Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1879-10-11
sILKwoRM HOUSE OR oooooNERY

| m'aHS CIle degree OIL neat needed to eN-
cite the appetite of the insects, and COM
bine it with plenty Of ventilation. High
wages arc paid to ar experienced woman
whose care is to revive or to lower the
fires, according to the changes of temper
allure. ventilator is Indispensable +;
then tho silk growing art becomes costly
and has many changes or failures ALWAYS
! brought by want ofpure air. But in
southern countries all such precautions
and expenses must be avoided. A hut, y
barn enjoying the air by the cracks of
the walls and by the broken windows, is
by no means better fit for the larvae than
the ruinous buildings recommended by
many sclt-calicd matters in sericeculture.
A suSur cane shcd, the house galleries,
Gas used in Asia Minor, Syria ETC., y are
| splendid places for the worms after the
| third mott. Then all capital needed to
go into the business consists in the null
| berry plantation. Six hundred trees
| four years old cost only sixty dollars
freight paid to any point on the Mississippi
pi river, such q lot covering nearly two
| acres will produce the first year afer
| planting 21OO pound of leaves. If the
kind of mulberry tree is of good quality
tho crop of cocoons will amount to one
hundred and fifty pounds, say seventy
five to eighty dollars. -Four years after
I'planting it will bring an everagc Of about
sixty pounds of leaves for each tree, or
thlrty-six thousand pounds altogether.
Say two Thousand two hundred and thir-
ty pounds of cocoons. or from S1,115 to
10000. The leaves can be picked at
ten to fifteen cents per hundred pounds.
less than one hundred dollars can pay
the whole WORK.
SPACE REQUIRED FOR TIE BREEDING,
Fitty-touT square feet is the place need
ed for twenty pounds of coo 0ons, it
would be safer to have only fifteen or
two thousand seven hundred worms in.
stead Of three thousand six hundred as
one hundred a"d eighty cocoons of the
best quality, Ccvcrnc's' breed give one
pound of cocoonS. Then ten shelves
above each other at Il distance of eight
cen incl cs, will require a room twelve by
fourteen feet high from the floor 10 the
roof. to contain ono hundred and fifty
to two hundred pounds of cocoons.
Storms, thunder and lightning, have
ior Il long tim" been Thought fuite dead
ly to the sjlkworlns. It is another Of
those great ignorant born old errors, that
experience and science rs well us reason
have shown to be as vain as the fear for
rain, cold and sudden changes of wealth
Fer. This error has killed the worms
many II time; but not the lightning.
When the storm is approaching TIE at
mosphcre is heavy, 10 breeze, not a
breath of air sufficient to slightly balance
the leaf upon the tree, Il sutfocnting
calmness of the air, such are the charac-
tcrlstics of the hour preceding the TEN
pest. In this case error dares not let the
rooms be opened; ignorance shuts doors
and windows, and eXtinguishcs the fire.
An hour i. this condition is more than
enough to choke the llvae, corrupting the
air with their twelve breathing appcrat-
us, and with the lamentations of the
litter. The prccaUtion against the inot-
tcnsive enemies has destroyed the crops
or greatly reduced it. Instead of shnt-
ting, let doors and every window be wide
open. pass one, three or even four folds
through tho cOcoonery, with blazing
straw or any other combustiblcS III your
hands, if tbc air is too calm and heavy,
the blaze feeds upon the air consumes
tho currnpted one and causes the pure to
come in and fiji its place, do it only and
1pf tho IFS in silk
worms WILDE as healthy after as before.
Then once more initiate nature, know
that the worm is living upon 4 tree, in
the bright sun, balanced by the brcezes
upon the branches night and day, and
do not confine it into u dark filthy place
where it would languish and die. Once
more give plenty of air, it is so cheap;
second aXiOm-save trouble and double
your revenue.
will not finish this short article with
ont enforcing my assertion by undcni-
able facts. and The best authorities.
IN Kansas, at Siikville, we have tr,ed
the breeding upon the tree. The young
worms just two days old have enjoyed
the sun, tho rain, tho dew and tho wind,
and many storm in the morning, after
a cool wet night we found them with
the back feet tight up on the rough side
Of the leaves, with fine silk almost invis- |
bic threads which prevents them from
falling off when shaken by the wind;
the fore part of the body straight up in
4 rigid state, but seemingly and really
quite comfortable housekeeping like po-
Sition. Until after the dew is drank up
by the sun, the worm is kept SO, but
when its revivifying rays has warmed the