44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



ArOtrST 19, 1835' 



PACTS AMD OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO 

 THE CDL.TURE OF SIIjK. 



[Concluded from oiir last.] 

 ON THE REARING OF SILK WORMS. 



In Europe tliR silkworms, after tliey are hatcli- 

 eil are generally laid, with the leaves on which 

 they are fecdinir, on wicker hurdles, in order, as 

 it is thoii-jht, the more easily to keep them clean. 

 I think they may as well be laid on elean fine 

 tables, and may in that manner also be kept clean, 

 as 1 shall presently show. 



During the first day after the worms are hatch- 

 ed, the room in which they are, should be kept in 

 tJie same degree of heat ; but afterwards, as the 

 heat and the strength of the insect increases to- 

 gether, tlie room should be cooled from time to 

 time by letting in a draught of air. In general 

 the windows should be now and then opened to 

 let in the dry air from the north and northwest. 

 Dampness is fatal to the silk wogti and should be 

 constantly guarded against. 



Cleanliness is also of the greatest importance; 

 when it is wished to clean the table on which the 

 worms are, it is only necessary to place close to it 

 another table, on which are put mulberry le*es ; 

 the worms will innnediately crawl to them, and 

 leave the other table empty, which may then be 

 cleaned. This is necessary to be done the oftener 

 as they increase in size, as they make more or 

 dure. In the beginning it should not be done 

 until after their first moulting. They generally 

 moult or shed their skiii four times. During the 

 moulting, which lasts 24 hours, they lie torpid, and 

 do not feed. They should be left quiet. 



Care should be taken that the worms do not lie 

 on each other, as it prevents their feeding. When 

 they do they should be separated. They should 

 have as mucli space as possible ; the more they 

 are at their ease the better they thrive. 



Nothing is more prejudicial to the silk worm 

 than to be fed with damp leaves. A quantity of 

 dry leaves should therefore always be kept in re- 

 serve in case of rain. Wet leaves must be dried 

 in the hot sun. The leaves should not be gather- 

 ed until the sun has absorbed the dew. 



The quantity of food to be given to the worms 

 must be calculated according to their ages. In 

 the first days they should not be overfed. 



In plucking the 'leaves to give to the worms, 

 the liuds should not be touched, nor the branches 

 of the tree broken. Nothing but leaves sliould be 

 gathered. The mulberry puts forth three times 

 in each season : if the branches are broken, or 

 the buds plucked off the tree suffers considerably, 

 and does not produce so much. All the leaves 

 should not be plucked oflT, but some left on the 

 tree. 



IV, OF THE HAISING OF THE SILK WORM. 



When the silk worms are ready to make their 

 cocoons, which in this country, generally, is on 

 the 31st day after they have been hatched, a kind 

 of artificial hedge not above one foot high must 

 be prepared, by means of some brushwood with- 

 out any leaves, which is to be fixed along the wall, 

 behind the table on which the worms are. They 

 crawl of themselves on this hedge, which is called 

 rising, and there make their cocoons. This brush- 

 wood must not be fixed straight up along the wall 

 hut should be inclined above and below, in the 

 form of a semicircle towards the table on which 

 it is to rest, because the worms always move in a 

 circular direction ; and also in order that, if they 



should fall they may not fall upon the table or 

 floor, but on some part of the artificial hedge, 

 whence they may crawl up and carry on the 

 work. 



It is easy to know whfin the worms are ready 

 to rise. They crawl on the leaves without eating 

 them ; they rear their heads as if in search of 

 something to climb on ; their rings draw in ; the 

 skin of their necks becomes wrinkled, and their 

 body becomes like soft dough. Their color also 

 changes to a pale yellow. When these signs ap- 

 pear, the table should be cleaned and the hedge 

 prepared to receive them. 



From the moment that the worms begin to rise 

 they cease to eat ; they must not be touched nor 

 their cocoons, until they arc pulled off" as will be 

 presently mentioned. 



V. PICKING OFF THE COCOOXS. 



The worms generally form their cocoobs in 

 three days after rising ; but they are not ])erfect 

 until the sixth day, when they may be picked off 

 from the hedge. In Europe this is not done ti 

 the eighth day, nor should it be done sooner in this 

 country, if during the six days there have been 

 violent thunder storms, by which the labors of the 

 moth are generally interrupted. The cocoons 

 must be taken down gently, and grekt care taken 

 not to press hard on them ; because, if in the least 

 flattened, they fall into the class of imperfect 

 cocoons, and are greatly lessened in value. 



in picking the cocoons from the hedge, the floss 

 or tow with which they are covered must be del- 

 icately taken off, always taking care not to jiress 

 too hard on the cocoons. After the cocoons are 

 thus taken down some are preserved for eggs, and 

 others kept for sale. 



VI. OF COCOONS FOR EGGS. 



In order that the farmer may judge of the 

 quantity of cocoons that it will be proper or advi- 

 sable for him to put aside and preserve for eggs, it 

 is right that he should be told that fourteen oun- 

 ces of cocoons will produce one ounce of eggs, 

 and one ounce eggs will pioduce a quintal [100 

 pounds] of cocoous. 



In selecting the cocoon to be kept for eggs it is 

 recommended to select the white ones in prefer- 

 ence and keep the colored ones for sale ; atten- 

 tion should be paid to having an equal number of 

 males and females, arid they are generally known 

 by the following signs : the male cocoons, that is 

 to say, those which contain the male insects are 

 in general smaller than the female ; they are some- 

 what depressed in the middle, as it were with a 

 ring ; they are sharp at one end, and sometimes 

 at both, and hard at both ends ; the female co- 

 coons on the contrary, are larger than the male, 

 round and full, little or not at all depressed in the 

 middle, and not pointed at either end. They may 

 easily be discerned by a little habit. 



It is particid^riy recommended to take off all 

 the, floss or tow from these cocoous, so that the 

 moth may find no difficulty in coming out. 



After the cocoons are taken down from the 

 hedge, those which are intended for eggs should 

 be laid, but not crowded, on tables ; that is to say, 

 the males on one table and the females on 

 another, that they may not copulate too soon, and 

 before they, have discharged a viscid humor, of a 

 yellow reddish color, which prevents their fecun- 

 dity. They discharge this Immor in one hour 

 after coming out of the cocoon, which is gener- 



ally ten days after they have been taken down 

 from the hedge ; this may be accelerated by heat. 

 At the expiration of one hour after the moths 

 have come out of their cocoons, the males and fe- 

 males may be j)ut together on tables or on the 

 floor ; the tables or floor ought to be previously 

 covered with linen or cloth, on which, after copu- 

 lation, the females lay their eggs. One female 

 moth or butterfly generally lays 500 eggs ; the 

 male and female remain about si.v hours together, 

 during which time they copulate ; after which 

 they separate, and the female is 48 or 50 hours 

 laying eggs; but the greatest quantity during the 

 first 40 hours. 



From the moment the moths have come out of 

 their cocoons until the females have laid all their 

 eggs, the room must be kept entirely dark ; the 

 light debilitates them and makes them produce but 

 few eggs, and the worms that come from them are 

 weak and puny. 



When the female moths have done laying eggs, 

 all the insects must be taken away, and may be 

 given as food to the fowls. The eggs must remain 

 on the cloth where they have been deposited 

 during fifteen or twenty days, until they shall be- 

 come of an ash or slate color, when they are per- 

 fectly ripe, and may be considered as good eggs. 

 Then the cloth or linen must be folded, and kept 

 in a cool and dry place, until it shall be thought 

 proper to take oft" the eggs which is done by put- 

 ting the cloth into pure water, and when thorough- 

 ly wetted, scraping gently the eggs from the cloth 

 taking care not to injure them. When thus scrap- 

 ed into the water all the good eggs will go to the 

 bottom, and the bad, if any, will swim at the top, 

 as mentioned before. Art. 1. 



The eggs being thus washed, must be dried in 

 the open air, and when perfectly dry, the best 

 mode to preserve them is to put them into hollow 

 reeds, or canes, perfectly dry, and closed at the 

 two extremities with a thin piece of flaxen or cot- 

 ton linen well fastened. It is also the best means 

 to transport them from one place to another. 



VII. OF COCOOKS INTENDED FOR SALE. 



In order to prevent the cocoons from being per- 

 forated by the moths escaping from them, which 

 greatly lessens their value, it is necessary to kill the 

 moths. This is generally done by baking in an oven 

 or by steam, but the best mode, which is peculiarly 

 well adapted to warm climates, is to lay the cocoons 

 on linen or cotton sheets, but not too close, or one 

 upon another, and to expose them thus to the heat 

 of the sun in open air, when it is perfectly dry, 

 during four days, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M. taking 

 great care in handling them not to crush or flatten 

 them, which is of the highest importance. In that 

 time there is no doubt that the moths will be 

 killed. The processes of steaming and baking 

 are not always safe, because they may be overdone 

 and the silk greatly injured. I have seen instan- 

 ces of it in this country. Yet, if the weather 

 should prove obstinately damp or rainy, those pro- 

 cesses must be recurred to ; but not in dry sun- 

 shiny weather, when they can he avoided. 



The last thing to be spoken of is the packing of 

 the cocuons to send to market. They should be 

 put in boxes with great care, not pressed too close 

 lest they should be flattened, and close enough 

 that they should not suffer in like manner by strik- 

 ing hard upon each other in consequence of the 

 motion of carriages or stages. The boxes being 

 dry and well conditioned may be transported by 

 steam boats ; if transported by sea, they should 



