Raising Silk. 
bered, the temperature will rise and remain 
in the box at the elevation in the room where 
opened. An ice-house would be an ap¬ 
propriate place for exposing them, though 
dampness from this should be most rigidly- 
guarded against. A niche made in the wall 
of a deep well, to be secured against dripping 
on the box, will also preserve them till wanted. 
Exposure below the freezing point does not 
injure the eggs. 
Hatching. —When sure of an adequate 
supply of food, the eggs may be exposed to 
an elevated temperature, say, at first, of 63° 
Far., to b q gradually augmented to 75° or 80°. 
From 7 to 10 days is sufficient for hatching 
the eggs. They should never be removed 
from the paper or cloth on which they are 
deposited, as the adhesion of the egg to the 
paper, enables the young worm to disengage 
itself more easily when hatched. A few 
tender leaves should be placed around the 
edge of the paper, for the young things to 
commence their labors on, and when once 
attached, they should be removed imme¬ 
diately to the feeding room. It is generally 
the case that a few straggling worms only 
hatch the first day, and when a large quan¬ 
tity are to be kept, these are thrown away, 
and those hatched on each successive day are 
put on shelves by themselves, so as to go 
through the moulting and winding at the 
same time ; and if only a few are left after 
the foutrh day, they are thrown away like the 
first, as not worth the trouble of tending. 
The cocoonery or feeding room may be a 
chamber or garret, or any room in the house, 
sheds, barns, or out-buildings ; though all 
these are objectionable, from their liability to 
inconveniences, which the observing person 
will notice in the rules that will follow. If 
built expressly for this purpose, it may be 
any shape according to the fancy of the 
owner. We give a brief description of two ; 
the first on a large scale from Mr. Whit- 
marsh ; the second from Mr. G. B. Smith, of 
Baltimore; the intelligence and labors of 
both of whom in the silk cause, entitle them 
to grateful commendation. 
“A cheap rough building will answer, but 
it should be convenient and planned with re¬ 
ference to ventilation. I have one two hun¬ 
dred feet long by twenty-six feet wide and 
two stories high, which will accommodate 
two millions of worms. It is set on brick 
pillars of three feet high, except the ends, 
which have cellars for the leaves, and a fur¬ 
nace. In the floor under each frame, a board 
is sawed out, eighteen inches by twelve, with 
a strip of board for a handle. These are ea¬ 
sily removed. The point of the roof is rais¬ 
ed about eight inches,—making a projection 
of three feet, and has the appearance of a 
double roof. Lids are hung with leather 
hinges every three feet, to be opened and 
shut by cords. The holes in the floor being 
open, and those in the roof—a free circula¬ 
tion goes on, aided by another row of holes 
about midway, or even with the second floor. 
These are made by pressing off a board about 
three inches from the side. Let this space 
be closed with lids, which by means of but¬ 
tons underneath, may be raised in a moment. 
I have said that it was two stories—it is 
so, as far as two rows of windows make it 
so. The rafters are laid across for a second 
floor, but they are only boarded, six feet 
wide in the centre, and three feet at the 
sides, making a walk, or gallery for coming 
at the frames, which must never touch the side 
walls. The object of this arrangement is to 
have as much room as possible under one 
roof. A lower room is apt to contract damp¬ 
ness. Uprights are made of slit-work, three 
inches square, and as the frames are three 
by six feet, the uprights are six by six feet 
apart, with slats nailed across, and accom¬ 
modate two rows of frames drawing out each 
way. 
I have used netting, and have all my frames 
fitted with it ; but 1 do not now use it. Net¬ 
ting is convenient when the worms are to be 
thinned out or spread on clean frames. Lay 
a netted frame over the worms, on which 
spread leaves. A sufficient number will as¬ 
cend to remove to another place. The net 
should lay flat on the shelf. Beyond the 
above purpose, netting is of no use whatever. 
As the worms will not all go up when you 
would change them, you must gather the 
remainder by hand, as you would blackber¬ 
ries. They should never be touched by the 
hand if it can be avoided. The same frame, 
with millinet or grass cloth, drawn on at the 
corners, is better, and may be taken off and 
washed and put away for another season. 
Frames covered with cloth are lighter than 
boards and quite as cheap, and the open 
spaces of the cloth admit the air to the litter 
beneath and prevent its gathering dampness. 
I have mounting frames, but were I to 
erect another cocoonery, I would use straw 
in preference. A large cocoonery requires 
a large number, instead of which straw may 
well be used. 
In so large a building there should be a 
partition across the centre, making the rooms- 
one hundred feet long. A room twenty-six 
by twenty feet should be finished off under 
