SILK. 



279 



to save the silk from injury ; this may be done in the follow- 

 ing manner ; — a kettle of hot water must be prepared, and, 

 when boiling, a sieve, filled with cocoons about three or four 

 inches thick, may be placed over the kettle, so as to receive 

 the hot steam without dipping in the water; a wooden 

 cover may be placed over the sieve to confine the steam, 

 and, after leaving it in that situation for about ten minutes, 

 you throw the cocoons into a cloth, and wrap them up in it, 

 that the heat may be sure to penetrate into them, and de- 

 stroy the life of the chrysalis ; they must, immediately af- 

 terwards, be spread in the sun to dry thoroughly, and then 

 be put away on shelves, or on a floor, spread very thin, that 

 the dead insects within may dry up and harden, otherwise 

 they might corrupt there, and stain the silk ; when this is 

 done, the cocoons may be kept, if convenient, for three 

 years, without any ill effect to the quality of the silk, which 

 will wind easily, and be as good as if it had been wound 

 immediately, but will not appear quite so bright. 



At the opening of the season, the object to attend to is, 

 as soon as convenient, to procure good seed of the vvhite 

 mulberry, and to sow it in rows as before directed, hoeing 

 the young plants carefully and frequently, to keep them 

 free from weeds, and as thrifty as possible, that they may 

 gain strength not to sufi'erfrom the first winter: the second 

 spring after sowing, they will be in a good condition for 

 gathering, and feeding the worms ; nay, any person, who 

 should feel desirous of driving the business, might begin to 

 use them the first spring after sowing, and keep one sowing 

 in reserve, not to be used until the third year, when the 

 plants, being better rooted, and stronger, could bear, without 

 any ill consequences, to be cut down near the ground, and 

 would soon be up again for a second crop ; it w^ould be 

 desirable to transplant some of the young trees into edge 

 rows, placing them at the distance of two feet apart, and 

 suffering them to grow in the manner of bushes, v/hich 

 would be convenient for gathering the leaves ; some also 

 should be transplanted to grow singly with a butt ; such 

 trees (as mentioned before) will give the best and most 

 substantial food ; thus the drills of seedlings would give the 

 earliest and tenderest food for the little worms at their birth, 

 the leaves of the edge-rows would afford a food next in 

 substance, suitable after the second shedding, and the 

 eaves of the mature standard trees would, after the fourth 

 shedding, offer to their voraciousness that substantial food, 

 which is very requisite, at that time, to satisfy them, and tc 



