184 



Culture of Silk. 



Vol. II. 



marsh land, on the head of tide water, near 

 Tracey's landing. 



After all, the great object would seem to 

 be to admit air and exclude moisture. Would 

 not numerous Venetian windows, with slid- 

 ing shutters, to be closed on the approach of 

 driving rains, answer a good purpose? 



If any apology were necessary for seeking 

 the information here solicited for one of my 

 sons, who has " turned planter," on a small 

 scale, on the subject of thatching, believed to 

 be best understood in Pennsylvania, the wri- 

 ter might alledge that twenty years ago, 

 " solitary and alone," without subscriber or 

 correspondent, he started the old American 

 Farmer, which was followed by the establish- 

 ment of agricultural societies in almost all 

 the States, and by much more able journals, 

 especially the Farmers' Register, the ablest 

 that has appeared in any country. Who would 

 now attempt to calculate the addition that 

 has been made to our stock of agricultural 

 knowledge and wealth by the publications 

 which are now diffusing their light all over 

 the country ? 



Should any of your readers favor me with 

 any information on the subject of my inqui- 

 ries, with their permission, it shall be com- 

 municated for the Cabinet. 



J. S. Skinner, 

 Post Office, Baltimore. 



January 8th, 1838. 



Xlxperlmeiits iu the Culture of Silk. 



The following letter from Mr. E. New- 

 comb, of Polsley's Mills, (Va.) to the editor 

 of the Silk Culturist, details the manner and 

 results of some experiments in silk making, 

 which will be found useful to new begin- 

 ners: 



Dear Sir — Having been an attentive read- 

 er of the Silk Culturist, as well as many 

 other periodicals on the subject of culture 

 and manufacture of silk, and feeling a deep 

 interest in their success in the United States, 

 and having read of various experiments in 

 feeding worms, and of various fixtures for 

 the worms to wind their cocoons on, 1 have 

 been induced to try some experiments my- 

 self. Although a beginner in the business, 

 it may possibly be some satisfaction to some 

 of your readers to hear the results of my ex- 

 periments. About the 2(Hh of May last, I 

 hatched about 200 silk worms and fed them 

 about five weeks, when they commence dspin- 

 iling and made good cocoons. 



On the 4th, .5th, and 6th of June, the se- 

 cond crap hatched and fed 30 days, and were 

 healthy, and made 4,000 good cocoons. On 

 the l:ilh, 14th, 15th, and 16tii of June, the 

 third crop hatched, and fed well, and were 

 healthy until about the 26th day after hatch- 

 ing, at which time many of them were at- 



tacked with a disease called the yellows, 

 which carried off half of them ; the remain- 

 der spun their cocoons, 3,000 in number, but 

 they were small and light. The above worms 

 were from last year's eggs. The fourth crop 

 hatched on the 29th July, and fed about 26 

 days, and were very healthy and made large 

 cocoons. The fifth crop hatched on the 7th, 

 9th, 11th, and 13th of August, and spun in 

 26 days after hatching, and were healthy and 

 made good large cocoons. Of the fourth and 

 fifth crops, which made 42 knots of silk on 

 Dales' reel, four threads of which made good 

 sewing silk. The fourth and fifth crops were 

 from eggs of this year's produce. 



It appears tnat eggs will not hatch regu- 

 larly the same season which they are laid. 

 Having read various opinions on that subject, 

 I thought I would try some experiments, and 

 accordingly obtained a few eggs about the 

 12th of August, in 1836, and exposed them 

 to the common atmosphere, and not one of 

 them hatched that season. 



Although some of the same .stock from 

 which I got them did hatch, (to the number 

 of about 200,'^ about six weeks or two months 

 before. About the 20th of May, I exposed 

 the few eggs last mentioned, together with 

 about 4,000 of the same stock, and in about 

 a week after, they all hatched out, that is, 

 they hatched on the 4th, 5th, and 6th June. 



1 left about 6 or 8,000 eggs, deposited this 

 season, on the hurdles, in hopes that they 

 would hatch, as they were sent for the two 

 crop or white worm, and 300 of them hatched. 

 About the same time I examined those that 

 were in the cellar, and found that 2 or 300 

 of them had hatched also. I then exposed 6 

 or 7,000 of those in the cellar to the common 

 atmosphere, but not another worm of them 

 hatched this season. 



The plan I have adopted for feeding frames 

 is similar to that of Mr. Whitmarsh, otNorth- 

 ampton, Mass., with this difference, that in- 

 stead of having all the hurdles of one size, I 

 have them arranged in the following man- 

 ner : My hurdle frame is about three feet 

 wide, divided as follows : the first hurdle, 

 for the worms when first hatched, is a thin 

 board thirteen inches wide ; the second hur- 

 dle is a frame covered with miliinet, which 

 is two feet wide, with a paper slide under- 

 neath. The third hurdle is a frame covered 

 with net work, four feet wide ; and the fourth 

 hurdle is six feet in front covered with net 

 work, and a slide underneath as above. This 

 plan is designed for successive crops, and an- 

 swers a good purpose, with one exception, 

 which is, that when the worms are spinning, 

 some of the worms are inclined to spin be- 

 tween the net work and paper slides, and by 

 drawing the slides in order to clean off the 

 litter, you will disturb the worms in their la- 



