BUTTERFLY FARMING FOR PROFIT 



489 



swinging in the winter winds, anchored 

 by apparently the frailest thread, hiber- 

 nating even in the most rigorous weath- 

 er, the spark of life awaiting only the 

 appointed time to burst into splendor 

 bright and new conditions. 



The third is to dig up the grubs of 

 the hibernating caterpillar, which, in 

 some species, bury themselves at the 

 roots of the trees or plants on 

 which they have up to that 

 time fed. 



Most caterpillars are easily 

 to be seen on their food-trees 

 or plants in the open, but 

 some are almost invisible by 

 reason of the fact that before 

 they begin to eat they curl the 

 leaves around them, devour- 

 ing them secretly on the in- 

 side, and there are some 

 which hide away by day and 

 only feed by night. However, 

 they all leave their trail be- 

 hind them in withered leaves 

 to tell the story of their 

 presence. 



When the chrysalis in its 

 cocoon has been taken from 

 its actual anchorage on tree 

 or reed, or the grub has been 

 unearthed, there is nothing to 

 do, while in that stage, but to 

 keep them in conditions as 

 nearly as possible similar to 

 those in which you captured 

 them. In due time they will 

 emerge as butterflies or 

 moths. When they do that 

 they must have within reach, 

 in their cage, a spray or branch of the 

 plant, tree, weed, or grass on which in 

 a state of nature each kind lays its 

 eggs, and they must be fed with a mix- 

 ture of honey and water placed upon 

 the leaves. You will then have a crop 

 of eggs laid in captivity. 



When the eggs have been secured, 

 whether from the wild places, or pro- 

 duced in quasi-captivity, nature will 

 hatch them out in her due time, and she 

 will do so exactly at the period when 

 the tree leaves, or plants, or grasses, or 



weeds, upon which the young feed, are 

 succulent and fit for the babies. 



The breeding cages may be simply 

 ordinary store boxes or tubs with the 

 bottom knocked out and the top cov- 

 ered with netting, or they may be more 

 elaborate. Ordinarily any boy will be 

 satisfied with a box with a glass door 

 which opens on the front and large 



I THE LEAFWING 



2 THE CALICO 



enough to hold a water jug in which 

 are placed the fresh food-branches and 

 four or five inches of soil on the bottom 

 of the box. It must have a gauze top 

 to admit air. 



The vital point of success is eternal 

 vigilance in keeping the food fresh and 

 removing the droppings. Nature pro- 

 vides for both these functions when the 

 caterpillar is free ; the successful breed- 

 er has to take the place of nature, and 

 neglect at any point means dwarfed or 

 diseased specimens. 



