244 
THE ART OF REARING 
The best are considered to be those that form a 
pale straw-colour cocoon, in preference to those 
that make it of deep yellow. 
To obtain a pound and a half of these cocoons, 
it will require 20|lbs. of leaves of the mulberry, 
(Chap. XIV.), as we shall shortly show. 
The cultivator prefers this species, for the con- 
venience of always having his own eggs, from 
mere motives of habit, and it is so generally 
adopted, that I can have nothing further to say 
on the subject. 
5. Comparison between the Leaf of the Grafted 
Mulberry, and that of the Wild Mulberry given 
to Silk-Worms of equal quality. 
I have fed, though with difficulty, a number of 
•silk-worms on the leaf of the wild mulberry-tree 
alone. This leaf is scarce, because even the hedge 
mulberry-trees are grafted. 
The cultivator finding that the grafted mulberry 
yields more leaves, is always anxious to graft as 
soon as jmssible ; which has prevented my making 
the experiment on a large scale. I have however, 
ascertained the following facts : 
1 . That 144lbs. of wild mulberry-leaves, weighed 
when just gathered without sorting, will produce a 
pound and a half of cocoons ; while, as I above 
stated, it requires 20|lbs. of the leaves of the 
