482 



FARMERS^ REGISTER— SILKWORM. 



dicular the lateral parts of the tressel are, the less 

 solid will be the cloth by the evacuation of tiie li- 

 quid from the moths. The moths which have been 

 united six hours arc then to be gently separated, 

 the females placed on the fraa^iC, and carried to the 

 tressel and placed on the cloth, one over another, 

 beginning at the top and going downwards. Note 

 the time at whicli tlie moths are placed on the 

 cloth, and keep those which are placed afterwards 

 separate, to avoid confusion. The females that 

 have had a virgin mate must be treated in the 

 same manner as those which have been united with 

 one that had been coupled previously five hours. 

 The females should he left on the cloth 86 or 40 

 hours, without being touched; at this time, if it 

 be observed that the linen has not been well stock- 

 ed with eggs, other females must be j)laced upon 

 it, in order that the eggs may be equally distri- 

 buted. When the heat of the room is 77° or 79°, 

 or when at 63° or 65°, the eggs will he yellow, 

 that is unimpregnated ; or of a reddish color, that 

 is imperfectly impregnated, and will not j)roduce 

 worms : the temperature ol' the room must there- 

 fore be kept between these extremes. Sometimes 

 a female moth will escape from its mateLe.'bre im- 

 preo'nation, and produce many useless eggs. 



1 he female cocoons, as belbre noted, are gene- 

 rally larger than the males, and not so much point- 

 ed as these are, and arc without the ring or de- 

 pression in the middle, which commonly distin- 

 guishes the cocoons containing the latter. 



Eight or ten days after the deposition of the 

 eggs, the jonquil color peculiar to them will 

 change to a reddish gray, and afterwards into a 

 pale clay hue; they are of a lenticular form, and 

 on both surfaces there is a slight depression. 



Preservation of the £ggs. 



Collect the eggs which have fallen on the cloth 

 covering the shelves of the tressel, when quite dry, 

 put them in a box, and, if numerous, in layers not 

 more than half the breadth of the finger. The 

 cloths raised from the tressel when quite dry, are 

 to be folded and placed in a dry room, the tempe- 

 rature of which does not exceed 65°, nor bclov/ 

 the freezing point, 32°. 



During the summer, the cloths must be exam- 

 ined, every month, to remove insects ; and to pre- 

 serve the cloths always in fresh air, if the quanti- 

 ty be large, place them on a frame of cord attach- 

 ed to tlie ceiling, or a rafter.* 



There exists a notion that every two or three 

 years the eggs should be changed. It requires 

 little to be said on this egregious error. To sup- 

 pose that the good cocoons of a cultivator, after a 

 few years, are no longer fit to produce seed, and 

 yet that these cocoons can give good seed for the 

 use of another, would be to admit a superstitious 

 contradiction, which reason, ])ractice and science 

 alike condemn. A change of seed can only be ne- 

 cessary, when from great neglect, for a series of 

 years, of the worms, a diminutive race has been 

 produced. Worms properly treated, will never 

 degenerate. On the subject of the degeneracy of 

 silk worms, in the United States, the most positive 

 information can be given. 



Mr. Sanmel Alexander, of Philadelphia says, 

 " I am convinced that silk worms, cultivated in 

 Pennsylvania, instead of degenerating, impro\e; 

 proof of which I possess, in comparing the cocoons 

 of four years since, w ith those of the last year. I 

 can say with truth, the worms hatched from the 

 eggs I brought from the south of Europe, have 

 produced annually belter silk." The testimony of 

 Mr. Sharrod M'Callof Galaden county, Florida, 

 is still more decisive. 



A samjde of beautiful sewing silk, sent with 

 his communication, to the secretary of the trea- 

 sury, was part of a parcel produced by ^vorn)S,lhe 

 stock of which he has had thirty years; and they 

 V, ere obtained from a maternal ancestor, who had 

 possessed them many years before. 



During all this long period, no degeneracy has 

 been observed. Let proper care be taken of silk 

 woims, and no deterioration will take place. 



The time has pa,«sed when the idle reveries of 

 ButTon, Holie]-tson, De Pauw, and others, respect- 

 ing the tendency of nature " to belittle" and de- 

 generate every thing foreign in tlie new world, 

 were received as truths. Facts, proud facts, de- 

 monstrate not only the absurdity of their positions, 

 but the superiority of every American animal and 

 vegetable, when compared with similar produc- 

 tions in the old world. 



'To Bake Cocoons. 



Cocoons reel* mo.'-e readily, and yield silk of a 

 superior quality, without killing the insect by 

 either steam of hot water, or by baking them ; but 

 those who have not the means of reeling off their 

 cocoons in two or three days after tliey are formed, 

 or of selling them, must kill the insects they con- 

 tain, or they will eat through, and spoil the cocoons, 

 by breaking thecontinuity of thethread. Theeasi- 

 est way to do this, is to bake them in an oven, 

 which must be about as hot as when bread has 

 been taken out of it. After picking out all the 

 spotted cocoons, put the rest in flat baskets, filling 

 them within an inch of the top; cover them with 

 paper, and a wrapper over it : put these baskets in 

 the oven, and after an hour, draw them out, and 

 cover them with a woollen rug, leaving the wrap- 

 per as it was. Let them stand five or six hours, to 

 keep in the heat and stifle the chrysalis. Then 

 spread them in thin layers on shelves, and move 

 them everyday (to prevent their becoming moul- 

 dy,) until perlisctly dry. It may be important to 

 state, that the birth of the moth may be prolong- 

 ed a month by keeping the cocoons in a very cold 

 dry cellar. If the cocoons are kept over summer, 

 they must be protected from ants, mice and cock- 

 roaches. 



* A barrel hoop, crossed vj'uh stout pack-thread, will 

 make a good frame. A small quantity may be kept in 

 a tin case. If a board box be used, the joints and edges 

 pf the top should he pasted with paper to exclude ants. 



+ Mr. D. Teen, No. l.'>0. North Front Street, and B. 

 F. Pomeroy, corner of VVidnut and Dock Streets, Phi- 

 ladelphia, are recommended to these who wish to have 

 silk reels made. 



