S90 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 20, 1899. 
When all have changed their skins, they should be sup- 
plied with young whole leaves, and when they get on these 
they maj^ be transported thereby to a clean sheet of paper 
and their old bed of dry leaves, excrements removed, but 
te careful not to touch the insect with the fingers, for 
they would suffer from the contact. Silkworms shoot 
their skins four times at about the same intervals as 
already named. 
It is desirable to explain that silkworms are the better 
for having plenty of room to crawl about, therefore, they 
should never be allowed during growth to be laid thick. 
As a general guide, between every two, there should be at 
least space enough for a third, unoccupied. 
The second age of silkworms last about six or seven 
days, during which time they are fed as before, with cut 
leaves, until the second sleep and change of skin occur. 
On the fifth, daj'^ of that age, I recommend moving the 
insects to fresh, clean paper, and the clearance of the old 
leaves and waste, etc., for nothing is so conducive to silk- 
worm's health as cleanliness. This will make their 
second sleep more comfortable and tend to prevent dis- 
eases. 
This cleanliness must never be neglected before and 
after every sleep; and when the worms get larger, it 
must be effected oftener, as it is then of more conse- 
quence. . 
The second sleep lasts like the first, about two days, dur- 
ing Avhich time the insects eat nothing. It is, however, 
generally necessary to supply small quantities of leaves, 
either to worms not yet asleep or those just awake. The 
latter can be removed to fresh paper by themselves as 
soon as they get on fresh whole leaves, by which to be 
lifted away. 
Thus, feeding regularly and keeping the silkworms 
clean, maintaining always temperature of about seventy 
degrees and keeping up proper ventilation, will enable 
them to arrive at the third sleep and change of skin as 
before stated, in about seven days; after which it is not 
necessary to cut the leaves so fine, when feeding them; 
indeed many persons give them entire, but 1 fancy they 
are better cut or coarsely chopped, using a clean knife 
always. 
After this third sleep, the insects begin to grow a goodly 
size, and of course eat more, producing a greater quantity 
of excrements and litter, which should be cleaned away, 
for thq least putrefaction thereof causes the air around 
to become unwholesome and impedes their respiration. 
The necessity of this Avill readily be understood, when 
I explain that the worms have as many as eighteen breath- 
ing holes, viz., nine on each side of their bellies ; pure 
respiration and cleanliness therefore are important to their 
health, neglect these breathings and disease makes its 
appearance. 
Every time silkworms are cleaned out, especially when 
getting large, they require nearly double the space to 
occup3', so that they ma}^ crawl about, without mounting, 
or suffocating each otlier. By adopting these attentions 
the fourth or last sleep and shooting of skins will be 
satisfactorily accomplished. 
After this the worms, if in health, become quite raven- 
ous in appetite, and should be constantly supplied with 
whole fresh gathered leaves, as fast as they can consume 
them; at leasts they should have a good meal, almost 
covering them with leaves, every four or five hours. 
Nothing is got by stinting silkworms in food, with the idea 
of econom}^ for that would be acting in a pennywise and 
a pound-foolish manner. Let it be unders.tood that during 
this age the worms grow rapidly, and their food becomes 
converted into serical matter in their bodies, fit for spin- 
ning out; therefore withhold not food, if you desire to 
have a fine ci'op of cocoons. 
It is customary on the Continent, when cleaning out 
the worms, to lay over them twigs of mulberry, a foot or 
more in length, by which to remove them to a clean allot- 
ment of space; this is an excellent plan, and there are al- 
. ways many young branches that may be removed from the 
trees or bushes with advantage. 
I cannot here speak of the proper method of cultivation 
of the mulberry, which is a subject by itself, and deserving 
particular attention, I am writing for those who have 
mulberry leaves at command, as all must have before being 
able to rear silkworms with satisfaction. And the proper 
sort of leaves too, for be it understood that the black 
variety generally grown for the sake of the fruit, is noi 
used in foreign countries for feeding silkworms. 
The white varieties of mulberry are the best and nfiost 
generally adopted. I brought out one kind grown in the 
Alpine district of Italy, which is rnuch esteemed, because 
growing fine from the seeds without grafting. This 
variety produces very excellent leaves, and the plants do 
well in this country; they are very hardy, and have 
stood the test of severe winters. It is then just as easy 
and wiser to plant the proper kinds than to continue silk- 
worm feeding with the wrong, as is too often done at 
present. 
If silkworms are removed by hand when cleaning them 
out, they should be touched delicately, and if I may ex- 
press myself, in a loving manner. They should never 
be pulled forcibly away from the leaves, branches or 
other things to which they may be attached by their 
feet.. They should be cleared out every two or at least 
three days, when they are getting large. 
In about ten days after the fourth change, if all has 
been properly attended to, the insects will have arrived 
to maturity, and fit to mount and spin, and n.iust imme- 
diately be supplied ■ Avith material for the purpose. It is 
fashionable to curl paper thimble form, for silkworms 
to work their cones in; but this, although an excellent 
plan with a few, would not be sufficiently expeditious for a 
great number. 
In the southern parts of Europe it is customary to pre- 
pare a kind of open-headed broom, made of different dried 
branches, etc., without thorns, into which the worms go 
and spin. I have found oak twigs, broom, garden cress, 
which has run to seed, tops of turnips, shavings, old flower 
stems, etc., very suitable for the purpose. These materials 
may also be laid all round the back and sides of the shelves 
or stages on which the worms are, without making broom,s. 
or they can be laid in rows 8 or loin. apart across thera. 
Those worms not requiring more food will soon repair to 
such things, where they will enclose themselves in their 
silken habitation. 
Silkworms, when arrived at maturity, prpsent a beauti- 
f--l transparent goldep hue, particularly at their necks, 
which is easily observed by looking at them against the 
light. They are to be seen riinning about as if in'search 
of some retreat, a fine web of silk may be seen issuing 
from their mouth, over the leaves which remain uneaten. 
Those worms not finding spinning quarters themselves 
may be taken gently and placed against the materials pro- 
vided. The cocoons will be finished in from four to six 
days, and the change to the chrysahs state will be com- 
pleted by the eighth, when the crop may be gathered by 
detaching the cones; and having cleaned them of the 
floss or waste silk around them they are ready to he 
reeled, with the exception of any retained for reproduc- 
tion, which should remain as they are, until the insects 
make their way out in form of moth, male and female. 
Eggs having been laid for the continuation of the 
progeny. 
Those cones intended for reeling, if to be kept, before 
being subjected to that operation, must be baked in an 
oven, hot enough to kill the insect, without injury to the 
silk, for once perforated they are spoiled for reeling. 
From the time of the completion of the cones, about fifteen 
days more or less to the appearanc'e of -the moths mav 
be reckoned, but their coming forth depends iipon the 
temperature. 
I would make a fcAv remarks about the shelves or. 
stages on which to keep silkworms. In those countries 
where great quantities are reared, erections are fitted up 
with several tiers of stages about iSin., one above the 
over. In Italy such a building is called "il castello," or 
castle, and generally constructed to contain worms, from 
either y20z. or loz. eggs, or in numbers about 20 to 40,000. 
The latter quantity of worms would consume about 
2,ooolbs. weight of leaves. 
Not many (if any) silkworm rearers here in America 
at present require such a building, but if silkworm rear- 
ing is to become a profitable employment, as I believe it 
will, many of such may become requisite ; therefore, 1 
may as well describe my plan of erecting the same. 
Four posts, 3in. in diameter, are placed firm and up- 
right between the floor and ceiling of the room, pre- 
viously having holes drilled in them lin. in diameter, iSiiji 
apart, the' same distance from their bottoms, and 3 or 
4in. more from their top, next the ceiling. Into these 
holes, drive inch pegs, 6in. long, which are to support the 
tables or stages, much in fashion of a four-post bedstead, 
by being set in pairs, with the pegs facing. 
The stages tliemselves may be constructed with 12ft, 
i^^in. splines, forming the sides, and connected by inch 
crosspieces 4ft. long at i8in. apart, which are "nailed 
thereto, thus forming a frame 12ft. long and 4ft. wide ; 
over these bars, msidc the frame, wire net with 2in. 
meshes, may be fixed, or simply wire drawn over, either 
of Avhich will support the paper containing the worms; 
but I like best to bed over the frame some reeds, which 
make a more solid tablej gnd the air passes between the 
interstices. 
Here I wish to explain, that it is important, whaL- 
ever be used to construct stages for silkworms, that the 
materials should be .such as admit the air through the 
paper containing the worms, as it tends to keep their 
beds drier and less prone to fermentation, so detrimen- 
tal to them. 
A similar land of building may be made on a smaller 
scale, without the posts extending to the ceiling, but 
then they must be provided with the feet, in order to 
stand steady. Such a thing may be constructed with 
every neatness and polish, even for the parlor if de- 
sired, but I have considered cheapness and use only. 
The Japan breeds of silkworms lately introduced are 
rather shorter lived than those usually adopted. They 
produce fine silk, and because of their less liability to 
disease are becoming general fayorites, although "very 
small. ' l^Al"! 
Another occupation besides rearing silkworms, would 
be the reeling of silk fi-om the cocoons for commerce. 
This on the Continent is the business of the reelers, but 
here in America at present, the amateur alone reels his 
own silk ; but he does it in a way which most invariably 
renders it unfit for manufacture. When the rearing of 
silkworms in this country is effected more largely, reeling 
houses will soon be established. 
If the quantity of cocoons be so great that they cannot 
all be reeled before the time the moths would appear, 
the}' must be baked in an oven 'heated to 180 degrees 
Fahrenheit, placing them in baskets, which process de- 
stroys the chrysalis in about an hour. Another method 
is to steam them, as is done with fish, potatoes, etc., for 
about twenty minutes. t«i| 
After this is done, the cones should be laid thinly on 
shelves, through Avhich the air can play, to dry them. 
Thus they will keep until reeled by occasionally turning 
them, having an eye to prevent depredations from in- 
sects. 
The first process in reeling is to find the ends or threads 
of the cones by whisking them a few times in hot water 
below boiling p6int, with a small hand whisk, made of 
fine twigs of the common broom or other fine elastic 
material. The silken webs adliering to this are drawn by 
it and the hands until the true ones are found and run 
clear and free. 
The webs of four to six cocoons go to form a thread. 
The quantity of cocoons employed in tlie production of 
a pound weight of silk A'aries according to their quality 
and kind. The larger cocoons run an average of lolbs.. 
and the small Japan will require from 12 to I4lbs. to pro- 
duce lib. of reeled silk. 
The number of silkworms also will be in proportion 
from 250 to 500 to produce a pound of cocoons, or even 
more if very light. 
The worth of a pound of silk varies according to the 
price in the market, from $10, $14 to $r8, I suppose at 
the present time, according to the little quantity pro- 
duced. In the reeling houses in Italy, the average day's 
work for a woman and girl to tttrn the reel is six hanks 
of silk, each containing about 30Z. The day is divided 
into three equal parts, viz., from daylight to nine, from 
nine to two, from two till night. 
The water in the basins, which should be soft, should 
be changed at least once in the day, as cleanliness helps 
to maintain a gloss on the silk. Double cocoons, or 
those spun by two or even three worms, at^e verv diffi- 
cult to reel, indeed the produce from them is inferior 
and coarse: breakage often occurs by reason of the in- 
eqtlJ^liti^s, and the :r~%i ar twist can only be ma4e three 
or four times, instead of many, so that the thread is not 
so finely compressed. 
At the reeling house at Pegli, near Genoa, which I 
visited, the reels are worked by Avater power, and eight 
cocoons are reeled at one time, viz., four to each thread 
but at a house in Piedmont, which I went over, five 
were used, and 1 was informed that sometimes six were 
adopted when a larger thread was required. 
A. V. Meersch. 
The Trout Killer, 
I AM a literary man. I have read my Izaak Walton 
and have been soothed and charmed by the descriptions 
of that gentle angler. I have recently turned angler 
myself, and I know more about fishing now than I did 
when I began. I feel that the world should get the bene- 
fit of my experience, not that the world will care much 
about It, for it wfll probably be indifferent to this 
experience, as it has been to everything else of mine, but 
a man after all owes something to his kind, as well as 
to his other creditors, and I cannot help insisting on 
conferring this benefit on the world, even if martyrdom 
comes to me or to my readers. 
I always like to start a paper of this kind in a con^ 
scientious way. It may become famous. For aught I 
know it_ may turn out a second "Complete Guide to 
Anglers, ' and it is well, therefore, to go into details for 
the benefit of the novice in fishing. First of all, I soon 
learned that you must be very particular about your 
outfit. 1 found that out, not by myself, it is true, but 
through others. My friend, who had invited me to a 
month's trout fishing, and whom I shall call the Sport, 
told me so to begin with, and the men who sell outfits 
told me so time and time again, with each call that I ' 
made upon them, for it was not long after my invitation 
before I sought an outfit. I went first, of course, to get 
a fish pole. The man I struck, who was in the business, 
was an angler as well as a dealer, and he said decidedly, 
correcting me, they kept rods of all kinds. I asked him if 
I could catch fish with a rod, and he looked at me critic- 
ally and said he did not know; he thought it was doubt- 
ful, especially if there were no fish, but that with a rod 
and a net, he thought I could probably snare them. I 
told him I thought myself that a fish pole and a seine 
would be sufficient to catch what I was after. He then 
hauled down pole after pole— "rods," he still called them— 
miles of them and put them together one after another, 
I found a good long, heavy rod and told him I thought 
that would be strong enough for what I wanted; I se- 
lected a good heavy line and sinker, and some large 
hooks that appeared sharp and dangerous, and asked 
him what he though of that for trout. Heavens and 
earth! shall I ever forget the look he gave mel "Trout! 
Trout! Why," he said, "I thought you were selecting 
for tarpon or shark!" "Oh, no," I replied, "I may not 
have mentioned it before, but plain, simple everyday 
trout is what I am invited to catch."' I asked him what 
he usually sold for bait to trout fishermen. "Bait? Bait 
for trout? No sportsman ever uses bait!" He spoke 
and acted like a man who was hurt in his feelings. "Of 
course," I said, "I know worms are always in order — 
I am sportsman enough for that — but what I want to 
know is when you cannot get worms, what kind of bait 
do you sell for trout?" He seemed tired of my conver- 
sation and answered shortly "flies." "Oh, I see," said 
I, "when you can't dig worms you catch flies i As a ' 
■sportsman T always did like to dig worms and clams, 
but I never could catch flies; what am I going to do?" 
He said, "Well, you see, real sportsmen use artificial 
flies!" "Great Scott!" said I, "do real sportsmen- de- 
ceive the trout by not giving them the real thing? Be- 
tray their confidence and let them, like the scurvy poli- 
tician, seem to see the thing they do not, and go for it?" 
I could not help asking, "Don't you consider this im- 
moral? An imposition on the trout?" He deigned no 
answer, but pulled down a case containing millions of 
impossible moths and flies and bugs of all kinds. It then 
occurred to me that my friend, the Sport, had written 
to me to get some flies for him when I came along, but 
I supposed he meant the flies of commerce — to raise 
blisters with and such things — and I was going to order 
them of my chemist. I looked at this entymological 
c6llection with interest, and said I thought from what I 
had read that March hackles were filling to trout and that 
I would like some of those. "March is past; it is now late 
July," he replied, to which I added, "Yes, but the trout 
I am going to catch would be fooled just as badly in 
August with a March fly as in any other season; when I 
fool them I want to go the whole figure." No answer to 
this, but onty the remark, "\^ou are going in August, 
you say; well, you will want that and that and that. 
Now, there is a fly, that is a sure killer in .August," 
said he, adding to my collection a magenta and sky blue 
rnoth with a pink tail that would not deceive a babe, let 
alone a trout. "That's a sure killer," he said with etl- 
thusiasm. "Does this kind of an insect when living go 
after the trout and bite them to death that you speak 
of it as a sure killer?" By this time I was simply be- 
wildered, for my enthusiastic friend paid no attention to 
me whatever, but simply went on talkinp to himself. 
"An 80Z. steel rod — that's best for him; silk lines, leaders, 
reels, fly-book and flies, basket, a light landing net. eight 
and four are twelve and four are seventeen and three are 
twenty-three dollars in all. There you are. all complete, 
and I hope you will have good sport." I gladly paid the - 
bill, for he said he would send everything properly 
packed for transportation, and I left him in a state of 
pleasurable excitement. Next to get my boots. 
My friend the Sport had said, "You will want high 
boots — rubber, unless you prefer to wade the streams 
in thick shoes," which I didn't. It was rather a hot day 
to try on rubber boots, but I did it all the same. "How 
high are these boots?" said I to the India rubber man. 
"Eight dollars," said he. "I mean." said I. "how high 
lip do they come?" "Depends on the man." said he. "I 
am the man." said I. "They would go over your head." 
said he; "that pair was made for a man twTce as big as 
you are. You want something like this," and he pulled 
down a pair that did not go above my waist, only 
reached my hips. "Are these high boots, fishing hoots, 
sportsman's boots, trout fisherman's boots — that's the 
kind I am after, and I want to be sure of my Dtltfit;" 
He as.dm-<|d »ie t^ey "^^^^ 41 these, and more tog, afl<3 ijo 
