Silk Manufacture. 151 



distance is necessary, this is easily and safely performed by placing 

 the sheets of paper and mulberry twigs in boxea or well-hned bas- 

 kets, using every precaution to exclude the external air from the 

 now-delicate brood. The worms should be removed only in fine 

 weather, and during the warmest part of the day, and they should 

 be supplied with leaves for their consumption while on the road. 



' The apartment wherein the newly-hatched worm sare placed 

 must be dry and warm, with its windows opening on opposite 

 sides, that perfect ventilation may be obtained when desirable. 

 The room should be furnished with a stove, and thermometers 

 must be provided, that the temperature may be precisely regula- 

 ted. Wicker shelves are usually placed around at convenient 

 distances, and are lined with paper; on these the worms are placed. 

 The greatest precautions must be taken to prevent the intrusion 

 of rats and mice, as well as many of the insect tribe, as these are 

 more or less destructive to silkworms. Smoke, and bad smells, 

 are likewise considered prejudicial, and must be avoided. 



' All writers on the treatment of these insects agree in recom- 

 mending, that worms which are not hatched at the same time 

 should on no account be placed together. The neglect of this 

 precaution would occasion constant trouble to the attendants; the 

 changes occurring at different periods, it would be impossible to 

 attend to the quantity of their food with the degree of regularity 

 that is desirable. This point is so much insisted upon by many cul- 

 tivators, that to avoid the evil, all eggs which remain unhatched 

 beyond the second day after the first appearance of the worms are 

 destroyed. It is said also, that if those of a later birth are reared, 

 they generally prove weak in constitution, and produce less than 

 their proper quantity of silk. 



' It has been computed, that three square feet of surface afford 

 ample space for the worms proceeding from an ounce of eggs, 

 until the period of their first sickness is passed; and that this 

 space should be multipHed thrice at each succeeding age. Count 

 Dandolo considered that silkworms would be injuriously crowded 

 in these dimensions, and recommended, that eight square feet 

 should be allotted to the worms during their first age; fifteen feet 

 for the second age; thirty -five feet for the third; eighty-two and 

 a half feet for the fourth; and about two hundred feet for the fifth 

 age. 



' The mulberry leaves given to the newly-hatched brood should 

 be young and tender, and chopped into minute portions. These 

 should be strewed evenly over the whole space of the shelves, 

 that there may not be any unnecessary crowding of the insects in 

 one spot. It is indeed advisable, when — as they sometimes will 



