26 
THE ART OF REARING 
Chapter III. 
OF THE ONLY FOOD PROPER FOR THE SILK- 
WORM. 
Having given a general idea of the class of ca- 
terpillars, and of the species termed silk-worm, I 
think it maybe useful, before I treat of the man- 
ner of rearing these insects, to mention their food, 
its different qualities, and its action upon the 
body of these small animals. 
Whatever authors may have stated at various 
periods, it is demonstrated that the only leaf which 
agrees with the silk-worm is that of the red or 
white mulberry-tree 
The first silk-worms reared in Europe were fed 
on the black mulberry leaves, the only species 
then cultivated among us, as would appear, al- 
though it was well known that the white mul- 
berry was cultivated in Greece. 
The white mulberry was then without delay in- 
troduced into all the temperate regions of Europe. 
This mulberry-tree offers three advantages : the 
leaf is earlier, and thus the care of the silk-worm 
is not prolonged too much into the hot season. It 
also gives a much greater abundance of leaves in 
a shorter period, and the quality of the leaf pro- 
duces that sort of silk most approved of by the 
manufacturers, although we shall see in the course 
of this work (Chap. VIII. § 6.) that the quality 
