaulis have never winter-killed to any extent, and I usually let 

 them remain during the winter as they grew during the summer. 



I have always been more successful with early crops of worms, than 

 with late. I do not attribute it to feeding upon the leaves of the 

 white mulberry, because I have fed some vrorms in the early part of 

 the season exclusively upon the leaves of the multicaulis which pro- 

 duced as good cocoons as those fed upon the white mulberry. 1 con- 

 sider the early part of the season more favorable to the growth and 

 health of the worms than the latter part. My cocoons made by early 

 crops have invariably yielded more silk than those produced by late 

 crops. 



My impression is that the cause of bad success among many is 

 owing to their feeding worms produced from an unhealthy stock. A 

 gentleman of my acquaintance has fed several crops: the present sea- 

 son he did not obtain but few worms from the eggs hatched, and ma- 

 ny of those were sickly. He purchased some eggs of me, and as 

 his others had yielded, did not expect more than three or four thou- 

 sand to wind. The worms were healthy, and he obtained twelve 

 thousand good cocoons. They wound as late as the early part of 

 September. Mr. C. N. Morgan, of Northfield, has kept worms for 

 two years past. He obtained his stock of eggs from me. Last year 

 bis worms were healthy, and he selected a few of his best cocoons for 

 seed, and from these the present season, fed four or five thousand 

 upon the multicaulis. They wound the last week in August and 

 were as fine cocoons as any I ever saw. He was very particular, 

 feeding five times a day at regular intervals, and making them eat up 

 clean. If he over-fed at any time, at the next feeding he gave them 

 less. He estimated at the time of winding that there were not more 

 than fifty but wound good cocoons. Several other gentlemen have 

 obtained eggs of me, and generally had better success with those 

 worms than with worms produced from eggs obtained of others. I 



[Senate No. 124.J li 



