A. ZIEGLER ON THE CULTURE OE THE SILK-WORM. 383 



1. By reeling off tlic silk with one's own hands, and occasion- 

 ally selling it ; or, * 



2. By selling the cocoons to a reeling establishment for a price 

 adapted to the quality of them. 



The price obtained for cocoons varies with the crop. In Ger- 

 many the average price per pound is as follows, the florin contain- 

 ing 60 kreutzers, being worth 40 cents : 



• For perfectly dried, strong cocoons 1 fl. 



For the second quality 48 kr. 



For double cocoons 30 " 



The unwinding requires an cxpertness only to be obtained by 

 a practice of several years, and makes expenses necessary that 

 might prove not very advantageous to a single breeder. The 

 sale of the cocoons to those establishments may therefore be pref- 

 erable. In Italy, for instance, it is the general custom with the 

 farmers. 



In case they are to be sent off some distance, they must be care- 

 fully packed in baskets or boxes, neither pressed in nor put up 

 too high. At the bottom of the barrel or box is for this purpose 

 placed some soft paper; upon this, one hand high, the cocoons; 

 upon these, again, paper, and another layer of cocoons. When ar- 

 rived at their place of destination, they must be directly taken 

 out, spread out in an airy place, and protected from insects and 

 animals. 



Wmding, and Heeling Estahlishmenis. 



The occupation of unwinding the cocoons may safely be con- 

 sidered the chief one of the silk culture. An experienced person 

 will produce valuable silk even from middling and bad cocoons, 

 while one not expert damages the best, or obtains a silk hardly 

 salable. Practice only can teach the necessary manipulations 

 and operations required by this seemingly very simple business, 

 of which we will here only speak in general outlines. In Italy 

 females are usually employed in this occupation ; and five years 

 are generally allowed as the term necessary to make a person ex- 

 pert in it ; and the product of a known hand is always sold at a 

 higher price than that of one less so. 



In order to unwind the cocoons and unite their threads into 

 one, they are put into a kettle filled with hot water, 15 or 20 at a 

 time. The water must be kept up to a nearly boiling point. 

 When the adhesive substance which surrounds the web is suffi- 

 ciently softened, the person hunts up the end of the thread by 

 brushing the cocoons lightly with a small broom made of rice- 

 straw. The threads attach themselves to the points of it. If more 

 than the above number of cocoons be taken, or if they are brush- 

 ed too roughly, the threads may become entangled, and too much 

 of the web may be lost. The person takes those threads in the 

 right hand, and endeavors to obtain successively all of them clear 



