. NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published by John B. Rcssf.li tt No. 53 North Market Street, (opposite Panucil llall). — Thomas G. Fesse.mjen, Editor. 



OL. V. 



BOSTOIV, FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1827. 



No. 39. 



AGIliCULTURE. 



ON THE CULTURE OP SILK. 



Coiilinued from page 208. 

 illi respect to the sta;;cs, all lliose I have 

 ppear to me to he rather too broad to admit 

 uplo working "ith that u:ise which is requi- 

 I should therefore incline to tliink, that iii 

 of one broad stage in a room, of six feet, 

 eu four feet and a half, vvhich I Iiavc observ 

 bo the narrowest in use in Fr.mce, it would 

 -r llie purpose batter to make two stages of 

 feet broad each, with a passage betwixt i 

 of three feet broad, and a like passage uf | 

 feit upon each side of the room next tlie ! 

 ; tiigether with another passage of the like | 

 nsions at each end of the stages, by which 

 IS all your people could go about and work ' 

 rase, without incommoding each other, and, i 

 2d, without being hampered in any shape | 

 ever. Besides, the stages being only three | 

 bro;id, must be a great advantage at the time | 

 ounling, (ofvviiich afterwards,) because in' 

 case tlie heat of the cabins in which the \ 

 ns make their cocoons cannot be so great as 

 be the case when the stages arc six or four I 

 and a half broad, as the fresh air must have j 

 h more easy access to pass through them; a' 

 imstance of the highest importance, parlicu- 1 

 at the time of mounting, as the weather, 

 the advance of the .reason, must tlieii^j 

 Itly hotter, than at any other preceding time 

 Dg tlie whole course of the cultivation. 

 Dtb in Languedoc and Quercy I have seen' 

 ;ets used nine feet in length, and four feet 

 a half broad, which exactly filled up one di- 

 in of a shelf of the stage. But I could not by 

 means approve of baskets of that size, as they 1 

 'ared to me to be extremely cumbersome and I 

 ieMy ; besides tliat, from their great length, 

 the necessary slightness of the materials, they 

 3 very apt to ply and bend down in the middle, 

 for that reason were, in my opinion, to be 

 ded. In short, I regarded them as being 

 itly inferior to the smaller baskets above men- 

 ed, as to real use and convenience, 

 is proper to observe, that cnre should be tak- 



|)!:i<:e the stage in such a position as not to 

 w the sun to dart directly upon the worms, as 

 y are not able to bear the heat of it in this 



ncr when it is great. It will even kill them, 

 cially when tliey are young; and if it should 

 ro tl'.at length in a colder cliniate than in the 

 th of France, it will, notwithstanding, have the 

 ct to torment them, and render them very un- 

 it, and prevent tl.cm from eating with their 

 al appetite. If the sun darts upon them when 

 are large, yon will see them fly from it as 

 as they can, and seek for sh( t ■■ in the shade. 

 ;n at the expense of the warn of their food. — 

 hen young they are not able to get out of the 

 y, and by that means are often killed by it, as 

 )ve mentioned, 

 n place of the wicker baskets already descrlb- 



1 observed a very simple and good contrivance 



f" ctised at Montauban, in Quercy. They take a 



it with packthread or twine, niter whifh tlicy 

 bind across the bottom eight or nine rows of reeds, 

 both ways, by which means tlic hotloiij is thrown 

 into little sipiaros, tying the reeds not only to the 

 sides of the hoop, but fixing them also in all the 

 diifcrout places whcro the reeds come in contact 

 with one another. This forms a sort of basket, 

 which is extremely light ami handy ; and besides, 

 as the reeds stand at a good distance from each 

 other, it gives much more air to the worms, which 

 is a great advantage. After making their baskets, 

 in this manner, they cover them with strong grey 

 paper (the strongest paper is t!ie best), and so 

 place their worms upon tliem. This sort of basket 

 I tried while I resided at Montauban, and found 

 them lighter and more handy than those before 

 described ; however, it must be owned, that from j 

 their figure they do not pack so easily; or in 

 other words, take more room upon the shelves of 

 the stage. j 



But to return to the treatment of the norms 

 upon their being nev.dy hatched : it is proper to 

 observe that too many leaves should not be given 

 to them at one time, and that the leaves given 

 sliould be spread very thin ; because, if too tliick 

 put on, a great number of the worms, as they are 

 then so small, will run the risk of being lost a- 

 uioiigst the litter, from which they will not be able 

 to disengage themselves ; and you must be care- 

 ful to cut the leaves small during the first ten or 

 twelve days, where the number of your worms is 

 iiich as to admit of yi>ur doing so ; hut if your 

 quantity of worms is large, it would require too 

 much work to cut the leaves for them, so that in 

 such cases you must give them entire. 



When the wojms are in their first age you need 

 only clear away the litter once, because their or- 

 dure at that time dries as fast as they make it, 

 being in small quantity. When the litter is to be 

 taken away for the first time, you have only to 

 turn the parcel upside down and so pull off such a 

 quantity of the litter as you find necessary, which 

 is the most expeditious way of cleaning them at 

 that time. 



In giving the leaves to the young worms, you 

 must make the leaves lie hollow upon them, to 

 give air to the worms. When put on too flat and 

 close, they prevent that free circulation of the 

 air which is al all times necessary for the healtli of 

 these insects. 



During the whole of the first age, the leaves of 

 the young plants of the mulberry, in the seed bed 

 and nursery, as being the tenderest, are greatly 

 preferable to the leaves of older trees as food for 

 the young worms ; for which reason it becomes 

 of importance to have always a succession of 

 young plants coining on yearly in your nursery 

 grounds 



When the silk-worms enter upon their sickness, 

 they abstain from that moment from all manner of 

 food. As soon, therefore, as you observe some 

 worms of a parcel begin to grow sick, in place of 

 three give them only two meals a day ; when 

 more of them sicken, confine them to one meal 

 only ; and from the time you observe most of them 

 sick you must give them no more food, till the j 

 whole parcel, or at least the far greatest part of 

 them, get over their sickness, (by having cast off] 



I heir old skin), that you may carry them all equal 

 ly on ; at least as nearly so as possible ivhicli 

 saves a vast deal of trouble in the management. 



When the silk-worm gets over his lirst age or 

 sickness he is of a greyish colour, and his little 

 trunk, or point of his head, is of a jet black colour, 

 by which he is then distinguished. 



When bo gets over his second sickness that 

 little' trunk is of a brown colour. 



When he gets over his third sickness his head 

 is remarkably large, which is the distinguishing 

 mark at that time. 



And when he gets over his fourth sickness Jio is 

 of a-brownish yellow, or deep buffcolour. 



You must nut clear away the litter from the 

 v.orms while they are about changing their skin, 

 or what is called their sickness ; but as soon as 

 they have got clear of their old skin then you are 

 to remove all litter. 



During the second age it is advisable still to 

 continue to feed your worms with the leaves from 

 the young plants in your nursery, as these are 

 still preferable to those of older trees for the 

 worms at this time. 



You must now begin to bo attentive to clear 

 away the litter from time to time, so as to pre- 

 vent all danger of its heating, which proves high- 

 ly injurious to the worm.s. These insects are re- 

 markably fond of cleanness, which besides helps 

 to enliven them, and gives them a keen appetite 

 for the first leaves wliich are given to them al- 

 wayr, !i%~ .Isaniug. The litter is taken away in 

 the following manner. You scatter some fresli 

 leaves upon one corner of the basket, to which 

 the worms having attached themselves, which 

 they will readily do, you then take up the worms 

 by means of the leaves and stalks they cling to, 

 leaving the litter underneath. Having thus taken 

 up all the worms from that corner, and placed 

 them above those adjoining to them, you then 

 clear away the litter from that corner, and care- 

 fully sweep together, with a little broom of twigs 

 or heath, all the refuse and excrement, which you 

 must remove entirely beforfc you replace the 

 worms in their station ; and in the same manner 

 you must proceed with the rest, till you have 

 thoroughly cleaned the whole basket. 



During the third age make use of the leaves oi 

 such trees as have been planted out in the field, 

 but reserve the leaves of your oldest trees for the 

 fourth age, as these last leaves are reckoned the 

 best for the worms vvheneouie to their maturity. 



Be attentive to cleaning away the litter as be- 

 fore directed which, during the third age, should 

 be done at least four or five times ; and take 

 care to clear away, from time to time, all dead 

 worms the moment you observe them : and to 

 throw aside also regularly all such worms as ap- 

 pear to be diseased, to prevent them from infecting 

 the rest, ft hich will happen if this article is not. 

 pursued with the strictest attention. All the 

 worms which you observe to grow of a yellow 

 colour, and to have their skin shining, are strong- 

 ly diseased, and must be immediately thrown 

 away, for fear of infecting the sound ones. These 

 diseased worms sometimes void a yellow liquid at 

 the tail, and it often also bursts out at other places 

 of their bodie». These must always be attentively 



