472 [Senate 



these are nailed pieces of board about three inches wide, the whole 

 length ; also across the ends. My frames are about five feet wide, 

 and my worms are placed on them immediately after their third moult- 

 ing. For a few days I feed them on boards, which are placed on slats 

 nailed on the bottom of the sides. Across the tops of these I lay other 

 slats about one inch square, and at first six or eight inches apart, over 

 the worms. I first lay the branches between these for a few feedings, 

 and then across. The worms soon find their way on to these, and in 

 about three days it will do to remove the boards on which they first 

 fed. This leaves them fully exposed to a circulation of pure air from 

 above and below, and on all sides. I place boards at the sides and 

 ends, against which most of the cocoons are placed, as it affords a 

 good place for them to retire from the light after their public work is 

 completed. The branches usually become from one to tw^o feet 

 thick before the worms get through feeding j still, if care is taken in 

 feeding, the foliage will be taken off so cleanly that the worms can be 

 seen from below, through the entire thickness. 



Did you ever observe any dampness on your worms 1 

 No. The dampness so commonly complained of arises from the 

 fact that more foliage is given the worms than they consume ; this 

 heats and collects moisture, and frequently proves the destruction of 

 entire crops. 



President. Under the old system the worms were fed on boards, 

 which kept every thing together and caused fermentation, dampness 

 and disease, with an offensive smell. Tkis arrangement prevents that 

 difficulty, and must give a circulation and dryness, while every thing 

 loose falls to the ground, and can easily be swept away, 

 ji Member. Your eggs ? 



Mr. Van Epps. I preserve them in tin canisters, taking care to 

 separate the different sheets by putting cotton batting between them ; 

 this absorbs the moisture. I place this canister in a box of dry sand, 

 so that it may be at least four inches thick on all sides. This box is 

 placed in my ice-house, and surrounded by ice. It is necessary to 

 attend to this before the weather becomes warm enough to cause the 

 hatching process to commence. I should advise that they be put in 

 as early as the month of February. I think eggs might be kept in 

 this way for centuries. I have not known mine to hatch in less than 

 two weeks after exposing them. 



President. Some years ago, being requested by an invalid of my 

 family, that she might have something to employ her attention in her 

 illness, I procured a thousand or two silk worm's eggs. As we were 

 about to remove into the city in the autumn, some were put into a 

 lady's bureau ; another portion were fastened to the beams in the cel- 

 lar out of the way of the rats, and the rest were placed in the ice- 

 house. In May, those in the bureau were found hatched and dead. 

 The others remained unaltered. When the leaves came out they were 

 put into the chambers, where they hatched in a few days. I after- 

 wards visited Italy with my daughter ; and as she spoke the Italian 

 language, I got her to inquire how the people managed to keep their 

 silk worm's eggs from hatching. They could not understand her 

 question, as they never have it to do. 



