$Jo. 3.] Silkworms in India. ]4l 



worms crawl through the netting on to the fresh leaves, leaving all the litter behind 

 them, which can he cleared away when the frames are lifted off. 



"The litter of the worms should be cleared away, before and after each molt, and 



once about the middle of the third age, while after this it should b6 cleared 



away nearly every day. 



"Summed up, the requisites to successful silkworm raising are : 1st, uniformity of 

 age in the individuals of the same tray, so as to insure their molting simultaneously ; 

 2nd, no intermission iu the supply of fresh food, except during the molting periods ; 

 3rd, plenty of room, so that the worms may not too closely crowd each other ; 4th, 

 fresh air and as uniform a temperature as possible; 5th, cleanliness. The last three 

 are particularly necessary during the fourth and fifth ages. 



" Spinning.— With eight or ten days of busy feeding, after the last molt, the 

 worms will begin to lose appetite, shrink in size, become restless, and throw out silk, 

 and the arches for the spinning of the cocoons must now be prepared. These can be made 

 of twigs of different trees, two or three feet long, set up upon the shelves over the 

 worms, and made to interlock in the form of an arch above them, and interlaced with 

 well-dried brush. The feet of each arch should be only about a foot apart. 



" The temperature of the room should' now be kept above 80°, as the silk does 

 not flow so freely in a cool atmosphere. The worms will immediately mount into the 

 branches and commence to spin their cocoons. They will not all, however, mount at 

 the same time, and those which are more tardy should be fed often, but in small 

 quantities at a time, iu order to economize the leaves, as almost every moment some 

 few -will quit and mount. There will always be a few which altogether fail to mount 

 and prefer to spin in their trays. It is best, therefore, after the bulk have mounted, 

 to remove the trays and lay brush carefully over them. The fact that the worms 

 already mounted make a final discharge of soft semi-fluid excrement before beginning 

 to spin makes this precaution necessary, as otherwise the cocoons of the lower ones 

 would be badly soiled. 



" As the worms begin to spin they should be carefully watched, to guard against 

 two or three of them making what is called a double or treble cocoon, which would be 

 unfit for reeling purposes. 



" Eight days from the time the spinning commenced, it will be time to gather the 

 cocoons. The arches should be carefully taken apart, and the spotted or stained 

 cocoons first removed and laid aside. Care should be taken not to stain the clean ones 

 with the black fluids of such worms as may have died and become putrid, for there 

 are always a few of these in every cocoonery. The outer cocoons of loose or floss silk 

 are then removed from the inner cocoons or pods, and the latter sorted according to 

 colour, weight, and firmness of texture ; those which best resist pressure indicating that 

 the worm has best accomplished its work. Too much care cannot be taken to remove 

 the soft or imperfect cocoons, as, if mixed with the firm ones, they would be crushed, 

 and soil the others with their contents. 



" Enemies and diseases of the silktvorm. — As regards the enemies of the silk- 

 worm but little need be said. It has been generally supposed that no true parasite 

 will attack it, but in China and Japan great numbers of the worms are. killed by a 

 disease known as uj'i, which is undoubtedly produced by the larva of some insect 

 parasite. 1 



1 For a further notice of this fly, and also of the silkworm fly of Bengal which often 

 occasions considerable loss, see No. 2 of these Notes. 



