276 



SILK. 



windows ought to De closed whenever a sudden transition 

 to cold or damp takes place, or a thunder-storm comes on, 

 which, oftenHmes, will prove an injury to these insects ; 

 shelveo or boards, put up round the room, would be very 

 convenient to keep the worms on, and, if requisite, a frame 

 in the centre of the room, with shelves one over the other, 

 sheets of large, stiff paper, or of pasteboard, with the edges 

 turned up all round, and stitched at the corners, would an- 

 swer very well to keep and feed the worms in, and when 

 they are to be cleaned, new leaves might be put in a fresh | 

 puper, and laid by the side of that which wants cleaning ; 

 the worms would leave it quickly to go to the fresh leaves. 



It will be necessary to appropriate a corner for the dis- | 

 eased worms ; in the most favoured crop, there will be 

 many, and they ought to be taken away immediately, from 

 among the rest, and put into the hospital to recover, other- 

 wise the contagion may extend, and a great loss ensue. 



After the cocoons are made, the first care is to take them 

 down from the brush, clearing away the loose silk by which 

 they are fastened, and selecting the best, those that feel 

 hard and substantial, and of the brightest colour, to keep 

 for seed ^ the most desirable are the worms, which, at the 

 hatching time, came to life first ; they prove to be the most 

 hardy, and will make the best stock ; it is necessary to keep 

 an equal number of each sex ^ the male cocoons are the 

 longest and thinnest, pointed at both ends ; the females are 

 larger and rounder, blunt at both ends, and resembling 

 somewhat in shape a hen^s egg ; these chosen cocoons are 

 to be threaded with a needle, in strings of fifty, more or 

 less, taking great care to run the needle slightly through 

 the silk, without hurting the chrysalis which is inside; 

 these strings are to be hung against the wainscot of the 

 room, and, in the course of from fifteen to twenty days, the 

 millers will come out, males and females ; the males always 

 come out first ; the females are the whitest and the largest ; 

 the males appear most active, and shake their wings. It is 

 necessary to procure pieces of woollen cloth, (the Italians 

 always use scarlet,) and to place the millers on them in 

 rows, male and female by the side of each other; after 

 pairing, the male dies; the female soon lays her seed on 

 the cloth ; it appears as if glued on ; a female yields about 

 three hundred seeds ; they are first white or yellow, and 

 chanp^e to various hues, and finally, if good, become and re- 

 main of a dark grey. The Italians preserve the seed on the 

 pieces of scarlet cloth, and at the proper time their women 



