188 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
<3 UNJi 9. 
This worm, as every one knows, is hatched in the form of 
a caterpillar, from an egg laid by a moth, and is furnished 
with feet wherewith to transport itself from one place to 
another. It has two .jaws formed like a saw, which move 
horizontally to masticate the leaves of the mulberry, which 
: form its food. 
Under the mouth it is provided with a small hole or 
filiera, which communicates with two cavities (spinning- 
machine or spinners), where is secreted a fluid which it 
sends forth from the spinners in the form of silk. Under 
the feet it has two orifices which serve as lungs. It grows 
rapidly, and changes its skin four times ; these changes are 
called sleep or sickness—at such times it does not eat, and 
appears torpid. 
Arrived at its full growth, it forms of the silk spun from 
the spinners a cell or cocoon, in which it encloses itself, 
and becomes apparently dead, it assumes a shell which 
covers its whole body, and is then called a nymph or chry¬ 
salis. After some days it pierces the shell and cocoon, 
and issues forth a perfect moth. The female moth impreg¬ 
nated by the male lays many eggs, and then both die. 
Towards the end of March, the eggs, vulgarly called the 
seed, should be detached from the cloths in which they have 
been preserved during the winter; the cloths are dipped 
into water, and there kept for some minutes, then spread on 
a table, and the eggs removed with a blunt knife ; they are 
next washed with pure water, the few that float being re¬ 
jected as not likely to hatch, or if hatched, to produce sickly 
worms. The water is then poured off, and the eggs again 
washed in white wine. They are placed to dry on cloths 
spread on boards, and when dry are preserved in thin layers 
on dishes or paper, or in bags in an airy and dry situation, 
till the hatching season. 
Many breeders are unwise enough to buy these eggs of 
those who make a trade of it; a mistake occasioned, 
usually, by negligence or indolence, and productive of many 
inconveniences. However, as it may sometimes be necessary 
to purchase, it may be well to describe the signs by which 
good eggs are known. They should not be concave, and 
when pressed with the finger should hold a transparent 
glutinous fluid. They should be of an ashy-grey colour, 
neither yellow, red, nor white. Besides this, it should be 
ascertained that the eggs have been well prepared, that they do 
not come from a distance, and that large quantities have not 
been collected in the same vessel, circumstances which may 
deteriorate their quality, to the great loss of all concerned. 
Again, as to the quantity of eggs to be hatched, many 
proceed by chance, not calculating the amount of food they j 
are likely to have, and often find themselves in difficulty, to | 
the detriment of their real interests. Repeated observations j 
have shown that the first step in the right direction, is to 
ascertain the quantity of leaves you will probably have. 
Modern writers .on the new and approved system calculate 
thus :—To obtain one pound of cocoons, you must have 
fourteen pounds of leaves as they are gathered from the 
tree, that is, not cleansed, nor the useless parts removed. 
| One ounce of eggs may yield 180lbs. of the best cocoons, 
j and sometimes more. For every ounce of eggs, 2,520 lbs. 
| of leaves are required. Of course, if many worms die in 
j their first change, a smaller quantity will be sufficient, but 
it can never be truly economical to work without rule. It is 
I better to have too much food than too little, as so often 
happens, and worms accustomed to one kind of food suffer 
by any change. 
The master should regulate the number of his worms by 
the number of persons in his family who may be trusted to 
tend them, and thus verify the proverb—“ The less seed 
the more cocoons." 
Many make the mistake of supposing that the worms 
should be tended solely by women; whereas they require 
assiduous care by day and night, together with foresight 
and judgment, rarely, indeed, found in woman.* 
In countries where they understand the true method of 
profiting by this season, some work on the farm, whilst 
others, besides stripping the leaves, remove the beds and 
other impurities, prepare the twigs, and do every other 
fatiguing work, leaving to the women the care of the worm- 
chamber, which should never be left, day or night, especially 
* Our readers must remember that the writer of this was a Monk 1— 
Ed. C. G. 
at certain seasons, taking care that no one sleeps there, as 
the exhalations from the human body would infect the air, 
which must be kept as pure as possible. 
When the buds of the mulberry-tree open the eggs may 
be hatched, but not before, because, if frost should occur to 
arrest the development of the foliage, either the worms 
must perish, or food be procured for them at great loss and 
inconvenience. 
To proceed to the method of hatching the eggs, that 
usually practised amongst us, of putting them into little 
bags, and carrying them by day about the person, and by 
night keeping them in the bed clothes, is not approved by 
those who have made the greatest progress in the art. In 
the first place, the heat thus communicated to the eggs is 
not equal; and in the next, the exhalations from the human 
body are hurtful to them. The plan attended with the best 
success, is to employ artificial heat, placing the eggs in a 
room warmed by a stove, which diffuses a more even tem¬ 
perature than an open fire, and consumes much less fuel, 
and may serve not merely for one worm owner, but for as I 
many neighbours as may agree to use it. 
The room should not bo too large to be easily warmed; 
it should be on an upper floor, that it may be dry, and quite 
clean, cleanliness being very essential, well paved, and the 
walls well plastered. It should have at least two windows, 
opposite each other, furnished with glass sashes, and also 
blinds, that the air may not strike the worms when the 
sashes are open. Besides these, there must be ventilators 
in the floor under the windows, or in the ceiling, to open 
with a slide, so as to introduce fresh air into the room at 
pleasure. In a convenient position, should the room be large, 
there must be a brick stove or two opposite each other, 
but detached from the wall, that the warmth may be more 
equally diffused. 
In the room there must be in one corner a chimney, or, 
if the room be large, two, in opposite directions ; fires lighted 
in these with very dry fuel, serve to purify the air. The 
chimnies must have doors, which exclude the external air 
when necessary. 
The eggs being arranged in thin layers in little boxes of 
pasteboard, or on boards, and numbered, they are placed 
on a hurdle or plank, with a cover over them. 
If there be many boxes, then the hurdles may be placed 
one over the other, but not so high as to prevent the eggs 
being conveniently attended to. According to this plan the 
eggs will be hatched in about ten days. 
It will be well to regulate the temperature of the room 
hy a thermometer, an instrument familiar to the most 
ignorant. It would be better to have two thermometers, one 
at the stove, the other opposite. When the time approaches 
for the hatching of the eggs, the temperature must be 
gradually raised. If the thermometer be lower than 14° 
Reaumur (equal to C4° Fahrenheit), kindle a fire to raise it 
to that point; if on the contrary it be higher, close the 
blinds of the windows exposed to the sun, and open the 
opposite ones, as well as the door and ventilators, if ne¬ 
cessary. On the third day the temperature must be raised 
to 15° e. (C6° f.), and so increase one degree each day, till 
it rises to 22° e. (82° f.). 
These precautions are so necessary, that even by night 
the room should be visited, to ascertain that the temperature 
be maintained at the proper height. The owners of the 
stove will find a self registering thermometer very useful, as ( 
it will indicate the highest degree of heat or cold that has 
occurred in their absence, thus proving whether the attend 
ants have done their duty. 
If, in heating the room, there should bo danger of the 
eggs suffering from dryness, two vessels of water may be 
placed in it, the evaporation from which will rectify what is 
amiss, and if this be not sufficient, the floor may be sprinkled 
with water. And as it is very necessary to know whether 
the atmosphere be dry or damp, let a dish of common salt 
be placed in the room—if the salt be dry, the air is dry, if 
not the air is damp.* In this case a fire must be lighted of 
* For this purpose a hygrometer will he found useful, and wealthy 
agriculturists will do well to furnish themselves with one, as salt is slow 
in indicating damp, and not always true. When the hygrometer stands 
at 70°, the air is too damp. This instrument foretels changes in the 
weather, and thereby the inconveniences of rain may be avoided, and the 
fine weather turned to the best account in other rural pursuits. If the 
hygrometer indicates damp in fine weather, rain is not far off. 
