1?earing Worms.—Mr. Barrow tells us that in Clie-kiang the houses in which the worms are reared are placed generally in the centre of each plantation, in order that they may be removed as far as possible from every kind of noise, experience having taught them that a sudden shout, or the bark of a dog, is destructive of the young worms. A whole brood hassometimes perish ed by a thunder storm.' The chambers are so contrived as to admit of the use of artificial heat when necessary. Great care is taken of the sheets of paper on which the multitudes of eggs have been laid by the silk-worni moths ; and the hatching of these eggs is either retarded or advanced by the application of cold or heat, according to circumstances, so as to nine the simultaneous exit of the young worms exactly to the period when the tender spring leaves of the inulberry are most fit for their nourishment. They proportion the food very exactly to the young worms, by weighing the leaves, which in the first instance are cut, but afterwards, as the insects become larger, aro given to them whole. The eatest precautions are observed in regulating the emperature of the apartments, and in keeping hem clean, quiet, and free from smells. The vorims aro fed upon a species of small hurdles of msket-work strewed with leaves, which aro con antly shifted for the sake of cleanliness, tho lsects readily moving off to a fresh hurdle with iew leaves, as the scent attracts them. In pro portion to their growth, room is afforded to them by increasing the number of these hurdles, the wortns of one being shifted to three, then to six, and so on until they reach their greatest size. When the worms have cast their several sktus, reached their greatest size, and assumed 'tented parent yellowish colour, they aro removed •-tere places divided into compartments, preparatory tt, their spinning. In tho course of a week after the commencement of spinning, tho silken cocoons are complete, and it now becomes necessary to take them in hand before tho pupm turn into moths, which would immediately bore their way out, and spoil the cocoons. When a certain number, there fore, have been laid aside for the sake of future egga, the pupm in the bulk of the cocoons are killed by being placed in jars under layers of salt and leaves, with a complete exclusion of air. They aro subsequently placed in moderately warm water, which dissolves the glutinous substance that binds the silk together, and the filament is wound off upon reels. This is put up in bundles of a certain size and weight, and either becomes an article of merchandise under the name of raw silk, or is subjected to the loom, and manufactured into vanous stuffs, for home or for foreign consump tion.
When. from the large number of worms it is necessary to feed them on floors of rooms and halls, Fortune says a layer of dry straw is laid down to keep them off the damp ;ground, but whether the worms be fed on sieves or on the floor, they are invariably cleaned every morning. All the re mains of the leaf-stalks of the mulberry, tho excre ment of tho animaLs, and other impurities, are removed beforo the fresh leaves lye giveu. The Chinese aro particular as regards the amount of light which they admit during the period the animals are feeding ; no bright light is allowed to penetrate. When the worms ceaae to feed and commence to spin, the first indication of this change is made apparent by the skin of the little animals becomiug almost transparent. When this change
takes place, they are picked, one by one, out of the sieves, and placed upon bundles of straw to form their cocoons. These bundles of straw, which are e,ach about two feet in length, are bound firmly in the middle, the two ends are cut straight, and then spread out like a broom, and into these ends the worms are laid, when they immediately fix themselves and begin to spin. During this process the underside of the framework on which the bundles of straw are placed is surrounded with cotton cloth, to prevent tho cold draught from getting to the worms. In some instances small charcoal fires are lighted and placed under the frame inside the cloth, in order to afford further warmth. In a few days after the worms aro put upon the straw, they disappear in the cocoons and have ceased to spin. In the reeling process, there is, first, tho pan of hot water into which the cocoons are thrown ; second, the little loops or eyes through which the threads pass ; third, a lateral or hori zontal movement, in order to throw the silk in a zigzag tnanner over the wheel ; and lastly, the wheel itself, which is square. Two men, or a man and a woman, aro generally employed at each wheel. The business of one is to attend to tho fire and to add fresh cocoons as the otheni are wound off. The most expert workman drives the machine with his foot, and attends to the threads tut they pass through tho loops over on to the wheel. Eight, ten, tutd sometimes twelve cocoons aro taken up to form one thread, and as ono becomes I exhausted, another is taken up to supply its place. Three, and sometime four, of such threads aro passing over on to the wheel at the same time. The lateral or zigzag movement of the machine throws the threads in that way on the wheel. The water in the pan into which the cocoons are first thrown, is never allowed to boil, but it is generally very near the boiling point. A slow fire of char coal is also placed under the wheel, as the silk is winding ; this fire is intended to dry off the superfluous moisture which the cocoons have im bibed in the water in which they were immersed. A clean, active, and clever workman is entrusted with the care of the reeling process.
Food.—The principal object in the cultivation of the mulberry trees for feeding silk-worms, is to produce the greatest quantity of young and healthy leaves without fruit. For this reason the trees are not allowed to exceed a certain age and height. They are planted at a convenient distance from each other, on the plan of a quincunx, and are said to be in perfection in about three years. The time for pruning the young trees, so as to produce fine leafy shoots, is at the commencement of the year. About four eyes are left on every shoot, and care is taken that the branches are properly thinned, with a view to giving plenty of light and air to the leaves. In gathering these, they make use of steps, or a ladder with a prop, as the young trees cannot support a ladder, and would, besides, be injured in their branches by the use of one. The trees, with their foliage, are carefully watched, and the mischief of insects prevented by the use of various applications, among which are some essential oils. Fresh plants are procured by cuttings or layers, or sometimes from seed.