JJo. 3i ] Silkworms in India. 139 



the floor, or otherwise, in order to enable the worms to eat through the egg-shell 

 more easily. They also appear fresher and more vigorous with due amount of mois- 

 ture. It will be found that eggs whicb have been subjected to a great cold during the 

 winter will require a longer time in their incubation than those which have been kept 

 at a higher temperature, and it is also true, as has been intimated above, that when 

 the atmosphere in which the eggs have been retained has been excessively dry, it will 

 require considerable humidity to cause them to hatch. Such matters must be largely 

 regulated by the experience of the individual raiser. 



"Searing. — The room in which the rearing is to be done should be so arranged 

 that it can be thoroughly and easily ventilated and warmed, if desirable. ... If but 

 few worms are to be reared all the operations can be performed in trays upon tables, but 

 in large establishments the room should be arranged with deep and numerous shelves, 

 ranging one above another from floor to ceiling. The width of these shelves should 

 not exceed five feet, as those in charge must be able to reach from either side to the 

 middle of each table. Bearing this in mind, the dimensions of these tables may be 

 made to suit the room in which the worms are reared. The vertical distance between 

 two shelves should not be less than twenty inches, but if this space is greatly increased 

 it will be found inconvenient to obtain brush of sufficient length to form the arches 

 upon which the cocoons are to be spun. . . . The chief conditions of success in silk- 

 raising are, the use of good eggs, and the proper care of the worms. The means of ob- 

 taining pure eggs will be described hereafter, and we will here consider the second of 

 the conditions. Unless new, and especially when the worms raised with them the pre- 

 ceding season have suffered from any disease, all the implements and furniture used 

 should be cleansed and purified by carefully scrubbing in soap and water. The walls 

 of the room may, where convenient, be submitted to the same operation, and covered 

 with a strong coat of whitewash. The room should then be tightly closed and 

 thoroughly fumigated with burning brimstone during an entire day and night. It 

 may then, after being well aired, be used for the rearing of silkworms. The eggs, 

 when about to hatch, should be spread out on clean paper in as thin layers as possible. 

 Over them should be lightly laid small pieces of ordinary mosquito netting. When 

 the worms begin to appear there should be sparsely scattered over this netting a few 

 buds or finely cut leaves. The newly born larvae will at once pass through its 

 meshes in search of food, and the whole can then be easily removed to the table upon 

 which they are to pass their first age. It is recommended by many to feed the worms 

 while in this age with leaves that have cut up . . .in order to give them more edges 

 to eat upon and to make less work for them. This, however, is hardly necessary with 

 annuals, although it is quite generally practised in France. The food should be 

 renewed whenever the leaves have been devoured, or whenever they have become in 

 the least dry, which, of course, takes place much quicker when young and tender 

 than when mature. . . . The rule should be observed never to give wet or damp 

 leaves to young worms. In case the leaves are picked during a rain they should be 

 thoroughly dried before being fed, and on the approach of a storm it is always well to 

 lay in a stock, which should be kept from heating by occasional stirring. Care should 

 also be taken to spread the leaves evenly, so that all may feed alike. 



" As the first molt approaches . . - the worm begins to lose appetite, grows more 

 slimy, and soon the dark spot above the head appears. The larva at this time generally 

 wanders to an unencumbered spot where it may shed its skin in quiet, and often gets 

 hidden and buried under the superimposed leaves . . . Food should then be given 

 more sparingly, and the meals should cease altogether as soon as the forward worms 

 awake. Some will undoubtedly undergo the shedding of the skin much more easily and 



