10 
the worms to cat at one meal). If more leaves are put on than they 
can eat at one meal, it will accumulate too much refuse, or what is 
called "bed," besides wasting the mulberry leaves, and cause 
disease. The attention of this important matter is to be given 
in all stages. The tirst meal should be supplied early in the 
morning, and the last late at night. Fresh-collected leaves should 
never be supplied to the worms. aS they are not so healthy as when 
half a day old. Particular attention is to be given to this, especially 
just before the worms start spinning the cocoons. On the fourth 
day of the first stage, or when they are four days old, the worms 
will begin to get into a state of lethargy or sleep, and if they 
have been properly equalized by feeding, etc., they will all be 
in a sleeping state within a short time of one another. At the same 
time the feeding must continue as long as there are some still awake 
or eating, hut the supply of food must be gradually reduced to pre¬ 
vent the young worms being burird. After about 24 hours of sleep 
they begin to wake, and they then moult their skin. This moulting 
take place at every stage. Pending the sleeping time and moulting, 
special care should bo taken that they are not disturbed. When 
about three fouiths of the worms ate through their moult and look 
lively again, perforated piper is placed over them and finely-cut 
leaves placed on top of the paper, when the worms will come up 
through the paper on to the mulberry leaves for a feed, and when 
the paper is loaded with worms, they arc removed into clean trays. 
The process of shifting or cleaning out the worms with the per¬ 
forated paper is carried on up to the third stage, and for the last 
two stages netting is generally used, with holes of one inch square. 
There is also a very simple way, adopted hy a large number of smalt 
farmers, that is, by putting small brauches of mulberry leaves on 
the worms, and when the branches are loaded, worms and leaves 
are shifted and laid in tire centre of the clean tray in a row' (not 
scattered) covering about one-third of the surface aud the full length 
of the tray, so that as they grow larger, there will be sufficient 
room for them to expand. This rule is to ho observed in all tho 
stages. The leaves for feeding are cut very fine at first, and gradu¬ 
ally cut coarser up to the third stage, when they are cut about an 
inch broad. The leaves should lie cut tip only at each feeding, as 
otherwise they would get dry before the worms are fed. 
After the first stage the worms arc fed four times a day, or every 
six hours, beginning in the morning early and ending late at night. 
When moulting takes place,[they will get a feed in shifting them, but 
after that they are not fed until neaily all are awake and then fed 
altogether for the purpose of equalizing them. If a portion of the 
worms are more backward than others, the best plan is to keep 
them separate, and feed them more fioquently titan the others, so as 
to advance them. The attention of equalization is i f great import¬ 
ance, because if unequal it will cause great inconvenience, and loss of 
worms, cons<t|uently it is essential in every stage, to try and see 
that they are as near as possible equally advanced. In each clean¬ 
ing out, or shifting of worms into clean trays, some sickly worms 
will be found in the “ bed," which are better destroyed. The 
cleaning out of the “beds” is done once in every stage, except in the 
last stage, when they are cleaned twice. 
