SILKWORM GRAIN. 331 
Every spring the silkworms are hatched naturally 
with the appearance of the first shoots of the mulberry. 
When they have eaten nearly all the foliage of the 
tree on which they are hatched, I place them on 
another tree in full leaf. For this operation we must 
not wait until all the leaves have been eaten, for the 
worm needs some leaves to shelter it from the rain and 
the rays of the burning sun. 
In order to change the silkworms from one mulberry 
tree to another, the leaves on which they rest must be 
delicately taken up one by one, and placed in a paper 
box, without crowding them together too much, to 
avoid injuring the worms ; they are then to be carried 
to the tree on which they are to remain, and, as soon 
as the manchon has been fixed in the manner described 
above, they are distributed over the top of the tree. 
The manchons must be visited daily, and this is very 
easy, since the silkworms can be seen distinctly through 
the wire gauze. As soon as it is perceived that the 
leaves are nearly all eaten, the worms must be imme- 
diately placed on another tree. 
I do not count the worms before they come out of 
their second moulting, that is to say, the beginning of 
the third age. Then, in order to obtain one ounce of 
grain, thirty-one grammes, I keep about 300 worms,, 
taking care to select only the most equal in size, and 
during the fourth and fifth ages, put fifty in each 
manchon, to avoid the necessity of changing them too 
often. At the fifth age I leave only twenty-five in each 
manchon, so that they more easily form their cocoons. 
There is often great inequality among the worms reared 
on the tree, and after each moulting they should be 
selected according to their size, in order to obtain a 
