New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-23

dnced one;halt Thax remain IN thu bath
fresh water seven or eight times.
After the young worms are out they ara
placed on the shelves in a we'll ventilated
apartment, with the temperature kept uni.
form at from 1872 to 25o Rsaumur, and fsd
every three hours during the day. and Al
! least once in every four hours dnrino ~.
night. In feeding young worms the mni
berry 1e<ves must be'cut up almost az 6ns
as hair. As they get older and gar tbs
leaves are fed with little or no cutting. Tia
leaves are picked at least twelve hours he.
fore feeding. Every day or two a QUANTITY
OF refuse leaves accumulates on the shelves
anu must be removed. This is lone by Law.
ing over the worms sheets OF thick paper
perforated with holes large enough for them
TO pass through. On the top of the paper
leaves are spread, and the worms comins
up through the holes to get the feed can BE-
lifted to one sid and the shelf cleaned out
Inc process also serves to separate the
healthy from the unhealthy worms. If 4
worm Is not in good condition it will not
have energy enough to go through the
holes, and a by this means be detected
and rejected.
After the worms have been fed eighteen
or twenty days they will begin to spin.
This time is indicated by the appearance
of the worm. If. on holding up one TO the
light, he appears full OF water, this is the
time for making the web. Mustard stalks.
with the brush on them, are set UP between
the shelves, the worms crawl up on them.
spin a web, roll themselves up in it and
spin another web on the inside, thus form.
ing the cocoon. With good attention and
under favorable circumstances this process
requires about twelve or thirteen days; if
the weather is very warm it will require
about eighteen days. This can be- ascer.
tanned by shaking Ihec COCOON; if it rattles
the worm has finished it; if not, it is either
unfinished or the worm is dead, and by
opening one or two cocOons you can tell
what is the matter. Ii silk is the object,
the cocoons are then picked and placed ia
an oven with a sufficient temperature to
kill the chrysalis, but it it is intended to
raise eggs the cocoons are placed on a
table, the ragged ends of silk picked off
carefully. and the butterfly allowed to eat
its way out. "....
As the butterflies come out the males and
females are paired off and placed in a dark,
cool room, on sheets of paper, letting them
remain about six hours. The males are
then destroyed and the females placed on
linen cloth, stretched vertically. They ara
placed on the upper edge of the cloth
about a quarter of an inch apart, and lay
their g as they descend; each piece Of
cloth is marked with its weight before the
eggs are placed on it. and by weighing it
alter the eggs are deposited the weight of
the eggs can be ascertained. The butter.
flies should be handled only by boys and
girls, their hands being more tender than
those of adults. They are allowed to re.
main on the cloth but one day. One but.
terhy will produce about 500 eggs, and there
are about $4,000 eggs in an ounce. These
eggs will keep several years, and, if they are
known to be good, can be readily sold for So
per ounce; but If they are not well known,
can not generally be sold at any price.
Three average trees will furnish feed for
an ounce of eggs. The superintendent of
Mr.. Paul's silk business is SignOr Paolo
Consonao, whose family in Milan before the
Garibaldian troubles constituted the first
silk house in Italy. He says the climate
and soil in this locality is much bette,
adapted to sericulture than that of Franco
or Italy; that Jul leaves contain NOR
sugar and rOsin-two primary elements
than those of any other country. It
necessary tor every farmer to set out a few
trees, and either raise his own cocoons or
sell the leaves to others.
By doing a little every year the country
would, in a short time, work into an in.
dustry that would give profitable employ.
ment to thousands of men, women and
children, and add immensely to our gen.
eral wealth. He estimates that an average
boy can thoroughly learn all the details Of
silk growing in two seasons. If me mem
Der OF each family should take the trouble
to do this, he could take charge OF a few
worms and trees on his home place and
teach other members of the family, until,
IN a very short time. the whole household
will be skillful sericulturists. This is the
way it is done in Europe, and is the only
way in which silk growing and silk manu-
featuring can become an industry OF the
country. We understand that Mr.. LARGO
will sec up, in Mayield, this fall, a machine
tor. ceiling silk.