86 
THE ART OF REARING 
and twenty pounds of cocoons, they will be fine, 
and will sell well ; three hundred and sixty, at 
most, will produce a pound and a half; and eleven 
or twelve ounces, at most, of these cocoons will 
3 T ield an ounce of exquisitely fine silk, as I shall, 
hereafter, demonstrate. When only fifty or sixty 
pounds of cocoons come from an ounce of eggs, 
it may generally be presumed that they are of 
inferior quality to the above, that they are not 
so valuable, and it will require four hundred at 
least to make one pound and a half ; and above 
thirteen ounces of these cocoons, instead of eleven 
or twelve ounces, to form one ounce of silk. 
Moreover, when the worms have not been pro- 
perly managed, there is no certainty as to the 
quantity of the cocoons that will be gathered; and 
it happens continually, that the same cultivator 
will, from the same quantity of eggs, and the 
same quality of the leaves, obtain at one time a 
number of cocoons, at another time few, and some- 
times none. 
It would be interesting, as well to the govern- 
ment as to individuals, to compare the quantity 
and quality of the cocoons produced upon my 
plan, with those produced upon the system which 
is generally adopted ; to establish, by reason and 
facts, which is the most rational and profitable 
method. If it were calculated afterwards, the 
loss occasioned by ignorance every year, and par- 
