376 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



mount (or formino- cocoons. That, is, those that | perience wilh the use of lime establishes the great 



hatched the 1st tlay will mount first, tliose hatch- 

 ed the 2d day will mount the next day alter the 

 first mounted, and so on to end of a week, or pro- 

 bably ten or twelve days. The consequence is, 

 some worms are spinning cocoons, some ieedmg, 

 and some even in their last sleep, all at the same 

 lime producing great confusion and much waste 

 of lime and luiiage. But the evd does not stop 

 here. The cocoons having been spun thus irre- 

 gularly, will also be in conlufcion. Tlie n>olhs ol 

 those first commenced \vill be cutting oui, or 

 ready to do so, belore the last liave half fimshed 

 their cocoons, and thus in any event a considera- 

 ble loss will be sustained : lijr if you kill the chry- 

 salis in time to save the first formed coi-.oons, you 

 kill the worms in those which have halffiiiished ; il 

 you wait lor the last to finish, those ol' the first 

 will cut out and spoil their cocoons. But if eggs 



value ol' that materia! as a preventive of disease. 

 The successliii experiment of keeping a lew 

 worms in a temperature of 100° mentioned in the 

 letter, should not induce any one to suppose that 

 they will certainly succeed equally well with a 

 large crop. There were too lew worms, and pro- 

 bably no rubbish, to cause injury from foul air. 

 We throw out this hint merely as a timely cau- 

 tion. It is possible that silk- worms may be capa- 

 ble of enduring this high degree of heat lor a pe- 

 riod of seventeen days, but we do not conceive il 

 at all probable — at all events it would be a diffi- 

 cult matter (or their human attendants to do so. 

 It is a curious (act, however, and ought to be fur- 

 ther exi)erimented on. — Ed. Silk Jour.] 



Virginia, May 23, 1841. 

 My dear friend, — For the past week the vvea- 



of one day's laying only are on each paper, near- 1 ,[^gp ^^^^ {i^i^n very fine, and the silk worn)s have 

 ly if not all will hatch simultaneously on the same 

 day ; and it is also a curious tact, (developed by 

 the New Theory,) that several parcels ol eggs 

 laid, say on the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4ih of July, ol 

 last year, will hatch this year in the same rota- 

 tion, if they have been kept and treated in all re- 

 spects alike. It is expected to be proved, that the 

 only reason why all parcels of silk-womis' eggs 

 require from lour to six days to hatch, (from the 

 time they first begin till the last hatches,) is simply 

 that the same number of days were occupied by 

 the moths in laying them. It is Ireely admitted 

 that this looks like hair splittinir and, as has been 

 said, "French rtfinement," but when the princi- 

 ples of the New Theory shall have been tho- 

 roughly understood, and criiicaliy exanuned, the 

 above will be (bund to be noihing but natural re- 

 sults from natural causes. 



One more remark. The papers should be kept 

 as clear of filth as possible, especially the liquid 

 discharged by the muihs belore they begin to lay 

 eggs. This can be done by suspending the pa- 

 pers perpendicularly on the sides of the room. 

 The moths will not lall ofi' till they have done 

 laying, and when they discharge the li(iuid it will 

 Call u\)on the floor. The reason the eggs should 

 be (ree from all such filth is, that it, not possessing 

 the principle of lile, as the eggs do, soon putrefies 

 and evolves deleterious gases, which in close ves- 

 sels may destroy the vitality of the tgg>. 



^ ^ G. B. S. 



FIRST FRUITS 



OF THE SEASON — SUCCESS 

 SILK-MAKING. 



From the Journal of tlie American Silk Society. 

 [The following letter contains most gratifying 

 intelligence. The respected writer will excuse its 

 public'ation, on account of the cheering hopes il 

 will encourage. The writer of this letter has 

 now feeding (a portion probably spinning co- 

 coons) about 600,000 worms. He practises up- 

 on the principles of the New Theory, and uses 

 lime freely, according to the lately discovered vir- 

 tues of that article. The success of Mr. C, men- 

 tioned in the letter, with his first and very early 

 crop, is pecularly gratifying, and shows what can 

 be done under the worst possible circumstances, 

 by skill, care and persevering industry. His ex- 



sensibly It-It its. genial influence. I ought to have 

 some beginning to spin by this time, but the cool 

 wet weather has retarded their progress very 

 much. I hope it will be better now. My worms 

 look exceedingly well notwithsianding. I spent 

 a night wiih C. C. during the early part of the 

 past week. He is in high spirits. A brood of 

 eiirly worms, amouming to about 30,000, had 

 nearly all ascended. He had kept them in his 

 haicliing room, at a temperature of about 76°. 

 One or two hundred which he kept on the man- 

 tel-piece immediately over the fire, in a warmth 

 of about 10j°. began to spin in 17 days. I never 

 saw finer cocoons than they all were. He thinks 

 he can now efi'eciually banish disease from his 

 cocoonery by the use of lime. He says he would 

 not be willing to express fully what he really 

 thinks of iis etiects and advantages. He will 

 proceed on your system in regard to hatching, 

 though I do not think he holds what is vulgarly 

 termed "book larning" in very high estimation. 

 But his incessant application will enable him to 

 do as well as any man. He has thought of an 

 entirely new thing lor the worms to spin in; 

 namely, whortleberry bushes.* A bundle of 

 them set up and spread at top like broom corn, 

 displays the cocoons to great advantage, and the 

 worms are highly pletised vvilh the fixture. 1 

 have heard from no other cultivator; but when- 

 ever I gain any inlormalion, 1 will communicate 

 it to you. 



I have had a great many eggs to hatch this 

 spring; and I have unilbrmily observed that the 

 difierence of even a lew days, in the times of 

 hatching last year, shows iiself now. 1 have 

 been almost astonished at it. The eggs too have 

 not been on ice, and have been kept under pre- 

 cisely the same circumstances. 



* Our respected friend is mistalven in supposing 

 this a new tfiing.. 'Wliortleberry busfies were often 

 used in the early days of the silk experiment here, 

 say ten to twelve years ago. The editor used them, 

 as well as severai of his acquaintances. They an- 

 swered reinarlvabfy welt. — Editor Silk Journal. 



