34 
THE ART OF REARING 
tive substance of the leaf, which becomes less 
nourishing. The leaves ought not to remain 
long compressed in the baskets or sacks in which 
they are gathered. 
The leaves may with ease be kept two or three 
.days in cool, moist, sheltered places, such as cel- 
lars, storehouses, ground-floor rooms, $-c., being 
careful not to heap them up too much, and now 
and then turning them to air them. They would 
loose their freshness in too dry a place, and 
might rot in too damp a situation ; it is of advan- 
. tage to have a place calculated for their preserva- 
tion two days, or even for three days, if necessary. 
The mulberry tree thrives in colder countries 
than Lombardy ; but it should only be stripped 
once a year, and that crop should be gathered, 
so as to allow time for the leaves to shoot again 
before the cold weather, otherwise the tree would 
shortly die. 
Chapter IV. 
OF THE CARE NECESSARY, PREVIOUS TO THE 
HATCHING OF THE SILK-WORM. 
The first thing necessary to commence the opera- 
tions of the year, is to detach the eggs of the silk- 
worm from the cloths upon which they were de- 
posited, and to prepare them for hatching. 
