PRACTICAL FARMER 



139 



affections, rlieiiniatism, inflammatory fevers, indi- 

 rect debility, and that languor so oppressive to 

 persons of feeble liealtli. A coarse quality of silk 

 similar to the jtongee silk, so called, will answer 

 very well for such purposes, and being strong and 

 stout, will do good service. Silk of such quality, 

 might be manufactured in the domestic household 

 and the culture of the mulberry and the manufac- 

 ture of silk, may be attended to in almost any 

 family, Avithout interruption to other occupations, 

 not only as a lucrative business, but al-o to pre- 

 vent or alleviate a variety of pains which flesh is 

 heir to. This subject is becoming so important 

 to the community, and can be undertaken with so 

 little expense, that it merits the attention of every 

 family, to begin a nursery of mulberry trees with- 

 out delay, and the first or second year may com- 

 mence feeding the worms, and manufacturing 

 silk, even upon our common reels, tvheels nr\(\ looms. 

 Because there are large establishments in con- 

 templation and progress, for the manufacture of 

 silk, some have thought these companies would 

 discourage the domestic manufacture, but instead 

 of discouragement, it ought to operate as a stimu- 

 lus to family culture ; because if families do not 

 wish to manufacture their own silk, they can have 

 a ready market for the cocoons. It is expected, 

 and with a good degree of probability, that the 

 time will come, when our families will not only 

 manufacture, but that they will dress themselves 

 with silk of their own make, with as little expense 

 as they now clothe them in wool and flax. — ' P.' 

 in JVorthamj)ton Courier. 



THE SllilC WORM. 



Ther^ is neither perplexity nor mystery in the 

 art of rearing and managing this extraordinary 

 insect, ^^'e propose to prove this position by an 

 appeal to the most popular treatises extant — re- 

 lying on those only which are best adapted to the 

 circumstances of our own country. '1 he works 

 which we consider most entitled to faith in the 

 jremises, are Kenrick's Guide, of which we have 

 already spoken — and Cobb's Manual, published 

 two years since by order of the Legislature of 

 this Cocnmonwealth. 



We learn from these sources, that in six weeks 

 the vegetable substance of tl)e mulberry leaf is 

 converted into silken threads, by the operations of 

 the silkworm. 'Ihe eggs, whence the maggot 

 proceeds, when first dej osited, are of a pale yellow 

 hue, in size smaller than grains of ordinary beach 

 sand. In the course (f four days, those which 

 are likely to produce, assume a .sort of lilac, or 

 deep slate color — those which exhibit no change 

 of shade, are unproductive, and of no value. 

 Until preparations are made for supporting the 

 worm, the egg should be preserved in a dry cellar, 

 inclosed in a box mnde tight, sufiiciently safe from 



the depredations of vermin, and from the moul- 

 dering eflfects of moisture. 



In the latter part of May, or beginning of June, 

 when the mulberry leaf puts out, the eggs of the 

 silkworm may be subjected to the process of 

 hatching, if the weather be not cold and damp. 

 The I apers upon which the eggs have been lodg- 

 ed l)y the parent moth, may be placed on tables 

 or hurdles in a warm room, having a southern 

 aspect, but not direct y exposed to the sun's rays. 

 In a few days, according to the temperature, the 

 eggs will turn somewhat jmle ; when there should 

 be laid over them sheets of wliite paper, riddled 

 by means of a knitting needle, and bent up at the 

 edges, that the young brood may not escape. 

 Over these sheets, lay a few twigs of the mulber- 

 ry, containing the young leaves. Tovvanls these, 

 the insects will be attracted, and will at once 

 commence feeding. Fresh leases, finely cut up, 

 should now be administered three or four times a 

 day. 



On the fourth day, the insects will have passed 

 what is commonly deemed the first stage of their 

 existence — at which time they become torpid, 

 and must be allowed to rest. During this stage, 

 the litter which they occasion, should be twice 

 removed. They remain inactive three or four 

 days, when they awake with an increased apjie- 

 tite; more food, less delicately jirepared, must 

 then be supplied, and their litter oftener removed. 

 Another change, or moulting, preceded also by 

 a state of torpitude, occurs on the thirteenth or 

 fourteenth day. Hurdles of coarsely woven 

 twine may be placed above them, overlaid with 

 leaves, to which they will resort, leaving their 

 litter to be easily removed — an operation which 

 shou'd now be daily performed. 



Having reach d the fourth stage, the worms are 

 commonly of a light flesh color. They now eat 

 ravenously, and consume the fullest grown leaves 

 in large quantities. '1 hey require feeding, in this 

 stage, night and day — and their i)roduct of silk 

 is increased in proportion to their supj ly of food, 

 and their ability to devour it. Tt is important to 

 the health of the worm, that cleanliness, and a 

 pure atmosphere be always n)aiutained, especially 

 in this stage. 



When the insects are ready to commence spin- 

 ning, or forming cocoons, they manifest an- apfta- 

 rent restlessness, and frequently are seen wander- 

 ing over the untasted leaves and reaching upward^. 

 'I his jieriod ordinarily arrives in about one month 

 after the hatching. The worms are then usually 

 more than three inches long, and nearly transpar- 

 ent. Brush, broom corn, or other convenient 

 mea;is for clind)ing should be placed for their 

 accommodation. Ihey soon ascend and enter 

 uj on their final labor, whereon they cjiiploy them- 

 selves without ciessation for four or five d'a}'^. 



