REARING SILKWORMS. 37 



the boiler. Let them steam twenty minutes or 

 half an hour. Remove the papers; lift off the 

 tray from the boiler and deftly turn it upside 

 down on another tray; let the steam pass off, 

 and in a short time the cocoons will have suffi- 

 ciently hardened for you to separate them and 

 spread them out to dry. In a day or two, they 

 had better be put in cotton bags, each bag about 

 three quarters full. Hang up the bags in an airv 

 place to dry, and toss them up in the bags every 

 day. This can be done without untying the bags. 



If working on a large scale in a cocoonery, the 

 better way would be to have a fruit-dryer, and 

 heat the dryer hot enough to kill the chrysalis, 

 and afterwards keep it hot enough to thoroughly 

 dry the cocoons. 



Great care is necessary in the caring for as 

 well as in the drying of cocoons. In order to 

 keep them from molding, every particle of 

 moisture must be absorbed, They must be 

 thoroughly desiccated. Insects and mice are very 

 fond of the chrysal^, and will destroy the cocoons 

 to get at them. 



Cocoons are designated by their color, as well 

 as by the race of worms from which they come. 

 The most noted and best varieties now used in 

 Europe are the small yellow Italian, the large 

 yellow French, the white Japanese, and the 

 Turkish white. 



