SECTION III. 
PERIOD WHEN THE WORMS ARE 
PREPARING TO SPIN THEIR 
SILKEN COCOONS. 
Silkworms prepare to spin their cocoons in 
about thirty days after hatching. It is very im- 
portant to know when the worms are about to spin, 
in order that preparations may be made accordingly. 
When any worms appear as follows, they are 
likely to spin in less than twenty-four hours after 
being examined: 
First — -When fresh mulberry leaves are placed 
on the trays and the worms do not eat them, but 
merely crawl upon them, and when they erect their 
heads. 
Second — When, on holding the worm up 
toward the sun, it appears to be somewhat trans- 
parent and of a straw color. 
Third — When large numbers of the worms 
leave the centre of the trays and crawl up along 
the framework which supports them. 
Fourth — When their bodies become much 
thinner up near the head and about the neck, caus- 
ing the skin to become wrinkled ; and feel softer 
than they do ordinarily. 
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