342 



JVcYf kind ej • Food (for ' Silk Worms. 



Vol. 11 



I will give you a short description of our 

 frames and hurdles. The Messrs. Cheney, 



■ Gumrnere, myself, and others, of this place, 

 -have adopted to use for our silk worms this 

 season, though I do not pretend to give any 

 •ertain or infallible rules or modes of man- 

 agement at this early stage of the business, as 

 applicable to all future years; J)ut you know 

 we must have a starting point, and then be 

 governed by the best light we can collect on 

 the subject. We are erecting our frames by 

 having uprights made of boards one inch 

 thick, by six or eight inches wide, placed four 

 feet apart, with kleets nailed on each side, 

 beginning one and a half feet from the floor, 

 and continuing one tier above another, about 

 one foot apart, then rest our shelves, made of 

 half inch boards, on the kleets, and on which 

 the hurdles are placed. The frame part of 

 tlie hurdles are tour feet by three, square, 

 made cf boards two inches wide, by a little 

 less than one inch thick, and covered across 

 with a net work made of twine with meshes 

 about one inch. The hurdles are placed on 



' the shelves, and the worms, after being fed on 

 the papers a few days, are placed on the net 

 work hurdles. They will not fall through 

 the interstices unless the leaves fall through 

 with them. When thesilk-worms want clean- 

 ing put another hurdle over them and sprinkle 

 leaves over it. They will soon come up to 

 eat, and then raise the top hurdle which con- 

 tains the worms, and remove the under one 

 and clean the shelf with a brush, and lay the 

 hurdle having the silk-worms down upon the 

 shelf. By this mode of changing there will 

 be no occasion of handling the worms during; 

 their growth. 



Our fixtures for spinning v^iJl be sawed 

 lath, about one and a half inches apart, placed 

 6o the worms can readily spin between them. 

 Several different ways are used in the con- 

 struction of the lath. The mode of changing 

 the silk worms te clean them, and the fi.x- 

 tures for spinning are original in this coun- 

 try. The Chinese being a very precise peo- 

 ple and having the greatest practical know- 

 ledge in the silk business of any other people, 

 without doubt, do the business exceedingly 

 well in their way ; but from their writings 

 it would not be advisable tor us to adopt their 

 practice of feeding and manufacturing. They 

 dean the silk worm by taking up the leaf, 

 •with the worm, clear away the filth, and 

 then lay it down again. Other similar modes 

 they practice in feeding. When the spin- 

 ning time comes, the worms are carried 

 away to spin in what they call the cocoon 

 room. Their fixtures for spinning are gene- 

 rally of bamboo reeds and rice straw, placed 

 so the worms can go in amongst them to 

 form their cocoons. The carrying of the 

 .yvorms away to spin, is not practicable, save 



where there are but few, for they will spin 

 somewhere when they finish eating, and 

 where there are a large number of them to- 

 gether they will waste their silk belbre they 

 can be removed. By the Chinese accounts, 

 I find each person or fiimily feed but a few 

 worms together, and, of course, much pains 

 are taken to do the business precise. 



The Chinese weaver will select a tree, or 

 generally two trees, on which to hang his 

 liarnesses and apparatus for weaving, and 

 warp his web to a number of little pins stuck 

 in the ground forward of him, and that com- 

 poses his loom. We learn from history onr 

 finest satins are made in this way. And af- 

 ter all this defective manner of doing busi- 

 ness, the Emperor of China a few years 

 since issued his edict, that there should be no 

 change in his empire, in their system of do- 

 ing business, as they had every thing as per- 

 fect as could be. 



We are very sanguine of success in the 

 silk business in Burlington, and are carrying 

 it on with energy and spirit. We will be 

 pleased to see you here, at any time. and any 

 friends you may have to accompany you. 



I will here mention that my silk operations 

 in this place are connected with the Hon. 

 Garret D. Waia, and on his farm, about 

 one mile from the city wharf. Although 

 Mr. Wall's well gifted iwind is principally 

 employed in public business, he has a great 

 solicitude to encourage all agricultural pur- 

 suits likely to be- beneficial to our country. 

 He has full confidence in the good success of 

 the silk business, and expresses an earnest 

 anxiety to pursue it with a prudent hand, 

 until we can arrive at some degree of per- 

 fection. Respectfully yours, 



Chaoncey Stone. 



Burlington, June 5, 1833, 



]Vc\v kind of Food for SilU-AVorms. 



Communicated by the Agricultural Society 

 ofPemi'a., 16th May, 1838. 

 Communicated by Mr. Bonafons in Nov. 

 1837, being an extract from his translation 

 into Italian of a French translation by Julien 

 from the Chinese, which work Mr. Bonafous 

 presented to the Institute. His Italian trans- 

 lation was accompanied by notes, stating the 

 results of his own experiments on the subject, 

 which led to some singular results, worthy to 

 be known. The following one in particular: 

 They give to the silk-worms pounded rice- 

 flour, by powdering the mulberry leaves with 

 the rice-flour which the wormsate with avidi- 

 ty, as also the flour of other vegetables, par- 

 ticularly the sediment of potatoes. 



NEW KIND OF FOOD FOR SILK-WORM.?. 



Communicated to the French Instiute by 

 Mr. Bonafous, being an e.xtract froai a traiis- 



