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■ to save tlie silk from injury ; this maybe done in the follow- 



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

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



i 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 m.inutes, 

 ' you throw tlie 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 chrysa^lis ; they must, immediately af- 

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

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

 I the dead insects v/ithin 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 

 i 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 white 

 m^ulberry, and to sow it in rows as before directed, hoeing 

 i tlie young plants carefully and frequently, to keep them 

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

 ^aiu strength not to suffer from the first winter : the second 

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

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

 i 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 

 i 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 would 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, which 

 would be convenient for gathering the leaves ; some also 

 i should be transplanted to grow singly with a butt; such 

 t trees (as mentioned before) Vvill 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, a,fter the fourth 

 shedding, offer to their voraciousness that substantial food, 

 which is v^ery requisite, at that time, to satisfy them, and tc 



