56 



ping, the party might hare tho requisite number of 

 eggs on band, without further cost, to feed all the 

 leaves lie might raise. The 'intelligent reader will dis- 

 eoVer at a single glance fhe object we have in view, 

 and will doubtless, improve upon our suggestion. Our 

 anxiety to get our countrymen to enter liberally into 

 Ihis culture, arises from the honest conviction enter- 

 tained by us, that it is more profitable than any thing 

 else within the range of the agricultural calling, and 

 because we behold in it the certain means of employ- 

 ment to the thousands and tens of thousands of desti- 

 tute females, who are now dragging out a precarious 

 livelihood throughout our wide spread country, and be- 

 cause we also behold in it, an antidote for that spirit 

 of desolating emigration, which is driving the honest 

 and enterprising from the haunts of their youth, to dis- 

 tant lands, rand depopulating the members of that gal- 

 lant confederacy, which achieved our freedom. Thus 

 influenced, it will 'be readily perceived, we were solici- 

 tous that success s'hould attend those who should be in- 

 duced to adventure in the silk culture, and hence it is, 

 we advise all to acquire a thorough knowledge of the 

 art, by practising in the way we recommend a wcy 

 which, while it embodies every advantage of a fchool 

 of experiment, comparatively costs nothing. 



METHOD OF KEELTNO. 



A person charged with the business of reeling the co" 

 coons, whom we will suppose to be a woman, must be 

 provided with a basin of soft, hot water, to be kept at 

 the proper heat, by being placed upon a small earthen 

 or iron furnace, containing burning charcoal ; she 

 must have a small whisk of broom corn, or of birch 

 twigs, cut sharp at the points, and being seated behind 

 the basin, she must throw into the water a handful or 

 two of cocoons of the same quality ; press them gently 

 tinder the water for two or three minutes, in order to 

 soften the gum of the silk, and thereby to loosen the ends 

 of the filament?. She is then to stir the cocoons Trith 

 the end of the whisk or birchen rods, as lightly as pos- 

 sible, barely touching the cocoon, as should they be 

 roughly struck, the fibres of the silk instead of coming 

 off singly, will clinjr together in lumps, which prevents 

 it from winding off. She will continue the stirring un- 

 til one of the fibres or filaments adheres to it, when dis- 

 engaging it, and laying aside the whisk, she is to draw 

 the filaments towards her, until they come off quite 

 clean from the floss or coarse silk, which always sur- 

 rounds the cocoon, and the fine silk begins to appear : 

 then, breaking off the thread and collecting the floss first 

 taken off, she will run the thread through one of the 

 holes in the iron plate, and proceed to get, and at- 

 tach, others in a similar way, until a sufficient number 

 is obtained to make the thread of the required firm- 

 ness; a second thread is formed the same way, and 

 passed through the adjoining hole : the two threads 

 are then crossed several times around each other, and the 

 ends of each passed through the guide hooks of the 

 traversing bar, and on the contrary side to the hole in 

 the iron plate, through which it had been previously 

 passed. They are then to be carried from, and made 

 fast to, one of the arms of the reel. The points of at- 

 tachment of the two threads will be regulated by the 

 recler, who should have smooth fingers, as roughness of 

 the skin will cause great embarrassment. If, there- 

 fore, the skin of the reeler's fingers be rough, they should 

 be rendered smooth by being rubbed with fand paper, 

 or dog fish skin. Roth threads being fastened to the 

 reel, it is to be turned with a rr gular and even motion ; 

 at first tlowly , until the threads are found to run freely 

 and easily. The crossing of the threads is essential to 

 their perfection, and must not be omitted. The fric- 

 tion of the threads removes any inequalities and rough- 

 ness upon them, and insureg strength, uniform thickness, 



As soon as the pods begin to give the thread freeljT, 

 the reel is turned with a quicker motion. While" the 

 reel is turning, the spinner must continually add fresh 

 fibres to each thread as fast as she can find the ends, 

 not waiting till some of the number she began with are 

 ended, because the internal fibres are much thinner 

 than those constituting the external layers ; but must 

 constantly prepare fresh ends, by dipping the whisk 

 among fresh cocoons, of which such a quantity must 

 be occasionally thrown into the basin as will suffice to 

 supply the two threads which are reeling, but not 

 more ; because by being too long soaked in the hot wa- 

 ter,, they would wind off in burrs. The eocoons thrown 

 in, must be often forced under the water, that they 

 may be equally soaked. The supplying fresh ends, is a 

 business which every woman who can spin will fully un- 

 derstand. She will know, when the cocoon is exhausted, 

 or its fibres break, she must take the end of another fi- 

 bre and throw it lightly on the one that is winding and 

 roll them between the thumb and the finger, gently 

 pressing them together, so as to cause a juncture of the 

 threads. The adroitness in adding fresh threads can 

 only be acquired by practice ; but by proper attention, 

 that peculiar tact, so necessary to success can easily be 

 acquired. 



If the pods leap up often, tFie motion of the wheel 

 must be slackened, and if the threads come off in burrs, 

 it must be turned quicker. Of this, the spinner, who has 

 her eyes upon the balls and thread, must, as she sees 

 occasion, apprise the reeler, and at the fame time, the 

 fire must be increased or diminished 1 , that the reel be 

 allowed a proper motion, which ought to be as quick as 

 possible without endangering the breaking of the 

 thread, or huir^ing the spinner, so that she cannot 

 add fresh cocoons as fast as the old ones are ended. 

 The quicker the motion of the wheel is the better the 

 silk winds off-, and the better the end joins to the 

 thread. 



Every care must be observed to avoid the breaking 

 of the whole thread or single fibres, as every such oc- 

 currence greatly retards the operation. 



In preparing fine silk, in Cevervne?, a famous silk dis- 

 trict of France, the cocoons are not wound off entirely, 

 so as to leave the pellicle of the chrysalis bare ; first 

 because the additional fibres retired, to be added, 

 when the first and strong part of the fibre is observed to 

 be spent, might make the compound thread too stout, 

 and would thus cause a waste of silk ; secondly, be- 

 cause the fibre of a cocoon which has been entirely 

 wound off, besides being weak, also abounds in knots, 

 which would cause it to break in winding, and injure 

 its uniformity, in which the goodness of the thread main- 

 ly consists. Therefore, in winding fine silk, when the 

 cocoon has given off three-fourths and a half of silk, it 

 must be replaced by another cocoon : the remainder of 

 the first cocoons are to be set aside, and theirsilk add- 

 ed to that of an inferior quality. When the first par- 

 cel of cocoons is nearly finished, take out with a ladle 

 all those on which some silk has been left ; let them be 

 opened, the chrysalids taken out, and the shells put in 

 a basket, with the coarse fibres first pulled off with the 

 hands from the cocoons, which were ordered to be laid 

 aside. Those cocoons which are partly wound off, 

 must on no account be permitted to remain in the ba- 

 sin ; for they will obscure and thicken the water, and 

 injure the color and lustre of the silk, which can then 

 be used only for dark colors ; besides this, the consist- 

 ence of the silk is injured, and waste ensues in the 

 winding. The shells must be added to the manure 

 heap ; and as a general rule, it may be laid down as es- 

 sential, that the water in the basin must be changed 

 whenever it becomes discolored. 



The softest water must always be chosen for reeling 



and cylindrical form, which would otherwise be flat. ' I f tne silk, and although its precise temperature can. 



