SILK GROWER'S MANUAL. 227 



the cocoons are finished, they have to be gathered, and 

 the floss silk taken off from around them, and saved, if 

 ^clean ; they can be reeled off at that time if you are 

 prepared to do it ; but if you are not, you must stifle 

 the chrysalis, so as to reel them at any time after, or to 

 sell your cocoons. In more temperate climates, as in 

 some parts of Europe, ovens are used for destroying the 

 insect. The cocoons are -placed in oblong shallow baskets, 

 covered with a paper, and over it a cloth, and these are 

 placed in an oven, the heat of which should be very 

 nearly that of the oven after the bread is drawn ; thus 

 wrapped up and exposed during half an hourx)r an hour, 

 the chrysalides taken from the centre of the basket will 

 be found dead ; on removal from the basket, they are 

 covered closely with blankets for a few hours, and then 

 dried in the sun. 



They can also be stifled by steam and other pro- 

 cesses, but all of them require much work and expense 

 for artificial heat ; and besides that, nearly in every case 

 it injures the luster of the silk, particularly that of the 

 white variety. 



Stifling the Chrysalide in California. Here, in our 

 blessed silk climate, we have no need of all this, and we 

 are not likely to injure the luster of our silk, as I found 

 that the power of Our solar rays is sufficient to destroy 

 the chrysalide in the cocoon. This is the best and sim- 

 plest mode. The cocoons need only to be exposed fully 

 to the scorching rays of the sun, from ten o'clock in the 

 morning till four in the afternoon ; two or three days of 

 such exposure are sufficient. But to make the work surer 



