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Fig. VI .

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THE

CULTURE of SILK:

OR, AN

ESSAY'

ON ITS RATIONAL

PRACTICE and IMPROVEMENT.

IN FOUR PARTS.

I. On the railing and planting
of Mulberry Trees.

II, On hatching and rearing
the Silk- Worms.

III. On obtaining their S i Lie
and Breed,

[V, On reeling their Silr-
Pods.

For the Ufe of the American Colonies,

B Y

The Rev. SAMUEL PULLEIN, M.A*

And haften to the Work each beauteous Maid,

Draw hence exprejji've Drefs to Beauty's Aidy
Tour Labour to the pleajing Task is due y
The willing Infedl toils and fpi ns for you.

Pullein’s Trajiflat. of Vida’s Silk-worm.

LONDON:

Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand.

MDCCLVJI I,

DEDICATION.

of a great Prince ; and Britain’s Com-
merce has its glory in the care of her
Princes.

That your Royal Highnefs may,
in Peace and Profperity, fee this and
every other branch of it advance to
perfection, is the fincere wifh of

Your Royal Highness’s

Mofh dutiful,

And obedient Servant,
SAMUEL PULLEIN,

PREFACE.

TH E bufinefs defcribed in this book
requires no fund to begin it : it
may be perform’d by the poor and weak,
the young and aged, women and children.
This, and the culture of filk in fome of
our American colonies now becoming an
objeCi: of publick concern, were the prin-
cipal motives of my engaging in this fub-
je£t.

To write upon any thing which is the
immediate object of practice, is by no
means fo ufelefs as the bulk of practitioners
imagine. Agriculture and all the parts of
Husbandry have long been Arts of common
practice, and yet will be fubjeCis proper
to be treated, fo long as they are Arts ca-
pable of improvement ; and, even tho; they
were capable of no further improvement,
yet it is neceiiary to make publick what is
already known, that perfons who have not
the opportunity of living inftruCtors may
be encouraged to begin their journey by
having fome directions of their road. In
France , the’ the culture of filk has long
A 3 been

VI

PREFACE.

been a pradtical art, yet books are ftilf
written upon that fubjedf, which has with-
out doubt this good confequence, that it
engages many in that bufinefs who would
otherways never have thought of it, be-
caufe they had no rule to fet out by.

The few things which have been pub-
lifhed, in Englijh , on the culture of filk,
have not explained even the prefent prac-
tice in fuch a manner, as to extricate per-
fons from the difficulties they would meet
in their firft tryals > much lefs have they
attempted to lay any foundation for future
improvements : they were too concife to
take in the various incidents that might
difturb a young pradtitioner, and, in many
difficult parts, fo obfcure that they feem
to be only verbal tranflations, without any
knowledge of the fubjedt. As an inftance
of this, let any one read the defcription
given of the reel in a quarto, dedicated, I
think, to the Lords Commiffioners of Trade,
in which there is either a total negledt, or
a total ignorance of its moil eftential move-
ments. I need not mention the many ma-
terial circumftances which are omitted in
the hatching, feeding, and obtaining the
breed of Silkworms.

In

PREFACE. vii

In the following treatife I have attempt-
ed to bring together the beft and moft
material things which have been delivered
by different authors. And, having myfelf
many times gone through the practice of
the four different parts into which I have
divided the fubjeft, I have thence taken
occafion to mention fuch improvements as
I had a£lually tryed, and alfo to fuggeffc
fuch as I had reafon to think would, on
tryal, be found ufeful : by thefe means
attempting to impart what I already knew*
and dire6ting to fuch tryals as might difr
cover more than I knew, and ftriving to
enter fo far into the reafon of things, as
might give fome light to future difcoveries*

If fome fhould think I have treated the
fubjeft too minutely ; I can only fay, that
this was owing to my obferving that bre-
vity in rules which were to be put in prac-
tice was often the caufe of obfcurity and
error.

If inaccuracy of expreflion fhould oc-
cur, I can only offer in excufe the multi-
tude and variety of precepts, where the
mind, while exercifed on the matter, muff
be often inattentive to the form,

A 4 If

viii PREFACE.

If the number of rules fhould be thought
too great to be fuddenly comprehended, I
fhall not deny it, but at the fame time I
flatter myfelf that many of them will,
from time to time, be confulted as diffi-
culties occur, and often Ihew, or at leaft
fuggeft fome remedy.

In fhort it may happen that this treatife
may be fuddenly cenfured, and llowly
found ufeful ; or may without either praife
or cenfure deep in obfcurity. But, while
I am convinced of the intention with
which it was wrote, and of opinion that it
can at leaft do no injury to the caufe which
produced it, I fir all not add folicitude about
its credit, to the trouble which it has al-
ready coft me ; I do not ffiew it to the
publick with the over-valuing fondnefs of
a parent for a child of his own begetting,
but only offer it as a foundling whofe af-
pecl gave fome hopes of its proving ufe-
ful to its country : I have wrapped it up
in luch homely drefs as came readied: to
my hand, and in this deliver it to be edu-
cated according to its talents.

5

CON-

CONTENTS.

PART I.

CHAP. I.

0 M E introductory obfervations on the
breeding of Silkworms, with regard to
different climates Pag. i

CHAP. II.

Of the different kinds of Mulberry-trees 1 1

CHAP. III.

T'he manner of faving the feed of the Mul-
berry for raffing plantations ig

C HA P. IV.

\

The foil proper for the raffing and plantation
of Mulberry-trees 25

CHAP. VI.

The firft method of raffing Mulberry-trees ,
from the feed 27

CHAP. VII.

The fecond method of raffing Mulberry-trees t
from cuttings 37

CHAP.

X

CONTENTS.

CHAP. VIII.

Of raifing Mulberry-trees by layers , and other1
methods 4 6

CHAP. IX.

Of the planting out of the young Mulberry-
trees 49

CHAP. X.

Of the form of a Mulberry plantation for
Silkworms 52

CHAP. XI.

Of the culture , pruning , and management of
Mulberry-trees both for Silkworms and
Fruit 58

PART II.

f

CHAP. I.

A general brief view of the Silkworm's lifey
with the choice of place proper for rear-
ing them in 66

CHAP. II,

Of chocfng good eggs , and the time of the
year proper to hatch them y i

x

CHAP.

CONTENTS. xi

CHAR III.

Tfhe method of hatching the Silkworm's

eggs 79

CHAP. IV.

St he method of treating the Silkworms during
the time of hatching 87

CHAP. V.

*Ihe manner of preparing the large jlands and
Jhelves on which the grown filkworms are to
be fed \ and on which they afterwards fpitt
their filk 97

CHAP. VL

*The manner of gathering the mulberry leaves ,
and keeping them frejh . 105

CHAP. VIL

Of the four fickneffes or moult ings which the
Silkworm undergoes 1 1 3

CHAP. VIII.

Of f eeding and managing the filkworms during
their two firfi agesx or till they pafs their
fecond moulting 123

CHAP. IX.

How to manage the Silkworms during their
two next ages, that is2 from their re-
covery

CONTENTS.

xii

covery out of their fecond moult to their
recovery out of their fourth 137

CHAP. X.

The management of the Silkworms during their
ffth age , that is from their recovery out
of their fourth moult, till they are ready to
fpin their filk 146

PART III.

CHAP. I.

The method of accommodating the Silkworms
with branches proper to fpin their filk

in 1 55

CHAP. IP.

The management of the Silkworms during the
time of their [pinning 163

CHAP. III.

The manner of the Silkworms fpinning its
f ilk-pod or ball \ its continuance in it, and
the changes it fuffers while it remains there,
till it comes forth in form of a moth or
butterfly 169

CHAP. IV.

Of dijbranching the arbours where the worms
fpin . How to choofe thofe fllk-pods which

are

C O N T E N T S.

xm

are dejigned for breed , and Jort thofe which
are to be reeled 176

CHAR V.

The methods of kilhng the Grub or Chry falls ,
to prevent the Silk-balls from being pierc-
ed 1 82

CHAP. VI.

The management of thofe filk-t>ods which were
chofen for breed . The coming out of the
moths . The method of coupling them, The
materials proper for them to lay their eggs
and how to preferve the eggs till the
next fpring igx

CHAP. VII.

On the breed of Silkworms degenerating , An
experiment propofcd to be tried \ in order to
hinder it . Another experiment of curio-
ftypropofed for try al 204

CHAP. IX.

Of the difeafes and mortality incident to Silk-
worms 214

)

PART

XIV

CONTENTS.

PART IV i

CHAP. I.

<The nature of the Jilk-t bread as fpun by the
worm. A general idea of the manner of
reeling it 229

CHAP. IX.

Of the furnace, reel \ and injlruments for wind-
ing the Jilk from the pods 233

CHAP. III.

*fhe improvements of the /ilk-reel, and the
manner of reeling 240

CHAP. IV.

How to take off the flofs or loofe Jilk from the
pods , the reafon of forting thefe accord-
ing to their different degree of finenefs, in
order to be reeled 251

CHAP. V.

How to reel the Jilk from the pods 255

CHAP. VI.

Some further hints for the improvement of
reeling the filk from the pods 266

CHAR

CONTENTS. xv

CHAP. VII.

Of dijbanding the filk from the reel , and tye-
ing it up in fkains: the ufe of the flofs-
filk 27 f

CHAP. VIII.

Borne additional obfervations on cleaning the
hurdles from the litter made by the Silk-
Hfoorms 27 5

PREFACE.

THE

i

Culture of S I L K.

PART I.

CHAP. I,

Some introductory observations on the breeding
of Silkworms , with regard to different c!i~
mates .

NEITHER Animals nor Plants,
when tranfported from one cli-
mate to another of a different
temperature, are immediately natura-
lized; there is fome time required, and
often fome fucceffions of generation, be-
fore their nerves and fibres can adapt
themfelves to the different influence of the
air and fun ; and if the feafons were flea-
dy and regular in their native country,
but mutable and irregular in that to which
B they

2 THE CULTURE

they were brought, fome timemuft be ne«
ceffary before their fibres can acquire a
facility of contracting and extending with
fufficient quicknefs to anfwer the fudden
changes of the weather. Thus we may
obferve, that the natives of England and
Ireland are not fo affected by the variabi-
lity of our feafons, as thofe born under the
Ready climates of Italy and France : hence
alfo we can account why old perfons,
whofe fibres, by growing rigid, have loft
the power of adapting themfelves to the
fudden changes of the weather, are very
fenfibly affefted by its variations.

The confequence which I would draw
from the foregoing obfervations is, that it
cannot be expended by us, that filkworms
bred from eggs, imported recently from
Italy or France , can immediately thrive.
Thofe therefore who attempt the breeding
of filkworms here in England , had better
raife their ftock from eggs which have,
for fome preceding generations, had their
original among us.

With regard to our colonies on the conti-
nent of America , filkworms might be rear’d
in them all to perfection, from New -England
to Georgia inclufive 5 for the mulberry-tree

will

OF SILK. f

will grow in moft of them without any
culture, and the fu miners in the moft nor-
therly provinces are fufficiently warm ; but
many of them are fo engaged in the plant-
ing of tobacco, that no hands can be
fpared, the management of that, and of
filkworms, being at the fame time of the
year, and thofe who are employed about
tobacco are very unfit to attend filkworms 1
and yet I believe it would fcarce be a lofs
to Englandy if the former was fomewhat
neglected for the fake of the latter. The
great quantities of filk which might be
imported thence into Englandy the num-
ber of hands which it would employ, the
various manners in which it might be
mixed with the manufafture of wool, and
the revenue that might in time arife up-
on its importation, feem to be things well
worth the encouragement of the Englifh ;
and in America the comfortable fubfiftence
and enrichment of many fmall families,
by raifing filk, would be of much more
benefit to our colonies, than that the la-
bour and induftry of the poor fhould be
laid out only for the advantage of fome
rich planters.

4 THE CULTURE

In fome of the colonies a double pro-
duce of filk might be obtain'd in one fea-
fon, and the warmth of the climate would
make the flighted: accommodation of houfes
or even fheds fufficient, and many of the
cautions and obfervations delivered in this
treatife unneceffary ; fo that, there, what
regards the keeping of the filkworms warm,
need not be fo much attended to as what
gives them air, and keeps them clean. I
fufpeft however, that the moifture, which
is occafioned in feveral parts of our Ame-
rican colonies by their being not yet clear'd
of their woods, may be of differvice to the
rearing of filkworms ; at lead:, I believe,
this may make it a matter of fome impor-
tance, to choofe thofe places where the
woods are well clear’d away, and to avoid
thofe which are fituated near fwamps and
great lakes, or expofed to the north and
north-weft winds, which, in our part of
America , are the moft cold and piercing.

Some attempts having been made to rear
filkworms in England , it may not be impro-
per here to fay fomething concerning them.
And firft, I muft obferve, that the changes
which frequently happen in our weather
is the greateft obftacle 5 for though the

time

OF SILK. 5

time in which filk worms are fed and fpin
be no more than about fix weeks, yet there
frequently happens, in that time, fomany
days of hazy and moift weather, or fuch
fharp winds, as greatly retards their com-
ing to perfeftion, and often kills one half
of the brood.

This inconvenience of the climate may
in fome meafure be remedy’d by perfons
of fubftance, who can choofe a convenient
and warm part of their houfes, and occa-
fionally light a fire to conquer the incle-
mency of the air ; and who befides have
time and leifure to overfee and dire£l the
management of the filkworms. But thefe
being things which are out of the power
of the lower clafs of people, I fliall take
it for granted, that the culture of filk-
worms cannot be performed by them, and
fhall therefore only addrefs what I fay
here to fiich as have leifure and abilities,
and may, in the culture of filkworms,
find a pieafing fummer amufement, and
not altogether unprofitable.

I have mentioned, that cold, and raw
weather may be palliated by the fituation
of the room, which fhould have windows
to the fouth, and alfo by occafionally
B 3 making

6 THE CULTURE

making a fire, which laft fhcmld efpecially
he regarded during the two or three days
in which the worms are employed about
fpinning their filk-pods for if the wea-
ther is then cold or raw, they will make
little or no filk, and fo you will lofe all the
advantage which was expected from them.
The fame caution fhould alfo be obferved
when the moths are coupling and laying
their eggs, otherwife they will lay but
few.

Since mulberry-trees, efpecially the black
fort, can be eafily rais’d, I fhall fay nothing
as to the objection of want of food ; but
fhall only caution any perfons from at^
tempting to breed hi k worms, who have
not plenty of leaves at their own com-
mand, hnce I know with what difficulty
they are procured from others.

Another objection is, that the worms
are often hatch’d by the heat of the wea-
ther, before the leaves are come out to
feed them ; but if you keep the eggs in a
final! viol bottle, covered with a piece of
paper prick’d with two or three pin-holes,
and placed in a cool fituation, where nei-
ther the heat of the fun nor the air of a
fire can affect it, yet free from moifture

or

OF SILK. 7

or cold winds, this will hinder them from
hatching during the latter part of April
and beginning of May; and if you are
not then prepared with food, place the
bottle in a veffel of cold water fo deep as
the eggs lie in it, or a little deeper, and
this will further retard their hatching.

It may be faid, that the conftant attend-
ance of feeding the worms three or four
times a day would occafion too great a con-
finement, but this is a work which any
fervant, who has once feen it, may eafily
perform ; and therefore, I think that a
lady might, even in thefe climates, make
herfelf a fuit of filk with the tenth part of
the trouble, and by a more agreeable a -
mufement than that fedenrary one, which
compleats a wrought head-drefs. Moft
indeed that go about breeding filkworms,
do, for want of method, or by following
fanciful ones, make it a troublefome bufi-
nefs, and oft-times the very pains which
they take creates more labour. They let
the eggs be laid on paper, they are hatch'd
at very diftant times, they are fometimes
pick'd up fingly as they hatch, and placed
on ten times more leaves than are neceffary,
which occafions frequent clearing away of
B 4 thefe

8 THE CULTURE

their litter 3 when they are fed, numbers
often perifh under an overbundance of
leaves 3 young and old are mix’d together,
and by that means the proper management
during their periodical ficknefs becomes im-
practicable 3 at laft, when thofe worms
which furvive this management, are ready to
fpin, they are watch’d, and pick’d up one by
one, and placed feverally in little paper
cells, which are afterwards pinn’d one by
one to the fides of the room.

This is the method generally followed
by thofe who keep filk’ worms among us 3
and as every part of it is wrong, every ftep
toilfome, it is no wonder that thofe who
proceed in this manner, foon grow tired of
the work 3 they reckon over all their
worms, and when they have rear’d one or
two thoufand, they account it a prodigious
number 3 they perhaps afterward reel off
fome of the balls in a method both tedious
and toilfom 3 and, having at laft produced
an ounce or two of filk, they are amazed
at the great number of worms, and the
great labour which is neceflary to produce
a fmail quantity of filk. But this is much
the fame, as if a farmer fhould run into
every wrong method of hufbandry, and at

laft

OF SILK. 9

laft complain of the fatigue, and of the
many millions of grains that went to make
a few barrels of corn. But when it can be
Ihew'd, that two or three large mulberry-
trees, or a proportional number of fm all
ones, will feed a fufficient number of
worms to make above a pound of filk ;
that the ftand which holds thefe worms
will not take up a yard's fpace in a room $
that one perfon fkilFd in reeling can, with
the help of a boy to turn the reel, wind off
two or three pound of filk in a day ; that
one pound of this filk wifi make near five
yards of paduafoy ; that the whole time,
from the hatching of the eggs to the reel-
ing of the filk, amounts to no more than
fix weeks ; and that a fmall part of each
day is fufficient for the proper attendance ;
that befides all this, it can be done with
much lefs trouble than is generally under-
gone 3 thefe things, 1 fay, being con-
fidered, and, as I hope, fhewninthe pro-
grefs of the inftruciions given in this book,
then the management of filkworms will
appear perhaps in a more inviting light,
and be look'd upon as an entertainment
lieither unpleafing nor unprofitable.

3

An

io THE CULTURE

An opinion indeed has gained ground,
that the rearing of filkworms is an un-
healthy employment ; but this I am fure
has no foundation, unlefs where they are
kept in a flovenly manner, and their litter
or the dead worms fuffered to corrupt and
taint the air ; for while the litter continues
dry, and the worms healthy, I never found
the fmell to differ much from that of hay,
though by a perfons being prejudiced, that
fmell, as coming from worms, may be
imagined very difagreeable. Indeed the
fedentary employment of poking over the
worms, and picking them from the leaves,
is not a very healthy amufement for the
perfon who ufes it, and I am fure it is
hurtful to the worms.

If the method follow’d here by ladies
were purfued in the filk-countries, filk
could fcarce be fold for lefs than its weight
of gold ; but if rules and method are pro-
perly followed, the pains which they be-
llow upon ten worms would ferve for ten
thoufand. An improper method of hatch-
ing the eggs diflurbs the whole procels of
rearing the worms for ever after 3 and im-
proper fteps in the management of them
diflurbs all the fubfequent ones 5 and there-
fore

II

OF SILK.

fore to lay a fide their prefent practice, and
fet out upon a new method, is the only
thing that can make the feeding of filk-
worms in England an eafy amufement.
The intention of this treatife is not only to
prefcribe the prefent practice in the filk-
countries, but to point out fome things,
and give fome hints, for its improvement,
efpecially at a time when there is a fair
profpect of introducing the culture of filk
into our American colonies.

Of the different kinds of Mulberry-trees .
HE mulberry-tree is the foundation

of the filk manufacture, its leaves
being the food fo peculiarly adapted to the
worm which affords us their rich materials,
that no other can be febftituted for it with
any advantage.

There are two forts of mulberry-trees,
one call’d the black, and the other the
white. The black is that which is com-
monly planted in gardens for the fake of

CHAP. II.

its

12 THE CULTURE

its fruit, which, when ripe, is of a black
colour, its leaves are very large and rough,
and of a darker green than the white fort,
its item generally inclines to be warped and
crooked, and its bark rough.

The white mulberry-tree is fo called, be-
caufe its fruit is either of a white, or a pale
grey colour ; it grows with a ftraighter
ftem and fmoother bark, which is alfo of
a lighter colour than that of the black
mulberry, and its leaves are fmooth, thin,
and much fmaller. It is rarely met with
in gardens, for its fruit is of no value, be-
ing very fmall, and of an infipid fweetifh
tafte.

Some of the writers on filkworms men-
tion a third fort of mulberry-tree, which
they call the white mulberry-tree, bearing
little red berries. This is perhaps only a
variation occafioned by foil and climate,
for the white fort fometimes bears reddifh
berries. There may chance alfo to be dif-
ferent kinds, by the farina , or male-duft,
of one fort impregnating the feed of ano-
ther, when the trees of different fpecies
grow near one another. Perhaps mulber-
ries, ftriftly fpeaking, may be all of one
fpecies, and the varieties which appear

among

OF SILK. 13

among them only accidental ; this might
be afcertained, by impregnating the feed
of one fort with the farina of another :
for if the mules produced from this mix-
ture bore fruit whofe feed was prolific*
and would grow when fown, then we
might conclude them of the fame fpecies ;
and this is perhaps the fureft method for
diftinguifhing the kinds in all plants and
animals, fince it is well known, that mules,
both vegetable and animal, are barren 5
Providence feeming to have fixed this qua-
lity as an obftacle to the infinite confufion
of fpecies, which would otherwife have
follow’d from infinite mixtures ; but this
I only mention occafionally : In treating
of filk worms, it is fufficient to preferve the
diftinftion of mulberries into the black
and white forts.

Befide the ufe of the mulberry-tree in
the production of filk, its timber is faid to
be very ferviceable, and it has the property
of bearing wet, without rotting, better
than any other ; yet there is no tree whofe
bark fo readily parts from the wmod, if
the wet gets between them while in a
growing ftate. The inner rind of this
tree is tough, like hemp, and might be

twitted

H THE culture

twitted into a ftrong cordage : moft cattle
are very fond of its leaves, which are very
fattening; for which purpofe they are alfo
given to poultry, being bruifed with a mix-
ture of oatmeal. The black fort is a very
delicate and wholefome fruit, and ufeful
In many diforders of the throat and mouth >
the tree itfelf makes a very fine appearance
in fummer, fcarce any other having a more
beautiful fhew of foliage.

The root of the mulberry tree fhoots
very deep into the foil, and is no hinderance
to almoft any thing which is planted about
it, fince the furface of the earth is not im-
poverifhed by it, as it often is by other
trees whofe roots do not go deep ; nei-
ther is its fhade, nor the dropping of rain
from its leaves, reckon’d injurious to plants.

Since the root of the mulberry ftrikes fo
deep, in order to bear good fruit, the
black fort ought to have a deep rich foil
which fhou’d be digged and manur’d an-
nually like that of other fruit-trees ; it is
therefore a very bad method, which is
generally followed, to leave a grafs plat
under it which prevents the ground from
ever being opened and manured : this grafs-
plat is left for the fake of faving the fruit

which

OF SILK. *5

which are apt to fall with a very little
wind, and are very eafily bruifed, but a
coarfe cloth or winnow-fheet wou’d ferve
as well, and not hinder the culture of the
tree.

When mulberry-trees are only kept for
the ufe of filkworms, the foil and culture
are not of fuch confequence j and the lefs
they run into fruit it will be the better ;
however, you fhou’d always have fome
planted in a good foil and fituation, and
properly manured, to haften their coming
into leaf, that fo you may have food for
your filkworms early in fpring, and not be
obliged to keep their eggs from hatching
till it is fo late, that in hot climates, the
midfummer heat wou’d come before they
went to fpin, or that, in temperate climates,
the cold might advance before they laid
their eggs, either of which wou’d be very
hurtful.

Both the black, and the white mulberry
leaves will feed filkworms, but the white
fort is preferred, and generally ufed, at lead:
in Europe ; for which the following reafons
are alleged. Firft, that their leaves are
more tender and delicate, and more eagerly
defired by the worms. Secondly, that

they

1 6 THE CULTURE

they come into leaf a fortnight, or more,
fooner than the black, by which means
your filkworms can be fed earlier in fpring,
and you avoid the inconvenience of hatch-
ing them late as mentioned above. Third-
ly, the white is a quicker grower, and
will not be fo much hurt by pulling its
leaves, nor be fo incommoded with fruit
as the black. Laftly, the filk produced
from its leaves is faid to be finer.

The early budding of the white mul-
berry is very advantageous, becaufe the
filkworm is often apt to be hatched before
there is food for it. The tendernefs of its
leaf, and its agreeablenefs to the young
filkworm, is alfo very ufieful, becaufe the
young broods, whofe teeth are tender,
cannot fo eafily pierce the thick leaf of the
black mulberry 5 and any one may eafily
obferve with what difficulty the worms eat
any part of a leaf, except the edge, until
they have made a hole in it, and fo form-
ed an edge for their teeth to lay hold on.
Indeed after their three firft ficknefies are
pail, they fcarce have occafion to make
holes, becaufe four or five worms attack-
ing a leaf on its edge foon devour it.
The inconvenience of much litter and

moifture.

OF SILK. 17

moifture, which might follow from the
fruit of the black mulberry, may alfo at-
tend the ufe of the white mulberry leaves ;
but fuch trees as are great fruit-bearers,
fhould not be chofen for feeding filk worms.
Laftly, if finer filk is made from the white
mulberry, it is a material circumftance.
Yet I think it not improper to have fume of
the black mulberry-trees as well as white,
fince it is certain that good filk can be pro-
duced from them, and that one tree of
them is equal to two of the others for
quantity of leaves ; fo that, in cafe of de-
ficiency, they would always be a refource 1
in the colder climates I know they thrive
beft, and even in Perfia they are faid to
be made ufe of in rearing filkworms 5
however, for our colonies, I would always
be fuppofed to intend the white mulberry-
tree; and though, in the fubfequent rules
for railing them, I (hall make no diftindlion
between the black and white, fince the
method of raifing one fort may ferve for
the other, yet at the fame time I muft ob~
ferve, that, fince many of thefe rules are
adapted to climates where the tree requires
fome care and nicety to raife it, therefore
the very fame care and caution will not
C be

18 THE CULTURE

be necefiary in warmer climates, and fuch
countries as fome of our colonies, where it
may be accounted a native of the foil ; a
perfon’s own judgment will here direft him
in the variation he ought to make in raifing I
plantations.

Since therefore the mulberry-tree is the
foie fubfiftence of the filkworms, it is a
vain thing to attempt breeding them, with- ■
out having plenty of trees ; and the nearer
and more convenient thefe trees are for
gathering the leaves, fo much the fewer
hands will they require, and the leaves not
being carried far, will be fo much the
better j and befide, upon any unforefeen
deficiency of food, or any appearance of
rainy weather, you will be able readily to
fupply yourfelf; and thefe are circum-
ftances of no fmall moment.

I muft acquaint the reader, that great part
of the method which follows for raifing
mulberry-trees, is drawn from fome of the
beft authors which have wrote on that
fubjeft for the climate of France-, to which
however I have added whatever I have
met with, which feem’d ufeful, in other
writers, and fome things which were de-
duced from my own experience nor have

I omit

OF SILK.

I omitted giving hints of fuch improve-
ments as, though I have not had time and
opportunity to try them all, yet feem to
me reafonable, and will perhaps upon ex->
periment be found ufefuL

ST he manner of facing the feed of the mul -

HERE are three principal methods

of railing mulberry trees. Firft by
fowing the feed of the berry. Secondly by
layers depending upon the mother tree,
till they have taken root. Thirdly by bran-
ches quite feparated from the mother tree,
and therefore call'd cuttings. I fhall be-
gin with the method of raifing them from
feed, as it is both the fureft and moil ef~
feftual way to produce great numbers $
and numbers of fmall trees will anfwer
the end of large ones.

The mulberries whofe feed you intend to
fave fhould be perfectly ripe, this you may
know by their beginning to fall from the
trees, by their foftnefs, and if you exa-

CHAP. III.

berry for raifing plantations .

C 2

so THE CULTURE

mine nicely by the kernel being compleat-
ly ripened in the fmall (hell which enclofes
it; you fiiou’d not choofe the fruit of thofe
trees which have been ftripped of their
leaves that year, or even the year before, j
if you can avoid it. Thofe berries of the j
white mulberry which incline moft to a j
dark colour are reckon'd beft. It is a good |
method to fhake the tree moderately every
day, from the time that the berries begin
to be ripe, for mulberries do not all ripen
together.

Thefe berries fhou’d be laid thin on the
floor of a granary or other airy place,
for four or five days, that they may attain j
their full ripenefs, and fhould be removed j
and ftirred every day for fear of heating
and rotting, efpecially if they lie thick up-
on one another, after this they fhould be
poured into a bag of courfe cloath or can-
vafs, which fhou’d be put in water and
rubbed very well, to diflblve and feparate
the grain from the pulp. If this is not ;
done in a river or running water, you mufl
change the water two or three times :
then take the pulp and feeds which re-
main mixed in the bag after having prefs’d
out the moifture pretty well, and put it

in

21

OF SILK.

in a veffel of water, where, after ftirring
it a little, the feed will link, in three or
four hours, to the bottom, and the pulp
fwimming uppermoffc may be poured off
with the water. The feed fhould then be
taken out and dryed upon a cloath in the
fun or in fome airy place, ftirring it often.
If it is done in the fun don't let it remain
above an hour or fo for fear of the heat
injuing it, but rather take it away as fall
as it dries. After this you may winnow
out any dull: which is in it, and keep it in
boxes or bags out of the way of mice till
the feafon of fowing.

Sometimes the feed will not eafily fink
to the bottom in the water where you wafh
it from the pulp, if it is not very found ;
when you find this to be the cafe, you
may fpread the pulp and feed as they are
mixed together pretty thin till it is quite
dry, taking care that it doth not heat or
grow mouldy ; and when it is quite dry,
which will take a good many days, you
may keep it in that form till the time of
fowing, then you rauft pour a little water
on it to reduce it again to a foft pulp, and
when it is about half dry mix an equal
quantity of dry fand or earth, rubbing them
C 3 well

22 THE CULTURE
well together 3 this will feparate the grains*
and make them fit to be fown.

Or without mixing any fand the pulp
may be fown moift, by rubbing it on a
fmali hay rope which is to be fet in a drill
of earth with the mulberry feed flicking
to it, as will be more fully mentioned here-
after ; and for this purpofe it wou’d have
been fufficient to have only fqueezed out
the juice of the berries without walking
them in water, as before mentioned.

Thofe who will not be at the trouble of
faving their own feed, but buy it from the
feeds-men, fhould take care that they are
not impofed on ; much of what is fold be-
ing often good for nothing, which pro-
ceeds either from its being ill faved, gather-
ed from unripe berries, or from treg^
which had been dilleafed ; or from its be-
ing too old. Seed that is very good and
found may be known by its finking in wa-
ter after having been lteeped in it for three |
or four hours ; though, as I mentioned be-
fore, when the fhell is not compleatly filled i
by the kernel, a good deal will fwim, and j
may be fkimm’d oft' and fav’d. It is as
fure a method as any of knowing good feed, 1
to crack a few of the fhells, and obferve :

whether J

OF SILK. 23

whether they have found kernels ; this is
eafily obferved in the black mulberry, which
has pretty large feeds, but not fo readily in
the white, whofe feeds are very fmall.

In the more temperate climates it is ne-
ceffary to have good trees, well manured,
and in a good afpeft, in order to have
found feed and well ripened ; and, in any
climate, it would be ufeful to have a few
| trees of the beft growth peculiarly fet a-
part for feed. And if, for want of better,
you are obliged to make ufe of the feed
from trees whofe leaves have been pulled
for the worms, let it be from thofe trees
which were laft ufed, viz. when the worms
were in their laft age, which have their
fruit pretty well grown before they aredif-
leaf’d, for the berries are hindered to fill
when the leaves are pull’d early. If the
berries are ripe on any tree whofe leaves
you have occafion for, it will be convenient
to fhake the tree moderately every time
before you pull the leaves ; for fo you will
both fave the fruit for feed, and hinder it
from mixing with the food of the worms y
and on this laft account you fhould pre-
ferve for feed thofe trees which are fo great-
ly loaded with fruit as to have but few
C 4 leaves.

24 THE CULTURE

leaves, fince it wou’d be almoft loft time
to pull the leaves, and they wou’d be fo
mix'd with the berries as to occafion a great
deal of litter among the worms ; and if
they were fo ripe as to fhed their juice a-
mong the leaves, it wou’d make them un-
wholfome food.

I muft add, to what I have already faid
about feparating the feed from the pulp,
that if, after having been very well rubb’d
in a coarfe bag, it is put into a wicker
fteve wrought juft fo clofe as not to let the
feeds pals, and kept under a fpout of wa-
ter, rubbing and fhaking it all the time;
vou will foon have all the feed clear’d

J

from the pulp. And, by winnowing it
when it is dry, you may feparate the lighter
feed from the heavy; the former muft be
lown thick, as a great part of it will not
come up.

CHAP.

OF SILK.

25

CHAP. IV.

The foil proper for the raifing and plantation
of Mulberry-trees .

TH E ground for raifing mulberry
trees either from feed, layers, cut-
tings, &c. fhou’d be a rich loofe mould in-
i dining to fandy, that the tender new form-
; ed roots may be the better enabled to ex-
| tend in it. A frnall depth of foil will be fuf-
cient for thefe, efpecially thofe raifed from
i feed 5 but it ought rather to have gravel
| under it than any fort of ftiff clay, which
might hold the wet and chill the young
1 plants. In temperate climates the border
1 under a fouth wall, lay’d fo as to Hope a
little toward the fun, will make a very
good feed bed.

Though a fmall depth of foil is fuf-
ficient for raifing trees which are to betranf-
planted, yet when they are rais’d where they
I are to hand (as will be fhewn in the raif-
ing mulberry hedges) or when they are
tranfplanted where they are to remain, a
! deep foil is beft ; becaufe mulberry trees
6 Ihoofc

26 THE CULTURE
(hoot downward with very long tap-roots.
It is true indeed, that when they have
taken with the ground, they will live, and
throw out abundance of leaves, even in a
bad foils but then thefe leaves are not fo
good to nourifh fdkworms, and efpecially,
when the trees are planted in low watery
grounds, they afford but bad leaves, though
they may have a greater quantity s for, as
they abound too much with moifture,
their leaves approach to the nature of thofe
which grow on the fuckers of the mul-
berry tree, and endanger the buffing of the
worms which feed on them, elpecially if
they had been ufed to better leaves before.

Choofe therefore a rich mould inclining
to fandy, loofe, and as deep as you can,
where your mulberry trees are to remain.
If the ground is not rich enough you muff '
help it by digging about the roots, and
laying in the mould of old hot beds \
or other good old manure ; and if it is too
wet, you may eafe it of the moifture by
drains. Ground Hoping to the fouth is j
the beft afpe'ct for a plantation, and it will ;
be the better if defended by a wood or
grove, on that fide from which nipping
winds might hurt the young buds in fpring. 1

CHAP

OF SILK.

s7

CHAP. VI.

9 fhe firji method of raijing Mulberry-trees
from the feed .

FOR raifing mulberry-trees from the
feed, you fliould choofe fome part of
an inclofed garden, which has a good ex-
pofure to the fun, and is defended from
the north wind ; the earth fhould be well
ftirred, and enriched with fome very old
dung, and ought naturally to be a good
fine mould ; then lay out the ground in
beds, a little raifed above the furface of
the earth, of what length you think pro-
per, but not above four feet broad, that
they may be conveniently weeded.

The beft time for fowing the feed is in
. February , March , or April ; the fooner it
is done in fpring, when frofts of any con-
tinuance are no longer to be fear’d, it will
be fo much the better, as the plants, by
coming up early, will have time to get
ftrength, and be the better able to bear
the enfuing winter. As the plants require,
according to the difference of climates, fix
or eight weeks after the feed is fown before

they

T

28 THE CULTURE

they begin to appear, I think it is a good
rule to fow the feed about fix or eight
weeks before the time in which the mul-
berry bud begins to open, which may be a
fort of general diredtion for any climate.

Take therefore the feed which you had
faved, and fteep it for one night in water,
then make it about half dry, and mix an
equal quantity of fand or dry mould with
it, the better to feparate the grains ; fow
this mixture on the beds prepared as above,
and fift over it fome fine rich mould, fuch
as that of old melon beds, to about a quar-
ter of an inch depth : The beds muft be
watered at lead: every fecond day in dry
weather, efpecially toward the time when
you expedt the feed to fpring up.

While the earth appears moift you need
not water them, fince it is very apt to
thicken the furface of the ground, and
make a cruft gather on it, which hinders
the up-fpring of the young plants ; and
therefore when you water them, it fthould
be with a watering-pan whofe rofe has very
fine holes ; or elfe you ftiould have two or
three light hurdles of ofier, ftraw, or
nifties, which you ftiould lay upon the
ieveral parts of the beds as you water them,

which

1

1

1

OF SILK, 29

which will prevent the mould from being
beaten into a cake. If either any froit
happens, or the weather be very hot when
you fow the feed, it is proper to cover it
with forne ftraw for four or five days 3 this
will defend it from either cold or drought
according as the feafon is, and alfo from
being fcratch’d up, and pick'd by birds.
If the feed is fown on hot-beds, made like
thofe for melons, the plants will advance
the better, and not be endangered by cold j
but it muft be watered oft, becaufe fuch
beds foon grow dry on their furface, from
their high fituation.

Another way of fowing the feed is in
fmall drills made in the beds, about an
inch deep, and two or three inches afun-
derj by this method you can readily ob-
ferve the weeds, and djftinguifh them from
the plants, and alfo the fnails, which are
great deftroyers of the young plants. I
would choofe to make thefe drills run acrofs
the bed, and not lengthways, becaufe you
will thus eafier difce'rn the weeds and fnails,
and can alfo the readier, with a fmall hoe
or fork, ftir the earth between each drill,,
which will check the growth of weeds.

If

3o THE CULTURE

If the feed had been preferved with fome
of the pulp about it, as mentioned in the
foregoing chapter, you may fow it in a
drill in the following manner. Firft fteep
it in water till it becomes a foft pulp 5 then
make drills acrofs your beds as before di-
rected, only fomewhat deeper 3 then hav-
ing fome fmall ropes made of hay, about
as thick as a bulrufh, fix them with two
pegs directly over each drill 3 take now
the moift pulp and rub it along the rope,
fo as the feed may flick here and there
upon it 3 having done this, thruft the pegs
down, fo that the rope may lie in the bot-
tom of the drill, and cover it with earth,
after which you may draw out the pegs.
This is a very eafy and good method, and
the feed will in all likelihood be defended
from frofl by the hay rope, and alfo for-
warded in fpringing by the heat of it when
it rots.

In climates where the mulberries ripen
early in fummer, they may be fowed in
this manner as fall as they ripen, without
any further trouble than rubbing them,
as you did the pulp, upon the hay ropes 3
by which you wdll gain almofl a year in
the growth of the trees 3 but as this is

done

OF SILK. 31

done in fummer, the beds fhould be duly-
watered, and the plants, when winter
comes on, not being fo large and hardy as
thofe fown in fpring, fhould be defended
againft froft with ftraw or fome other co-
vering, which fhould not lie too clofe for
fear of fuffocating them, and in mild
weather fhould be taken of.

The mulberries may alfo be fown as
they ripen, by firft fqueezing out their
juice, and then mixing the pulp with fo
much fand as may ferve to feparate the
grains ; after which fow it upon a bed,
and fift mould over it, as diredted in the
firft method of this chapter.

If the feed which is fown in fummer
were made to pafs in digeftion through
the ftomach of animals, it would greatly
haften its fpringing ; by which means,
though fown late, it would not be much
inferior in growth to the crop fown in
fpring. This is true alfo in all feeds
which are covered with (hells or ftones,
many of which ftay often two feafons in
ground before they fpring : poultry muft
not be ufed, for their ftomach grinds the
feed ; but dogs and other animals might
be made to eat great quantities of the ber-

S2 THE CULTURE

ries as faft as they ripen in hot climates, ^
by mixing them with a little flour or'
meal, or kneading them with it into a ^
pafte ; and from the dung which they
make, mix’d immediately with fand or
dry mould to make it fit for fowing, the
plants would fpeedily fpring up.

There is nothing fo deftructive to the
mulberry plants, upon their firfl coming
up, and for fome time after while they
are low, as fnails and fluggs ; they will
eat numbers of them down to the ground
in one night, and if it is a moifl: feafon,
they will almoft ruin a whole nurfery:
You fhould therefore be diligent to deftroy
them, efpecially a little after fun-fet, which
is better than in the morning, for then
they have done their night’s mifchief.
You may like wile guard the beds, by fur-
rounding them with dry foot or afhes,
fprinkling frefh on it when it is grown
wet by rain, but no foot fhould be thrown
on the beds, being too hot and fcalding
for the young plants ; the Hugs will not
care to pafs over this fence, efpecially while
it remains dry.

Sand ftrowed on the beds is alfo a good
defence, and I have found a handful or

two

OF SILK, 33

two of wormwood, put into the pan with
which you water them in the evening, to
be a good prefervative for that night 3 but
the beft fence to hinder them from coming
on the bed is a rope of hair, which fhould
be trimmed with a pair of fciflars, to make
it as briftly as you can 3 this being pinned
clofe to the ground round the border of
the bed, will fo prick their tender fkin,
that they will not venture to go acrofs it.
Therefore, if the place is much infefted
by (lugs or fnails, you may ufe all, or
as many as you think fufficient of thefe
methods 3 but if you are negleftful in this
point, you may lofe airnoft all the plants
of your feed-bed. The feed-beds of your
mulberries muft be kept very clear of
weeds, which would otherwife eafily rob
the young plants of their nourifhment,
and ftunt their growth 3 nor muft you for-
get to water them at leaft every fecond
evening in dry weather 3 and if the fun
fhould be violently hot, fo as to endanger
the fcorching and making them wither,
you may fhade them from its noon heat,
by feme ftraw or fuch like thrown lightly
on the beds, and removed when the vio-
lent heat of the day is over 3 but this in
D the

34 THE CULTURE

the cooler climates will fcarce ever be ne~
cellar y.

If violent rains fhould have wafhed away
the earth, and made the young feedlings
too bare toward their roots, a little line
rich mould put between each drill will re-
pair the injury, and alfo help their growth.

In fuch climates as England the young
feedlings will not be above three inches
high the firfr year. In warmer ones they
make a great advance, for in fome parts
of the Eaft-Indies it is faid that they fovv
large quantities of mulberry-feed, whofe
crops they reap down, and feed their filk-
worms with them 5 and that the filk made
from thefe tender fhoots is eafily difcerna-
ble, by its finenefs, from that which is
railed from the leaves, which again fhoot
the fame year, and are ufed for a fecond
brood of worms. If this is fo, it is like-
lielt to be done by thofe who live between
the tropicks, where, having a double
fpring, the crop which was town the fpring
foregoing, may ferve to feed the worms
that are hatched- in the beginning of the
fpring following, but of this we have no
perfect accounts, as neither of their me-
thods of managing the filkworms, in which
8 they

OF SILK. 35

they are faid to be much more expert than
the Europeans ; and this is not unlikely,
they having been in poffefllon of the art
perhaps almoft as early as the flood.

If large crops of mulberry-trees were
raifed by fowing the berries immediately
when they became ripe, (I mean in our
American colonies, for it muft be where
they are of quick growth) fuch crops
might, on the enfuing fpring, make a
good and early provifion for the worms
while they were in their firft age, and re-
quired but a fmall quantity of food 5 the
whole young crop might fucceffively be
reaped for the ufe of the worms, and the
fmall items and roots might have fufficient
ftrength to throw out young (hoots, which
perhaps might be again reaped for a fecond
brood of filkworms. I mention thefe
methods rather as hints and mementos of
trials which may be made, than as pofi-
live precepts, one intention of this treatife
being all along, to urge perfons to fuch ex-
periments as may breed filkworms to more
advantage than by the common practice.

I (hall here by the way mention a method
of Fattening the growth of feed fown early
in fpring, in fuch climates where the wea-
D 2 ther

36 THE CULTURE

ther is not then fufficiently warm, viz.
After fowing the feed, fift over the feed-
bed the fweepings or duft of pit-coal, turf-
mould, or any fuch materials as are of a
black colour, which, by imbibing the funs
rays, will greatly encreafe the heat of the
bed, and promote vegetation. This may
be renewed as oft as the rain wafhes the
materials into the ground, till the plants
appear, and then fhould be difcontinued,
that the plants may have the advantage of
the reflected heat; if a border, which lies
under a fouth wall, be thus managed, a
perfon would fcarce imagine what a degree
of heat the border will conceive. Note
alfo, that it will much further the fpring-
ing of all ftone feeds, of which fort is the
mulberry, if they are put into an earthen
vefiel with an hole in its bottom, and fo
buried abroad in the earth during the whole
winter, and till you defign to low them
in fpring ; they fhould be moiften’d be-
forehand, and a date fitted to the inlide of
the veffel’s mouth, (but fo as not to prevent
the rain from keeping them moift) to hin-
der mice from getting at them, who, if
once they found them out, would in a few
days totally deftroy them, therefore you

fhould

OF SILK. 37

iliouid now and then look whether they
had got at them.

CHAP. VII.

rfhe fecond method of raifing Mulberry-tree s%
from cuttings .

THE next molt eafy and quick method
of raifing mulberry-trees is from cut-
tings ; and in this method though you can-
not fo readily raife the fame numbers as
from feed, yet you have an advantage in
the quicknefs and ftrength of their growth.
The mulberry is eafier propagated from
cuttings in moift and temperate climates,
than in thofe which are extreme hot and
dry ; for the branches which are feparated
from the mother tree, having no roots to
fubfift themfelves, require to be plentifully
fupplied with moifture, in order to keep
them alive till the roots are formed, and
where the climate denies this, the defect
mufc be made up with watering.

The cuttings which are to be propagated
fhould not be final! fingle twigs, but pretty
large branches, of at lead three inches round
in the thickeft part, with all the fmaller
D 3 branches

38 THE CULTURE

branches on them ; pretty large arms taken
from an old fuperannuated tree will ferve
very well for this purpofe, and the old
tree will have an advantage from this prun-
ing, by putting forth young wood, which
will bear larger and better leaves ; thefe
arms may be divided and cut into lefier
ones, of about a yard or more in length,
in order to be layed dowrn in the earth.

As I fiiall hereafter Ihew the advan-
vantage of planting thofe trees which are
defigned for filkworms in a fort of efpalier
hedge, fo I fhall now direct the laying
down of the cuttings in fuch a method as
that, without any future tranfplanting,
many fuch hedges may be raifed, and alfo
good numbers of plants to be afterwards
tranfplanted into hedges ; and I am cer-
tain from experience, that if cuttings thus
managed fail to grow*, at lead; in a tempe-
rate climate, it is owing either to want of
watering, weeding, or a good foil.

The bed time for planting cuttings is as
foon as the leaves have fallen in autumn,
that the parts which lie underground may
be prepared to put forth roots the Ipring
following • for, if they are planted in fpring
they will moftly fail, for want of roots tp

fcpply

OP SILK. 39

fupply the large quantity of nourishment
which the leaves will foon require. The
earth where the cuttings are to be fet,
fhould have been dug, broken, and cleanfed
of weeds fome weeks before, and, if there
was a neceffity, enriched with fome good
loam, very old dung, land, or other ma-
nure, fo as to make a fine loofe mould,
proper for the young fibres of the roots
to fhoot into ; in this make furrows of
about one foot in depth and two in breadth,
Hoping from the edge to the bottom of
the furrow, and of the length which you
defign your hedges ; the diftance between
each furrow need not be above four feet,
if you defign future plantations, by taking
away and tranfplanting one or more of
the intermediate hedges ; but if no more
hedges are planted than you intend to Hand
in the fame places, then the trenches fhould
be four or five yards diftant. The ground
that lies between the trenches need not be
loft, but may he made ufe of for any low
vegetables, that will not overihade the
young mulberry plants. The trenches
fliould run from north to fouth, for reafons
given in the chapter on the form of a mul-
berry plantation.

d4

When

4o THE CULTURE

When you would plant the cuttings,
firfl: fill the trenches about one third with
fome of the fine mould which was taken
out of them, then begin to lay in the cut-
tings, by placing their main ftem as flat as
you can in the bottom of the trench, and
turning up the fmall branches on each
fide, fo that their ends may ftand above
ground from three inches to a foot, as
they can be conveniently bended and turn-
ed up ; for which purpofe, place that fide
of the main branch undermoft which has
fewefi: twigs growing out of it, you may
bend the fmall branches, and make them
comply as much as you pleafe, they will
tiot grow the worfe, and where they are
ftubborn you may pin them down with
hook'd pegs.

When the large ftem of the cutting has
but few or no lefler branches coming from
it for a confiderable way, you need not
then bury it above three or four inches
tinder the ground, that it may the eafier
fhoot forth buds from its unfurnifh’d part.
And when feveral bufhy clumps of fmall
fhoots fpring from the ends of the lefler
branches, as is common when the cuttings
are taken from old trees, then that part of
2 the

O F S I L K. 41

the Jefler branch, from which they fpring
together, ftioiild always be placed under
the earth that they may produce difrindi
roots, for then each of them will, when
feparated, be a diftinct tree.

In laying down the cuttings in the
trench, place the thick end of each fubfe-
quent branch to the fmall end of the fore-
going one ; and, when they are all pro-
perly placed, cover them with mould to
the depth above-mentioned, without pref-
ling or treading it, only make fome little
allowance for the linking and fettling of the
mould, and therefore raife it with a fmall
fwelling all along the trench, but fo as to
leave the fmaller branches above ground as
was direfted before.

Having thus planted all your rows, you
have nothing further to obferve till fpring,
unlefs it be that, in cafe of a hard froft,
you fhould cover them with ftraw, peafe-
haulm, or fuch like, always taking care
that neither goats or other cattle may get
at them.

In fpring, and efpecially in hammer,
according to the drynefs of the feafon,
they muft be conftantly watered, . every
fecond day at leaft, in fpring about noon,

and

42 THE CULTURE

and in fummer about funfet, and this for
the firft year can hardly be overdone ; and
if they were in danger of being hurt by a
very hot feafon, they might be defended,
during the noon hours, by fhips of old
matting thrown over them, and they may
be uncovered when the violent heat of the
day is pad.

Thefe cuttings thus managed, will on
the firft fummer put forth (hoots of about
five or fix inches length, more or lefs, ac-
cording as they have thriven, and at the
fame time they will fortify themfelves with
roots; fo that if they have made fhoots,
and preferved their leaves till autumn, you
need not doubt of their growth, but if
any have fail’d, you fhould then place
ethers in their room.

On the enfuing fpring and fummer, tho*
they will then be more out of danger, yet
you fhould continue to water them in very
dry weather ; and they will this year make
fhoots often half a yard in length, and
furnifh themfelves compleatly with roots,
fo as to be fit for tranfplanting in autumn ;
and then you may raife up and cut off
from the main ftem all thofe bufhy clumps
mention’d, with their own roots, in order

tQ

OF S I L R. 43

to plant other hedges, leaving only fuch
behind as fhoot in a line from the princi-
pal branch, and in quantity as you fhall
jjudge fufficient to form your firft planted
jhedge; thofe that you cut off you may
jfeparate and divide into diftindt plants,
according as their roots will anfwer fuch
! feparation.

As the hedges grow up they may be
| train’d and kept to a flat form by flicks
woven acrofs the branches, until fuch time
: as you begin to pull the leaves for the ufe
of filkworms ; and then, by flopping the
!' leaves of thofe branches which fhoot right
| forward, and afterwards clipping them off,
you will always preferve them in this form ;

I you may alfo, by laying down the fuckers
and lower branches, be frequently fupplied
i with young trees for new plantations :
this method therefore of rafmg mulberry
trees I take to be as advantageous, and dif-
patchful as any that can be purfued ; for
branches quite feparated from the mother
tree will, as I fuppofe, fooner furnifh them-
felves with roots than layers can do, which,
by being attached to and depending on
the mother tree, are not under fuch, a ne«
geffity of putting forth roots to feed them-

felves |

44 THE CULTURE |J

felves ; befides, that the branches of large |
trees can rarely be brought fo low as to ^
be lay’d, but cuttings can at all times be a
had in plenty. „

I would recommend, before the cuttings a
are put in the ground, as above direded, ^
to dip the part that is cut in tar or melted c
pitch, or with a hot iron melt it into the ^
cut ; becaufe when moifture infinuates j
where a branch is cut, efpecially in the
mulberry tree, it generally makes the bark j
part from the wood and grow rotten ; be-
fides the pitching over of the cut v/ill as I .
imagine, hinder it from taking in a large j 1
quantity of crude and improper juices,
which will now be forced to ftrain through
the bark, and the better prepare it to put
on the nature of a root ; the fame method
of pitching fhould alfo be ufed to thofe
cuts which are made in pruning the
mulberry tree, that the rain may not in-
jure it.

A late French author has made fome
improvements in the raifing of all trees 1
from cuttings, by which he, with appear- I
ance of reafon, fhews that they will more I
certainly take root. He twills a piece of f
brafs wire, round the feveral parts of the

branch y

OF SILK. 45

branch from whence he would have the
roots produced. The theory upon which
he builds his improvement is, that as the
branches of trees are produced generally at
acute angles from the ftem, and tend up-
ward ; fo the roots are produced at acute
angles, but in an oppofite direction down-
ward. The ligature therefore of wire
checks the motion of the fap, and turns it
into that dire&ion which is proper to pro-
duce roots ; and he feems to be convinc'd
of this theory by experiment. Perhaps
fmall pieces of lead or even tieings of cord*
may be found more proper for ligatures
than brafs wire, as they will give way
to the growth of the branch, and not
cut through the bark as the other appears
apt to do.

The method here given for railing mul-
berry trees from cuttings, may perhaps be
advantageoufly apply'd to the producing
nurferies from many other trees, as well
as from the mulberry $ all that feems ne»
ceffary for producing trees from cuttings, is,
that the part which is under ground fhould,
as foon as may be, put on the nature of a
root, fo as to feed the branches $ where-
fore the lefs any particular tree is apt to

ftrike

46 THE CULTURE

ftrike root from cuttings, the more of the
branch muft lye under ground to make up
the defedl, and the more fhould fuch other
artifices be ufed, as will make it put on
a rooty nature ; for otherwife, though a
branch may bud and keep alive during the
beginning of fummer, yet when the leaves
are expanded, and perfpiring much/require
much fupply of fap, as they will do with
the advance of the feafon, the branch will
often, for want of due nourifhment, de*
cline apace and at laft die.

CHAP. VIII.

Of raifmg Mulberry-trees by layers , and other
methods .

HP HOUGH the two methods of raifr
ing mulberry trees, from feeds, and
cuttings, are the quickeft and moft advan-
tageous, yet, where large plantations are to
be fuddenly raifed, all other methods may
be at the fame time ufed $ layers may be
made from low trees, and from fuckers,
which are fometimes produced plentifully
from the roots ; but the method of mak-

ing

OF SILK. 47

log layers being generally known, need
not be particularly infilled on 3 the branches
now are bended and pinned down in the
earth, leaving only their extremities above
ground, and in this fituation they fubfilt
on the mother tree, until the parts which
are under the earth have formed roots fur-
ficient to maintain themfelves, and then
they are to be feparated from the tree and
planted out.

, Thefe layers are more certain of growth
than cuttings, and do not require fuch
watering while they depend on the old
tree ; but then this dependance makes them
lazy in putting put forth roots, with which
they often appear but moderately furnifh-
ed, when you come to feparate them from
the old tree : therefore it would not be
amifs to twift wire about the parts laid
under ground, as in the cafe of cuttings,
and alio to water them well.' The time
for making layers is the fame as that for
planting cuttings, and in two years they will
She fit to tranfplant. It might however
be. of ufe, if at the end of the fir ft year,
you began to wean them from the mother
tree, by nicking their branches half through,
and putting tar upon the cut ; this might

the

4B the culture

the better force them to put forth roots for
their fubfifrence.

Suckers often fpring from the ground
about the roots of trees, which have had
their heads torn of by winds, or many of
their principal branches lopped of ; at lead:
this may be promoted by digging and
opening the ground about the roots of
fuch -trees : but though fuch fuckers fpring
out of the ground, it is ufeful to their well
rooting, that they fhould be bended down,
and have earth laid on their lower parts,
in the fame manner as was done with
branches layed down.

Befides the foregoing methods, mulberry
trees may be propagated from parts of the
root taken up, the more length they have
will be the better ; thefe may be laid hori-
zontally about two or three inches under
ground, in a loofe fine mould, and placed
in lines to produce hedges as was done
with the cuttings ; they may be planted
early in fpring, and will foon ftioot forth
plants, which being in their original, fuf-
ficiently rooted, are fcarce at all liable to
failures. The ground however, Ihould
be watered in dry weather, both before
and after they have fprung, becaufe the

roots

OF SILK.

foots lie near the furface, being fo place!
in order that they might the eafier pufh
forth plants above ground.

Mulberry trees may be inoculated, the
white on the black fort, and the black on
the white $ the latter method is direfted in
order to have a ftraight free growing ftem
to your fruit trees ; but thefe being only
niceties of culture, and not ferving to pro-
pagate the tree, I forbear dwelling on them,
as alfo on what is delivered by fome au-
thors, concerning the grafting or inocu-
lating of the mulberry trees of a different
fpecies 5 the fuccefs of which I very much
doubt, having tried it on fome and failed
in the attempt.

CHAP. IX.

Of the planting out of the young Mulberry-trees .

MULBERRY trees mi fed from feed,
^ or from parts of the roots laved in
the ground, may be tranfplanted the fecond
autumn after; or you may take up only the
moft thriving plants out of the feed beds,
in order to thin them, and let the remain-

E der

50 THE CULTURE

der Hand another year. Thole which are
thus taken up are only to be tranfplan+ed
into nurferies, where they fhould rerr in
two years more before they are planted
out j and one foot is fufficient diftance for
the feedlings to be planted afunder at their
firft removal from the feed beds.

Tliofe which were rais’d from layers or
from cuttings may be planted out, in the
hedge form as they are to fcand, on the
fecond autum after they were rais’d ; but
as thefe are now but fmall and may there-
fore be planted, in the hedge pretty near
one another ; you may after two years more
take away every fecond or more trees, and
plant other hedges with them, and thofe
which remain will foon enough fpread and
meet one another. This fame method you
may take with thofe hedges which wrere
originally planted from cuttings, thinning
them, as occafion requires, and making
new hedges from thofe which you take
up.

In raifing up the mulberry plants take
care to break as few of the roots as pof-
lible, and let as much earth as you can
flick to them, and afterwards proceed to
plant them in furrows^ made after the fame.

manner

OF SILL 51

manner as was directed in planting cut-
tings 3 this is to be underftood of thofe
y \ich you plant out in the hedges where
they are to ftand 3 for young feedlings may
be fet down in holes when they are only
tranfplanted into nurferies.

Though fome authors mention that mul-
berry trees may be tranfplanted in fpring^
yet the fureft feafon for doing it is juft af-
ter the leaves have fallen in autumn 3 for
the dry weather, which often happens in
Ipring before the roots have fettled and be-
gun to draw nourifhment. will much en-
danger and often kill the plants 3 but when
planted in autumn this is avoided, and there
is then nothing to be fear’d, except a fmart
froft happens foon after planting 3 but this
may be hindred from doing any hurt by
laying fome frefh litter, ftraw, or fuch like
on the ground over the roots.

E 2 CHAP*

52

THE CULTURE

CHAP. X.

Of the form of a Mulberry plantation for
Silkworms.

IN the faregoing chapters I have adviled
the planting of mulberry trees in a flat
form or fort of efpalier hedge * for though
in France and Italy they life only large
ftandards, yet I conceive this to be a very
inconvenient form for gathering the leaves,
which cannot be come at without ladders
and clambering among the branches, in
which method much injury mud: be done %
by breaking them, and alfo frequent dan*
ger of falling incurred by the gatherers *
befides more time fpent in gathering, and
after all, the leaves will not be fo regular-
ly pulled*

Du Haldes , in his hiftory of China , fays
that they are very careful to prune and
keep their mulberry trees in fuch a form,
as (hall be mod: convenient for gathering
the leaves, without injuring the trees, and
in the mod: lpeedy manner ; for which
reafon they keep them cut to an hollow
form, with no branches in the middle > fo
that a perfon, by going round the tree,
i can

OF SILK. 53

can gather all the out-fide leaves, and af-
terward, {landing on the infide, thofe which
are within, only by turning round to the
different parts ; for the trees are kept low,
and there is no neceffity for climbing upon
the different branches ; fo that in this me-
thod each tree is a fort of round hedge.

But flat long hedges planted at proper
di fiances, one behind the other, are both
eafier made and kept to their form, and
can have their leaves more regularly and
fpeedily pulled ; for, beginning at one end
of an hedge, you may pull, day after day,
all the leaves which are one fide of it, and
then, going to the other fide of it, you in
the fame manner pull its leaves, after which
you go to a frefh hedge ; but you never
return to pull any fecond growth of leaves,
which may fpring from an hedge already
pulfd, for the leaves would injure the
worms, being too young for their age : but
in fix weeks you might perhaps pull them
for a fecond brood.

If your hedges run in length from north
to fouth, which will be their bell fit nation,
as both fides will then equally enjoy the
fun ; in this cafe it is bell to pull the leaves
of the eafl fide of each hedge, one hedge
E 3 after

54 THE CULTURE

after the other ; becaufe, as you are to
pull them in the morning, thefe will have
enjoy’d the morning fun in the beginning
of the feeding fealon ; and after having
pulled all the leaves on the eaft fide, you
may then begin with the weft fide ; for the
feafon having now advanced, there will be
fufficient heat to dry the dews on the weft
fide, though the fun has not yet fhone on
it in the morning, when you begin to pull
the leaves : befides, the fun will have fome
influence in fhining through the hedge,
the leaves being already thinned on the eaft
fide, not but that you may, if there is a
necefiity, order your time of pulling the
leaves after the fun has fhone a while on
the weftern fide.

Thefe hedges may produce branches and
leaves almoft to the ground; by which
means they will be eafier pulled than thofe
of ftandard trees; and if rain fhould have
much wet the leaves, and you are in im-
mediate want of food for the w7orms, you
can with a forked pole, fixed againft the
larger branches, fhake and diflodge great
part of the wet : befides, if rain falls with
a little wind either from the eaft or wefter-
ly points, then one fide of the hedge will

not

not be fo foon wet, and you may then take
the advantage of pulling the leaves on the
leeward fide ; when you are forc'd to this,
for the better regularity keep to one hedge,
and mark the place which you pull’d, by
thrufting a flick into the hedge, that you
may not difieaf the fame part a fecorid
time.

Befides what has been mentioned, the
eafe with which leaves can be gathered
from hedges is of great importance, as the
gathering of them makes one of the prin-
cipal labours in feeding filkworms ; and 1
dare affirm it will be found by experience,
that one perfon fhall be able to pull
twice the quantity of leaves from hedges
which he could do, in the fame time, from
ftandard trees 5 for there he can readily
fee what lies in a flat form before him ; he
will not be delayed in clambering from
branch to branch, as he muft in pulling
the leaves of large ftandards $*nor will he
injure the trees by breaking the fhoots, as
frequently happens when perfons are ob-
liged to climb for the leaves. And if the
hedges are clipped for the worms, which
is practicable, especially in the white mul-
berry whofe (hoots are flender, it will
E 4 make

56 THE CULTURE

make ftill greater difj atch. This however,
need not be done till the fhoots have got
feme length of growth, for when the
worms are very young, it is eafy to make

provifion for them.

It is of confequence alfo to have the plan*
tation at no great diftance from the place
where the filkworms are kept, that you
may not fpend much time in bringing the
leaves home, and alfo that you may the
readier be fupplied upon fudden occafions ;
or when the weather threatens rain,
and warns you to make a provifion of
leaves before they have received wet, be-
caufe it would be a great labour to dry
them for large quantities of worms, and
yet this mu ft be done if they have receiv’d
any moifture.

Thefe are fome of the principal advan-
tages which would be obtain’d by mulberry*-
trees being planted in the form of hedges ;
the fame wx>uld be obtain’d, if the fingle
trees were train’d in a flat form, though
they did not compofe one continued hedge,
in which cafe the branches might be al-
lowed to extend laterally as far as they
could, and when they become too long to
fupjort themfeives, they might be fupport*
cd here and there by branches of alh or

other

O F S I L K. 57

other timber fixed in the ground with the
fhickeft end downward, the {mailer {hoots
of which branches being cut fhort, would
make fo many hooks for the mulberry
branches to reft upon ; and indeed where
mulberry hedges grew fo thick as to hinder
the lateral extenfion of their branches, it
would be proper, from time to time, to
take away every fecond tree, and tranfplant
them fo as to form a new hedge, ftill
leaving fo much room between the trees,
both in the new and old hedge, that they
ftiould not quite join in two or three years,
by which method you would not till then
be obliged to thin them again.

It would be of ufe to have your mul-
berry plantation fheltered by fome taller
trees, on that fide from which (harp blafk
ing winds do proceed in the fpring of the
year ; a row or two of trees planted in this
manner would often prefer ve your muU
berry-trees from being nipped in the bud,
and would always contribute toward their
budding more kindly, and fomewhat ear-
lier ; thefe trees would alfo make the better
fhelter if they were train'd in an hedge
form ; and where any grove happens to
be already planted, the fheltered fide of it

may

5 8 THE CULTURE
may be made ufe of for a mulberry plan-
tation, if it is in other refpefts convenient,
for fuch fhelters fhould not be too near
the mulberry-trees. Fir or other large
ever-greens would make the bed: fhelter
againft any (harp winds, which might
hlaft the buds of the mulberry in winter
and fpring.

C H A P. XI.

Oj the culture , pruning , and management oj
Mulberry trees both jor Silkworms and
Fruit .

F^EW perfons befrow much trouble
on thofe mulberry-trees which are
defigned for filkworms ; and yet it is cer-
tain, that the leaves will be more wholfome
and the trees thrive the better by culture.
In thofe countries of Europe which produce
filk, the leaf-gatherers do, for the moft
part, clamber on the trees, and, thro*
hafte in pulling, break the branches, and
otherways very much injure the trees 5 for
this reafon, and other advantages men-
tioned in their proper places, I have all

along

OF SILK, 59

along recommended hedges, or trees train’d
to a flat form. The chief culture which
thefe will want is, now and then to dig
and ftir the ground all along over their
roots, and if the foil is poor, to help it
with fome very old dung mix’d with fand,
lime, marl, good mould, or other fudi
manure as lies moft convenient, and is
beft fui ted to temper and improve what-
ever natural defeft there is in the foil; this
at leaft will be very ufeful for inch a part
of your hedge as you defire fliould bud
foon in fpring for the new- hatch’d worms.

Thefe hedges fliould be pruned by clip-
ping of the fhoots from which you have
dripped the leaves as foon as you conve-
niently can, for being done in dimmer,
the cut will better heal, new branches
will be form’d for the enfuing year, and
the hedge will be kept flat and regular ;
underftand this when you do not clip but
ftrip the leaves to feed your filkworms,
for if you clip them they will want no
other pruning.

But if your trees are common large
ftandards, they may want pruning either
when the branches are grown fo old as not
1’Q bear good leaves, or when they have

grown

6o THE CULTURE

grown fo very long as to become top-
heavy, and not well furnifhed with leaves
throughout their whole length, or when
you defire that fome of them fhould pro-
duce more delicate and tender leaves.

On thefe occafions, fome perfons in the
filk-countries manage their mulberry-trees
as fallies are fometimes ufed, by cutting off
the whole head, that new fhoots may fpring
out ; but this is a very bad method, for it
hurts and damages the tree beyond mea-
fure, fo many and large wounds fcarce ever
healing without letting the moifture in,
and fo rotting the trunk, that the tree
never after becomes found, and befide fome
years are loft before it can again com-
pleatly furnifh itfelf with branches ; where-
as, if you prune the tree in fuch a manner
as to leave a good length of all the larger
branches, thefe willfoon furnifh themfelves
with young wood, and the tree will not be
in fuch danger of being rotted by the
moifture, or killed by too large amputa-
tion.

The branches fhould be cut Hoping,
that the rain may not fettle on the cut.
By this kind of pruning, you will ftill
leave fomewhat of the form of a tree, only

with

OF SILK. 6i

with its branches confiderably (hortened,
and a few feafons will make it as handfome
as it was at firft, and will not leave it a
large unhealthy trunk, with a thick bufhy
head, as the other method would do ; and
this pruning may be performed, as I hint-
ed before, in any of the fummer months,
immediately after you have ufed the leaves
for the filkworms, by which means you
will have reap’d the advantage of your
trees before you leflen their branches, and
in fummer pruning, the bark fooner covers
the cut.

It may be convenient in the foregoing
method of heading trees, to leave a few of
the fmaller branches and twigs upon the
larger arms, and the leaves of thefe fmaller
branches fhould have been fparcd and not
pull’d of, that they may ferve to draw
nourifhment, and keep the tree alive until
it has furnilh’d itfelf with young wood ;
the cut alfo made in pruning would be the
better, if made clofe to fome fmaller
branch, that the bark might the fooner
cover it, and a little fmearing with tar
would be of advantage.

Trees which are thus largely dilbranched,
fhould not have their leaves pull'd for the

filkworms.

6 2 .th£ culture

filkworms till the fecond time of their bud-
ding after it, both becaufe the leaves would
be too tender and unwholfome for the
worms* and alfo the life of the tree en-
dangered by it.

The black mulberry-trees, which are
kept for the fake of their fruit, will re-
quire the foregoing culture, when they
become fo fuperannuated that the berries
grow fmall, and ripen ill, as is the cafe of
many trees in cool climates, where people
complain of the mulberries not coming to
perfection, yet ufe no culture to perfect
them ; and befides this, even young trees
fhouid have the ground about their roots
dug, opened, and enriched with manure,
in order to make them bear well, and to
make young plants bear the fooner, they
fhouid have been grafted or inoculated
from a good kind.

The ripe black mulberries would, I be-
lieve, make a moft rich and delicate wine,
could they be gathered in fufficient quanti-
ties at once, but they feldom ripen toge-
ther, therefore it would be nece.uary to
have a great many trees, in order to have
quantities worth preffing, for when full
ripe, they will fcarce keep above one day

without

OF SILK. 63

without beginning to grow mouldy ; per-
haps it may be found that they will ripen
more equally in efpalier hedges, and alfo
that the fruit can be gathered with lefs
trouble than on ftandards. In London ,
where they have mulberries in great per-
fedtion, they ufe ladders, pretty wide at
bottom, but tapering fo as that the two
legs become join’d in one for about a yard
in length at the top, this makes it eafy to
be fix’d between the fcirks of the branches
againft any part of the tree, without dan-
ger of overturning ; they gather the fruit
in long chip baikets, tapering to the bot-
tom, which keeps off the weight of the
upper fruit from preffing that which is
below, the mulberry being of all fruits the
eafieft to be bruifed ; the balket is hung
by a hook’d flick acrofs one of the branch-
es of the tree near the gatherer, which
allows him to have both hands at liberty,
and he moves it as he fees convenient from
one branch to another.

This method doth very well for gather-
ing frnall quantities of mulberries, but
would be too tedious for making wine,
fince mulberries don’t grow in clutters,
but Angle, and muft be gathered one by

one;

64 THE CULTURE

one; therefore it fhould be try’d whether*
they cannot be fhaken on a coarfe woollen
cloath, not by climbing on the tree, but
by placing a forked pole againll the branch *
and fhaking it gently, fo that only thofe
which are ripe may fall ; and in this way
perhaps fufficient quantities might be col-
lected from a good number of trees* and
prefs’d every day as they were gathered,
fo as to make good wine.

Mulberries afford a great quantity of
very rich juice, it flains the hands much,
and will not come off with foap and water,
but any acid, fuch as vinegar, lemon, or
forrel immediately difcharges it ; the pulp
which remains after prefling may be pre-
ferved to raife feedlings.

I muff not omit mentioning, that the
mulberry-tree, by being planted againft a
wall, may lx made to ripen its fruit in
very cold climates, and that one or two
trees are very fufficient to furnifh table
fruit, which, as it doth not ripen all at
once, will often continue to afford a frefh
fupply every day, during the fpace of fix
weeks.

Many of the obfervations made here
concerning the mulberry, may be apply’d

to

OF SILK. 65

to the railing and culture of feveral other
trees; and though in. many places there
are things mentioned only as probable
conjectures, it is hoped they will afford
fotite foundation for iifeful trials, which
however fhould always proceed with cau-
tion, and not be made in fuch a large
manner, as to become extenfively danger-
ous ; it is thus that experiments become
ufeful. But if they are made all at once,
and in a very extenfive manner, then,
though they fhould be founded in reafon,
they will moft commonly prove abortive,
becaufe fome minute circumftance will be
omitted, while the attention was engaged
wdiolly on what was indeed more material,
but not entirely fufficient for the fuccefs of
the trial ; and it is chiefly for want of a
prudential condutt, that experimentors
have often fuffered, both in their fortunes
and in the opinion of the world.

THE

Culture of S I L K.

PART II.

C H A P. I.

A general brief view of the Silkworm s life,
with the choice of place proper for rear -
ing them in .

THE filkworm proceeds from an egg
laid in fummer ; it is yellow when
firft laid, but in three or four days turns
of a blueifh colour ; its fize is about that
of a grain of muftard * it is preferved till
the following fpring, and is then hatch’d
either by the natural warmth of the wea-
ther, or by artificial heat.

The worm that proceeds from this egg
is about a quarter of an inch long, as
thick as a fmall pin, and of a black colour*
three or four days warmth generally hatches
ic. This worm, from fo fmall a fize,

doth.

Of silk. 6f

doth* in the fpace of about fix weeks* grow
to be above two inches and an half long*
and an inch and half round, after which
it defifts from feeding, and begins to form
its filk-balh

It begins the outfide of its work firfh
and keeping ftill in the infide, forms an
hollow ball of filk round itfelf* which it
generally finifhes in three or four days
from the time of its beginning to fpin.

It lies inclofed in this ball a certain fpacd
of time, in hot climates fifteen days, in
cold ones a month, and fo proportionably*
at the end of which it is transform’d into
a very large moth, and works it way out
by an hole which it makes through the balk

The male and female moths then cou-
ple, and when they are feparated, the fe-
male lays her eggs to the number of three
or four hundred* and in a few days after-
ward both males and females die.

Their eggs are kept fafe till the enfaing
fpring, at which feafon they are again,
hatch’d into worms. This is the general
tketch of a filkworm’s life when it is pre-
ferved to breed * for millions of fiik-halls are
w7ound off to manufacture before the moths
fpoil them by boreing their way out,

F a White

68

THE CULTURE

While the filkworms are very young,
they take up but very little room, and
during the firft fortnight at leaft, may be
kept in (hallow broad drawers, boxes, and
fuch like, and that in great numbers ; for
a foot fquare may contain above ten or
twelve thoufand of thofe newly hatch’d,
but as they grow larger, fo muft alfo the
fpace that contains them. Thofe there-
fore who have large nurferies of filkworms,
fhould provide a place large enough to
hold them when at their greateft (ize ; a
foot fquare will not contain above an hun-
dred worms conveniently, when they are
full grown.

As to the temperature of the place in
which they are kept, cellars and all moift
places are to be avoided, nothing being fo
great a detriment to their thriving and
health as moifture ; high places, fuch as
thofe next the tiles of an houfe, are alfo to
be avoided, for here they would be too
hot in warm weather, and too much
chilled in cold weather ; an equal degree
of heat is what beft agrees with them, and
that heat always from a dry and not a
rnoift air. The temper of the climate is
therefore to be regarded, fo as in hot cli-
mates

OF SILK. 6 9

mates to avoid violent heats, and in
temperate ones great colds, and in both
moifture.

The room in which they are kept ought
to have windows oppofite one another,
that is to lay on the Baft and Weft, or on
the North and South, lb as that, by open-
ing the oppofite windows during very hot
weather, the air may have a free current
through, in order to refrefh and clear the
place of bad air or ftnells. Thefe windows,
provided they Hint clofe, may be made
either of thin canvafs, which is belt in
warm, climates, or of glafs, oiled paper,
transparent membranes, or any other ma-
terial which will prevent the cold and ad-
mit light ; and it will be necefiary to have
nets, or fomethingof that nature, to pre-
vent the entrance of birds when the win-
dows are left open, which might make
great havock among the worms, uniefs
you only open them while you are prefent.
No bad ftnells, fuch as thofe of ftnoak,
fewers, or fuch like, fhould approach their
lodgment ; and all crevifes which might
admit or harbour rats, mice, fnakes,
fpiders, crickets, or other vermin fhould
be clofe flopped, for fpiders and other ver-
F 3 min

7o THE CULTURE

min will prey on them while very young,
and fnakes or lizards at any age.

Under the foregoing conditions, it is no
matter what fort of building they are kept
in, a mud-wall tenement is as good as any,
nay on account of its drynefs perhaps pre-
ferable to any other ; the barns and other
out-houfes of farmers may be ufed for this
purpofe; or, in hot countries, occafional
fheds may be made, which, in fuch cli-
mates as fome of our colonies enjoy, will
lufficiently anfwer the end ; for the reader
mufl here take notice, that fevera! circum-
ftances, which will be mentioned in the
courfe of this inftruftion, are rather con-,
veniences for thofe that would do things in
the neateft manner, than abfolutely necef-
fary, and that many of the precautions
againfi: cold and wet will be ufelefs in fome
climates. Thofe circumftances which are
abfolutely necelfary to be obferved, the
practitioner will, from his own experience,
foon diftinguiih from thofe which are not
fo material, or which the nature and con-
veniences of the country determine him to
make choice of ; and the courfe of his
practice will alfo make him fupply what
may haply be forgotten among a number
of minute and var ious circumftances.

CHAP.

OF SILK.

7*

CHAP. II.

Of choojlng good eggs , and the time of th$
year proper to hatch them .

THE way to be certain of having good
eggs of your own breed will be fhewn
further on in Part III. but if you are only
beginning to feed filkworms, and are
obliged to buy your eggs, you muft, in a
great meafure, depend on the hcnefty of
the feller, efpecially if you fend for them
to a diftant country ; the principal rule
to be depended on in this cafe is, for the
buyer to choofe the largeft and moft plump
eggs, and of a lively blueifii or grey co-
lour, for if they are fmall they are of a
weak and puny breed ; thofe that are white
or yellow have been laid by the female
without coupling with the male, at leaft
are not impregnated, and therefore good
for nothing; and thofe that are browna
fhrunk, and very fiat are decay’d. If you
are near the place where the eggs were
bred, you can beft difcover their fize and
goodnefs, before they are taken from the
F 4 materials

•JZ THE CULTURE

materials on which they were laid by the
moth.

Some give as one mark of good eggs,
that they jfhould make a noife in cracking
them with your nail, and that the moi-
fture that comes from them fliould not
flow thin, but thefe are no certain figns.
Some are laid to kill good eggs by the
heat of the fire, in order to hinder the pro-
pagating them in other countries 3 and at
heft, it is to be feared that many who
make fale of them are not very careful of
the breed, but take them indiferiminately
from weak as -well as ftrong worms. Be-
flde the choice of good eggs, fome regard
is to be had to the climate in which they
are to be rear’d, fo as to buy your eggs
from a country which enjoys nearly the
fame degree of heat 5 or if any difference
is to be made, I would rather buy them
from a country a fmall degree colder than
the one to which they are brought.

It is alfo to be obferved, that you mufl
not pujL more eggs to hatch than you can
procure mulberry leaves to nourifh them
with 5 it is hard to give a rule for this -3
three or four large trees, or about a dozen
or fifteen fmall ones may feed about an

ouncp

OF SILK. 73

ounce of eggs, if they are the white mul-
berry, but if you ufe the black, its leaf
being much more grofs and broad, you
may reckon one of the black equal to two
or three of the white fort. The beft pre-
caution is rather to have too many trees,
than too great a number of worms.

Being furnifhed with eggs, the next
thing to be regarded is the time of hatch-
ing them 5 and the beft and fureft rule for
this is, to do it when you fhall obferve the
mulberry buds begin to open and fpread
into fmail leaves; and it will not be fuffi-
cient to obferve this in one or two trees,
which may chance to ftand in a warm and
ftieltered fituation, but it muft appear
through the bulk of all your trees, other-
wife, though you may have a great num-
ber of trees, you may be diftreffed for
want of food ; for though fome have
taught to fupply this defeft with lettuce,
and other different kind of leaves, as elm,
mallow, bramble, rofe and nettle leaves,
yet it is not worth while to am ufe ones
felf with rearing worms which have taken
their firft nourifhment from any of thefe,
as they will neither be ftrong nor make
good fi!k? The bramble or blackberry

74 THE CULTURE

has been prefcribed, becaufe its fruit re-
fembled the mulberry, but the flavour of
the leaf has not the leaft affinity, being
auftere and ftyptick, whereas the mulberry
has a mild fweet tafte, with a peculiar
flavour, and the others have been pre-
fcribed perhaps, becaufe the worms, to
avoid being famifh’d, would eat them.
But as each particular fpecies of caterpillar
has its peculiar plant allotted for food,
fo the filkworm has the mulberry, which
alone it willingly eats, of all plants or
leaves yet tryed ; neither do other cater-
pillars willingly eat the mulberry that I
have heard of ; I tryed the fpeckled hairy
worms that feed on the nettle and feveral
others, but they would not touch it. I
once indeed met with a green worm, a-
bout an inch long, and as thick as an
oaten ftraw upon the mulberry-tree , I fed
it in a box with the leaves of the mulberry j
it was very nimble and wary , it changed
into a fmall brown-' winged moth ; I believe,
as it was Angle, it was not a native of that
tree, but came there by accident.

Thefe things being conffdered, I think
the ill confequences of giving the worms
any thing for food but the mulberry-leaf

will

OF SILK. 75

will appear, and I fhould rather choofe to
give up thofe worms, that were hatch’d
before there were leaves, for loft, and be-
gin a new hatching of eggs, than attempt
to feed them with any other thing than the
mulberry, unlefs it were for two or three
days, and even this, only when I could
procure no more eggs that feafon.

But even the neceffity of doing this may
be prevented ; for if you fear that your
eggs fhould hatch before the mulberry-leaf
comes out, remove them into a cooler place,
and this will backen them for fome time*
Or if it is found neceffary to keep them
very cool in any of our colonies, in order
to prevent their hatching too foon ; they
may be put into a bottle with a pipe fix’d
in its neck, and then the bottle may be
kept under water or in a well, the mouth
of the pipe muft be above the water, to
admit frefh air, and it fhould be coated
well with wax, at the place where it is fix^-
ed in the bottle, to prevent the entrance of
the water. I have tried this with a fmall
bottle of eggs kept in a veflel of water,
and it has kept them from hatching for
three weeks, after others had hatch’d of
themfelves ; yet perhaps very cold fpring

wells

76 THE CULTURE

wells might deftroy the vivifying principle
of the eggs, efpecially if the weather was
already grown very warm, and they had a
tendency toward hatching, the change then
from heat to cold might be too great : the
experiment may at firf: be made upon a
fmall quantity of eggs. The bottle need
not be above half fill'd with eggs, that a
larger furface of air may be in contact
with them 3 and it fhould be loaded with
fome weight, and the pipe buoyed with
cork in fome part, anfwering to the depth
you would have it fink in the water.

If your eggs had began to hatch before
you took this precaution, you mull then
proceed direct ly to hatch them, by putting
them in fhailow boxes, as mentioned in
the next chapter but one ; for you muft
not put them in bags became it would now
hinder their coming out by 'their lying in
an heap. And now as they hatch you may
feed them even with the fmall buds of the
mulberry though not yet opened ; this in-
deed makes feme wafteof their future fuf-
tenance, but if you have plenty of trees it
is not much matter, as the worms now

eat but a fmall quantity.

1 «/

Even

OF SILK. 77-

Even the green bark fcraped from the
branches will feed them, but this injures
the trees, if it is fcraped with an iron knife
I fufpeft that it might give an afrringent
quality to the bark which would hurt the
worms, one of glafs or a fliarp flint would
do beft. It would be proper, if the cli-
mate is liable to thole inconveniencies which
afifes from a late fpring, blafts or fliarp
winds, to have a good many trees in a funny
place, but flickered from the fevere winds,
which may give you food for your worms
as early as is neceffary, and by the time
that thefe leaves are ufed the other trees
will be ready ; but if the lateft trees are
ready time enough, it would then be belt
to preferve thefe early trees to the laft,
when the worms are full grown.

Befides obferving the budding of the
mulberry-tree, you fhould choofe a day
clear, dry, and warm, when you put your
eggs to hatch : feme alfo advife that you
fhould, if in other refpecrs convenient,
choofe the new moon, in order that the
worms may begin to fpin on the full moon
of the following month, which they think
'makes them fpin the better ; but as in very
warm climates time is chiefly to be gain’d,
8 that

73 THE CULTURE

that the worms may be rear'd before th&
weather grows violently hot, which is very
apt to injure them ; therefore the earlier
you begin will be the better, without re-
garding the influence of the moon ; befides,
as in fome climates you may rear two
broods in one fummerj this is another rea-
fon that you fhould begin as early as you
can, that your fecond brood may have
finifh'd their bufinefs before the weather*
begins to grow cold.

Having fixed upon your time of hatching*
obferve that all thofe directions which fol-
low, concerning the manner of doing it
fhould be purfued in a chamber well clofed*
and fecured from cold and wind ; and ob-
ferve that the bags and boxes which fhall
be hereafter mentioned for putting the eggs
to hatch in, fhould be made as warm as
your fkin before you do this ; and when
you ufe the boxes they may be lined with
a piece of filk or cotton fluff.

If the weather fhould happen to grow
cold or moifi, after you have begun to
hatch your eggs, you muft be more care-
ful to guard againft the injuries of it 5
you muft continue the fame degree of
warmth as near as you can, and not remit
* of

OF SI LI. 79

of it, unlefs it be a very little after your
eggs have begun to hatch, and this only
to avoid erring on the extreme of too much
heat, which would at that time injure the
worms which were hatched or near hatch**
ing.

CHAP, III

*the method of hatching the Silkworm's eggs ;

THE nature of the filkworm’s eggs
is filch, that like thofe of other in-
fers, they will as the weather advances in
warmth hatch of themfelves ; but as, in this
manner, there would be a great diftance of
time between thofe that hatched firft, and
thofe that hatched laft, infomuch that, as fome
would every minute be hatching, it would
be impoffible to attend or colleft them to-
gether, or afterwards to feed them, on ac-
count of their being fick at different times ;
therefore it is neceffary to make ufe of ar-
tificial warmth in order that numbers may
be hatch'd at one time, and that your
whole quantity of eggs may come out at
lead: in two or three days, fo that you may

go THE CULTURE

be able to feparate each days hatching,
or rather two or three times a day, and
feed them by themfelves. And this is a
thing fo abfolutely neceffary, that without
it there would be no poffihility of feeding
any quantity of filkworms to advantage,
as I fli all fhew hereafter.

Various methods of making the eggs
hatch may be ufed according to the con-
veniences of people ; but whatever method
is ufed fhould aim principally at this end,
viz. of making them hatch as nearly as
may be together. And the thing that will
moll effectually do this is an equal degree
of warmth, as near as can be attained,
and conftantly apply’d till they are hatched.

This degree of heat, which is called the
heat of incubation, is that which the Ikin
' of a healthy perfon can communicate, or
any other heat equal in degree to it. And
the method for hatching them by this heat
is as follows.

Divide your quantity of eggs into par-
cels of one or two ounces each, and put
each quantity into a bag of cotton, filk
or fruff, tying it fo as it may not fpill :
thefe bags are to be kept in the breafts,
next the Ikin, by a perfon who do not ufe

violent

OF SILK. 8 1

violent motion, or who might otherwife
endanger them by crufhing or fqueefing
them too hard, this they do for the fpace
of two or three days, or until they fufpedl
that the eggs are within a little of hatch-
ing ; which, if the eggs were not too for-
ward before, will be in the fpace of three
days and nights ; at night the bags are
taken into bed with them, but care muft
be taken not to crulh them, and therefore
it would be well, having fird warmed the
bolder thoroughly as warm as the Ikin,
and taken care that the outfide be not hot-
ter than that, to lay the bags under it,
placing over them a fmall box or drawer,
fufficient to hinder them from being crufh-
ed, with its bottom upper mod.

When the eggs are ready to hatch, which
will be about the end of the third day,
it is inconvenient any longer to keep them
in the bags, becaufe the worms which
hatch’d would be fqueezed and hurt as they
came out ; and therefore each parcel mud
now be gently poured out into a (hallow
box, of fuch a breadth as that the eggs
fhall not lie on the bottom above a quarter
of an inch thick, fo that the worms, as
they hatch, may be able to make their way

G through

32 THE CULTURE

through. The box ought to be of clean
firr, fuch as wafer boxes or the like.

The eggs of different bags ought not to
be mixed, becaufe they may have received
different degrees of heat and fo would
hatch unequally. The beft time of putting
the eggs into thefe boxes is juft before you
go to bed, that you may put them under
your bolfter warmed as was before dire£ted ;
covering the box clofe with its lid, which
lid ought not to come fo clofe to the eggs,
but that there fhall be fufficient room to
lay the fliced leaves of the mulberry over
the worms when they begin to hatch.

The next morning early, after having
put your eggs into this box, open it, and,
if the worms have not yet begun to come
out, return the box under the bed-cloaths,
where they may remain about two hours
after you have left the bed, for about fo
long a fufficient heat will remain ; after
which the boxes muft be placed between
two pillows heated very moderately, for a
ffnall over-degree of heat would injure the
worms when near hatching, and you muft
have other pillows ready warmed, as thefe
cool, and fo continue them, all day be-
4 tween

OF SILK. 83

tween pillows, and at night in your bed,
till they begin to hatch.

In warming the pillows you may place
them as near the fire, and heat them as
quick as you pleafe, and let them be
heated thoroughly ; but take care, before
you place your boxes between them, that
they may cool fo as to be no hotter than
your hand when thoroughly heated in your
bofom, and to preferve this heat, the longer
in the pillows, you may wrap round them
a quilt or coverlet, the thicker it is, the
better, and this may be heated as hot as
you pleafe, it cannot injure the worms
through the pillows.

Where large quantities of eggs are to be
hatched, feveral pillows may lie upon one
another, and be faftened by a couple of
firings, tying them acrofs, and may then
be placed at fuch a difiance from the fire
as that the heat exceed not that of the hu-
man fkin 5 this difiance you may find by
warming your hand in your bofom, and
approaching it towards the fire till you
juft begin to feel the warmth, here fix the
ftack of pillows with the boxes, and place
a quilt or fuch like behind them, to hinder
the back from cooling too faft, and thus
G 2 turning;

w

84 THE CULTURE

turning the whole ftack now and then, to
give all parts an equal degree of heat, you
will fave the trouble of often changing and
warming the pillows. Or inftead of plac-
ing them before the fire, you may, when
the fun fhines clear, place the ftack of pil-
lows in the window where the wind doth
not enter, and hanging a coverlet behind
them, turn them as before, which, while
the funfhine continues, will fufficiently pre-
ferve their warmth ; the boxes fhould fink
into the pillows, fo as to have all fides com-
pleatly covered ; and when you fufpedt the
eggs to be near hatching, you may, every
three or four hours, flip different boxes
out to try them, taking care, as often as
you do it, to expofe the eggs as ftiort a
time as poffible to the cool air.

The method of hatching the eggs in
bags by the heat of the Ikin might perhaps
be improved, by putting the bag into a box
fitted to its fhape, but rather a little fmal-
ler, that fo it may keep fteady ; which it will
the better do if the bag is made fo deep that
its mouth may be turned outward over the
rim of the box ; this will alfo keep the lid
of the box firm, and hinder the new hatched
worms from creeping between the bag

and

OF SILK. 85

and the box which contains it. But as
air is necelfary for the hatching of eggs,
the box fhould be all over pierced full of
fmall holes, and the bag fhould be made
of thin filk or fluff.

The eggs thus inclos’d may be kept in
the bolom, or by men in pockets made on
the infide of their waflecoats, or in any
other way near the warmth of the fkin,
without fuch danger of crufhing as when
kept in bags alone 5 befides, as the eggs
fhould not quite fill the box, they may, by
turning it foftly round, be fhifted and
mix’d fo as to enjoy an equal degree of
heat ; and when they are put under your
bolfler at night, there will be no fear of
injuring them: but, when the eggs are
near hatching, they mufl be pour’d into
the broad fhallow boxes ; and treated, in all
refpecls, as thofe poured out of the bags
into fuch boxes.

Some, without putting them at all into
bags, hatch them from the beginning be-
tween pillows in fhallow boxes, keeping
them by day between the warmed pillows,
and at night in bed, or under the bolfler
in the manner which has been already re-
lated. The eggs while in the boxes, may
G 3 b©

86 THE CULTURE

be fometimes ftirred and mix’d, with a fmall
fpoon made of wood, that they may equal-
ly fhare the heat which is ufed in hatch-
ing them : the boxes may be near full of
eggs till they begin to hatch, after which
the eggs muft be fpread thin in other boxes.
Many authors diredt the fteeping of the
eggs, in wine made as warm as the fkin,
for half a quarter of an hour, and then
drying them in a moderate warmth, by
gently rubbing them in a dry napkin, juft
before they are put to hatch. This makes
them come out more equally together, for
they, at this time, feparate thofe eggs which,
after having been half a quarter of an hour
ftirred in the wine, fwim at top, and throw
them away, or at leaft don’t mix them
with thofe which fink 5 becaufe they are of
a weaker conftitution, and would not be
likely to hatch fo foon. This method alfo
feparates thofe which are decayed and rot-
ten, which may be of good ufe if, as is fakl
of pullets eggs, the rotten ones will affedt
the reft.

I have been the more particular on this
circumftance of hatching the eggs, as it is
one of the moft neceflary points in breeding
filkworms, yet notwithstanding the many

and

OF SILK. 87

and minute things which are fet down, the
practice will be found fufficiently eafy ; I
fhall only add that in fome of our hot co-
lonies, heating the pillows, and afterwards
managing them by the meer warmth of
the fun, in the day time, and at night in
bed, by the method before prefcribed, may
be found fufficient to hatch the eggs effec-
tually ; but to expofe them naked to the
hot fun, I take to be a very bad method
in any climate, the heat being too great,
and neither equally imparted nor equally
continued, I fhall now proceed to the ma-
nagement of the worms when they begin
to hatch.

CHAP. IV.

fhe method of treating the Silkworms during
the time of hatching .

WHEN the worms begin to hatch,
you fhould have in readinefs two
pieces of paper, fitted to the infide of each
hatching-box, pricked full of holes as big
as a large pin would make. Lay thefe
two papers over one another in each box,
G 4 and

88 THE CULTURE
and ftrow over them fome mulberry-leaves,
fliced into direds, fo as to cover the whole
furface ; then diut the box and lay it in your
bed if warm, or between the warmed pil-
lows, the heat of which fhould now be
rather more moderate than before, for fear
of injuring the worms ; the box alfo would
be the better for having a few holes in its
lid to admit frefli air.

The worms, as they hatch, will come
thro* the holes of the paper and fix upon
the leaves, and when you perceive them
almoft quite black with worms take off the
upper paper, and gently Hide the leaves,
with the worms which adhere to them,
upon the place where you intend to
keep them. Or you may with a large
pin take up the fibres in parcels, and fo
fpread them ; but don’t fpread them thin-
ner than juft that they may not lie in
heaps upon one another. I have pradtifed
an eafier method than either of the fore-
going, for drifting the worms of the pricked
paper, which is to hold it inclined in one
hand, and, bringing the furface of another
peice of paper clofe to the worms and fibres,
gently to turn them over, and fo the pricked
paper being uppermoft may be taken away,

and

OF SILK. 89

and placed in the hatching box, as before,
for frefh worms to come on it.

The reafon for ufing two prick'd papers
to each box, is to avoid taking up the eggs
when you remove the paper ; for many of
them are apt to flick to the paper which is
next them, by a fine cobweb which the
worm begins to fpin theinftant it is hatch-
ed. Two pieces of gauze or Cyprus, wove
wide enough to let the worms pafs, would
fave the trouble of pricking the papers, and
do better, efp6cially, if by means of two
or three fiireds of fine hay, their furfaces
did not lie exaftly clofe to one another;
this alfo fhould be taken care of when you
ufe prick'd paper, otherwife the holes of
the upper paper, by lying clofe to the un-
der one, might not afford a paffage to the
worms to come through. In this manner
you muft continue to manage your worms
until they are all hatched, you fhould vifit
your boxes at leaft twice a day, in the
morning early and at funfet, if your worms
hatch faft you may do it thrice ; and be
fare not to mix thofe that hatch at different
times together ; this would create you an
infinite trouble in your future manage-
ment of feeding and cleaning them, on

6 account

9o THE CULTURE

account of their moulting -ficknefs coming
on at different times. If you keep the
hatchings of every fix hours diftindt, pro-
vided they come out faft enough to cover
the leaves in that time, you will have the
lefs trouble afterwards ; but thofe of twelve
hours diftance muft never be mixed toge-
ther; wherefore number the drawers or
papers into which you put them, accord-
ing to their different times of hatching,
that you may not afterwards miftake.

The greateft number of worms are ge-
nerally found hatched early in the morning,
and may then lie too thick on the leaves,
fo as to croud one upon the other ; in this
cafe, when you diftribute them into the
drawers, place the heaps that you take out
of each hatching box at fome little diftance
from one another, and lay fome frefli
mulberry leaves between them, that the
worms may fpread themfelves, and not be
crouded. The rule for which is, that they
fhould nearly cover ail the leaves, fo as to
make them appear almoft quite black, but
not lie upon one another ; if they lie thin-
ner than this, they will not have eaten
their leaves before you give them the fub-
fequent feeding, and fo will remain among

the

OF SILK. 91

the old fhreds, not coming up readily to
the frefh leaves, by which means the leaves
will alfogrow withered before they are quite
eaten, and thus continually heaping leaves,
you will both wafte their food, and bury
many of the worms under the heap of
fragments. Note, for the firft eight or ten
days of the worms age, let the leaves al-
ways be lliced. In two or three days, if
things have been managed well, your eggs
ought all to be hatched ; but if you have
not as many hatched on the third day,
reckoning from the time of their beginning
to hatch, as you intend to feed, you muft
continue to keep the eggs warm as before.

Some, to avoid tedioufnefs in getting
their quantity of worms hatch’d, put a
confiderable greater quantity of eggs to
hatch, than they intend to feed, and then
in a day or two from their firft coming
out they have all their number, and not fo
many different ages among their worms
as they would otherwife have had. What
eggs remain after this may either be given
to fomebody elfe to continue their hatch-
ing, who might happen to want eggs, or
elfe fhould be thrown away. A few eggs
extraordinary are of little value, and what

are

92 THE CULTURE

are thrown away are ftill of lefs account,
as the weakeft worms are likely to be the
laft coming out : manage what way you
will, there will always be fome which come
out fo late as not to be worth attending on,
as alfo fome very early ones, but fo few in
number as not to deferve a diftin£t drawer
or place of feeding $ both thefe may be
thrown away.

I have here all along mentioned the
putting your new-hatched worms in fmall
drawers or boxes ; for though hereafter I
fhall give directions for making large ftands
to feed the filkworms on, yet thefe need not
to be ufed till the worms have at leafl
paffed their fecond moult, or fleep as it is
called ; this is to be underftood of worms
bred in the more temperate or cool cli-
mates, fuch as France or England ; for in
the hot climates, fuch as Georgia and others
of our colonies, they may in fine weather
bear the open air foon after they are hatch-
ed, and be laid upon papers fpread on the
large hurdles, or on an open table, with
only fome flight covering of paper thrown
over them for the firft days \ but if it is
cold weather, drawers will be found very
convenient, as they can belt regulate the

necefiary

OF SILK. 93

neceffary degree of warmth. I will fup-
pofe you have a frame containing fix draw-
ers one over the other, and that each
drawer is about an inch in depth, and twen-
ty inches by twenty fquare ; there will then
be nearly the fpace of three fquare feet in
each drawer : I will alfo fuppofe that one
fquare foot will contain all the worms that
are produced from an ounce of eggs when
juft hatched.

Suppofe now you were hatching three
ounces of eggs, of which you intend to
make three different fortments, as coming
out at three different times, an ounce each
time; then the firft ounce that hatches
fhould be put into the middle of the upper-
moft drawer, and marked as the firft hatch-
ed ; it will in this drawer take up the fpace
of one fquare foot, and there will be the
fpace of two fquare feet left in the drawer,
which will be occupied by the worms by
the time they have pafs’d their firft moult-
ing. The fame is to be underftood of the
fecond hatched ounce, which fhould be
put into the third drawer ; and of the third
hatched ounce, which fhould be put into
the fifth drawer. When the firft hatched
worms have grown to the fize of their

drawer.

94 THE CULTURE

drawer, half of them muft be placed in
the fecond drawer, and they will fill both
thefe by the time they have pafied their
fecond moult $ in the fame manner the
fecond hatched will fill the third and
fourth drawers, and the third hatched will
fill the fifth and fixth, and then they may
be diftributed upon the large Hands.

Thus you fee the fix drawers will con-
tain all the worms which come from your
three ounces of eggs, without confounding
different hatchings. I fuppofe that the
worms will occupy thrice the fpace after
each moulting that they occupied at the
moult foregoing, which I believe is pretty
nigh the truth, and will hold through all
the different moults, and alfo from the
fourth moult to the time of their fpinning \
and I have run through this method only
as a fample of the regularity which, in
fome degree, fhould be ufed through the
whole procefs of feeding filkworms, when
they are hatched at different times.

The drawers above-mentioned may be
made of any flight materials, fuch as laths,
with paper bottoms, fupported by two or
three firings or flicks, to hinder the paper
from fwagging; or they may be made of

ftraw

OF SILK.

ftraw fmeared with cow-dung and dried,
as befl: fuits the climate and your conve-
niency.

The frame which fupports the drawers
need be only four uprights, with crofs bars
for the drawers to run upon, being open
on all fides, that the frelh air may occa-
lionally have accefs, for which reafon alfo
there Ihould be an inch or more diftance
between each drawer ; a cover of coarfe
ftiff paper may be made to go over the
whole, and keep the young worms warm
when there is fharp weather ; and one fide
of this cover may be loofe, fo as to throw
back when a leffer quantity of frefh air is
necefiary, and you do not care to uncover
the whole frame.

This neft of drawers can eafily be moved
from (one part of a room to another, can
be fecured from cold by covering it clofe
at night, and alfo from mice or other ver-
min, by hanging it out of their reach.

I mentioned above the laying of the
worms in the middle of the drawer, the
reafon of which is, that they may regu-
larly fpread themfelves, fo as to fill the
whole drawer as they grow large; they
are made to do this by fpreading the leaves

a little

96 THE CULTURE

a little round them as you feed them, and
perceive that they lie too throng, for the
worms will follow the leaves that are laid
clofe to them. The fame may be effected,
by making three or four different parcels
of the worms in the fame drawer, and fo
feeding them till they meet.

Thus much was neceffary to be faid here
concerning the management of the new-
hatched worms ; but before I proceed far-
ther in the method of feeding them, it
will be convenient to give an account of
the ftands which are to keep them as they
increafe in fize. The manner of gathering
the mulberry leaves, and their periodical
ficknefs, which I fometimes call moulting,
becaufe they then call their {kins, and are
difordered like birds that are cafting their
feathers. Thefe are the fubje<5ts of the three
following chapters.

CHAR

OF SILK.

97

CHAP. V.

The manner of preparing the large jlands and
Jhelveson which the grown Jilkworms are to
be fed , and on which they afterwards fpin
their feik .

¥ T will be convenient for thofe who feed
A large quantities of filkworms, to have
ihe ft and s and (helves on which they are
to be kept, or at leaft feme of them, pre-
pared before they are abfolutely wanted,
in order to avoid being hurried when they
become neceffary ; and thofe who are pro-
vident will prepare them in fuch a manner,
that the fame materials can every year be
quickly and eafily put together and refit-
ted, and when there is no further occafion
for them, taken afunder and laid by in
fmall room.

Theftands (fee plate I. fig. L) are made
by erecting poles about an, inch and half
thick, according to the weight of (helves
and worms which they are to fupport^
they are placed at the diftance of three or
four feet afunder in a fquarefituation, and
are ty’d (inn to long (freight tranfver fe
H poles

93 THE CULTURE

poles reaching from one to the other, (o
as to form partitions for the (helves where
the worms are fed. The (helves mud be
fourteen or more inches afunder, and their
(ize not more than that, when you are on
one fide, you can reach half way over, in
order to give the wrorms their leaves, and
attend them, and then going on the other
fide, you can reach to thofe which are fed ;
therefore each fhelf ought not to exceed
four feet in breadth.

Thus the (helves on which the worms
are to be fed, form dories one above ano-
ther in thefe dands 3 they are hurdles com-
pofed of reeds, fmall oziers, and fuch like.
The hurdles made of fmall reeds are pre-
ferable I think to boards or any other
fhelves, on account of their cheapnefs,
lightnefs, and drynefs, and alfo for other
reafons, which will appear in treating of the
manner of feeding and cleaning the worms.

If the hurdles are made fo as to let the
litter drop through, there might be a re-
ceiver of coarfe paper to hinder it from
falling on the leaves and worms of the
next lower dory ; thefe receivers may be
fixed fo as either to be brought up clofe
under the hurdle, or to let down on one

fide.

OF SILL 99

fide, fo as to form a flope when you would
fweep away the litter that has gathered on
them. But becaufe the fixing of thefe re-
ceivers may appear too troublefome to
many, it may fuffice to make the hurdles
of reeds placed fo clofe to one another,
that after the worms are a fortnight old,
none of their litter can pafs through ; and
before they arrive at this age, they may
have paper or other convenient materials
fpread under them on the hurdles, which
will hinder their litter from annoying the
lower fheives, and alfo be convenient in
taking out each fheet of paper by itfelf
when you would examine or clean the
worms, unlefs you keep them in drawers,
as taught before.

Hurdles feem much preferable to fheives
of boards 3 for though when the worms
are large and make much litter, their hur-
dles muft be taken out, fhaken, and fwept,
yet this need not be done near fo frequent-
ly as when they are kept on boards ; for
the air, which will have admifiion through
the vacancies of the reeds, will keep them
fweeter, by drying the litter and alfo the
fhreds of leaves that remain on them,
and will hinder them to grow fo moift and
H 2 mouldy

ICO T HE CULTURE

mouldy as they would be apt to do on
boards, where the air could have no ad-
mifiicn from beneath ; for any great rnoif-
t are and mouidinefs of the heap of litter
on which they lie muft always be guarded
agairiH, and their hurdles cleaned as often
as iliail be found neceffary.

If you are Hinted in room, your Hands
may be railed ten foot, but then it will be
neceffary to have a ladder, in order to be
.able to feed the uppermoH fhelves * and
this ladder ought not to lean againfl fuch
flight materials as thefe Hands are com-
pofed of, but ought to fupport itfelf with
two Trading legs, like thole ufed to clip
high hedges ; and therefore it will be belt
not to have your uppermoft fhelf higher
than that you may, by Handing on a flool
or bench, reach your hand to feed the
worms, unlefs, as was before mentioned,
you were Hinted in room ; for which rea-
lon, though you may make your upright
pofts ten foot high, you need put no
fhelves higher than neceffity fhall from
time to time oblige you to do, the low
fhelves being eafiert attended.

Several rows of thefe Hands may be
placed in a room, leaving alleys between

each

OF SILK. i o i

■each row of them, fo broad as that two
perfons, in feeding the worms, may pafs
one another when they meet, and alfo
room to take out the hurdles. Some ad-
vife to make each hurdle narrower than
the next lowed:, in order that the worms
which chance to drop from one dory may
be caught by the next 3 but this would
lofe a great deal of room j the worms,
until they are ready to fpin, never wander
from the leaves, and may eafiiy be fecured.

Thofe who have no great nurferies of
worms, or want the means of making
fiich regular conveniences as I have de-
ferred, content themfelves with nurfing
the worms in the room where they lodge
on all forts of boards, fiielves, tables, wic-
ker hurdles, &c. fixed in whatever manner
is mod convenient 5 and the ' worms do
well, provided they are guarded againft
rats and other vermin, and creatures that
might prey upon them or didurh them $
nor are they hurt by the frequency of peo-
ple, nor by moderate noifes, if they are ac-
cudomed to them, .but (hocking, harfh
and hidden founds fiiould be always avoid-
ed : but though this ordinary way of keep-
ing them may do, it will dill be bed to

io2 THE CULTURE

keep them in the moft convenient manner,
it will abridge and methodize the trouble
of feeding and cleaning them, and this
being a great part of the labour attending
fi Ik worms, every thing that fhortens or
cafes it, whether by what I have or fhall
hereafter mention, or by what the practi-
tioner fhall himfelf find out, is to be con-
fid ered as a material point.

Flate I. Fig. I. fhews the ftructure of
the ftands where the filkworms are to be
fed when they grow large and require
much room. It is a fort of fcaffolding
compofed of freight poles tied together.
Its breadth A D three or four feet 5 its
length A C may be continued according to
the dimenfions of the room which contains
it ; its height A E about five feet, unlefs
you are ftinted in room, and then it may be
as high as the ceiling.

The upright poles A E. D F. &c. fhould
be niched where they are tied at top, in the
manner reprefen ted at Fig. II. to let the
tranfverfe poles A B C, &c. into them, that
the fcaffolding may Hand the firmer 3 but
at bottom the tranfverfe poles E G I, &c.
fhould be niched, and not the uprights,

becaufe

OF SILK. 103

becaufe, as they fuftain the whole weight,
it might weaken them.

When you untie the fhort tranfverfe poles
A D, &c. which are at the ends of the
(land, the front and back of the fcaffold-
ing comes afunder, and may be laid flat
againft one another, fo as to take up little
room, till you have occafion again to ufe
them. The divifion next A ftiews the
fhelves, which are a fort of hurdles made
of fmall reeds, They are ranged above
one another at about the diftance of four-
teen or fifteen inches.

Over the lowed: hurdle is reprefented a
Hoping receiver of coarfe paper, or thin
bafs matting ; its ufe is to defend each un-
der hurdle from the litter of the worms
above it. Thefe are only neceflary when
you choofe to weave the reeds fo open as
to let the fiikworms litter fall through 5 in
which cafe there ftiould be a receiver under
each hurdle 5 but when the hurdles are
made fo clofe as not to let the litter pafs,
there is no occafion for the receivers.

The divifion at B is left clear of (helves,
to (hew the pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. upon
which the hurdles reft ; the breadth of
each hurdle muft be equal to the diftance
H 4 between

104 THE CULTURE

between the upright poles, that it may ea*
fily be put in and taken out ; but its length
muft be three or four inches more, that it
may reft fecurely on the four pins which
fupport it. It may be inclined to one fide
when taken out or put in. The branches,
for the worms to fpin at the divifion C, &c.
will be deferibed in Part III.

Fig. III. reprefents one of the hurdles
compofed of fmall reeds, its rim made
of four ftrong reeds or flicks tied toge-
ther at a, b, c, d, where two nitches, fuch
as that of Fig. II. are let into one another.
This kind of curved nitch is not apt to
break, nor doth it weaken the part, as an
angular one would do. The ftrong reeds
or flicks e, f, g, over which the fmall ones
are woven, may be tied in the fame man-
ner. The fmall reeds are woven in parcels
of twenty or thirty, and clofe to one ano-
ther, when you intend that the litter of
the worms iliould not drop through, yet
there will be ftiil fpace enough between
them to let the air pafs.

CHAP,

OF SILK,

10$

CHAP. VI.

Hoe manner cf gathering the mulberry leaves ,
and keeping them jrejlo .

HE hands of thofe that pull , the

leaves fhould be very clean, as alfo of
thofe who attend and feed the worms \ they
fhould not have handled ■ any thing that
has a ftrong offenfive frnell, inch as leek,
garlick, and fuch like \ neither fhould they
have eaten them, nor ufe tobacco, efpe-
cially in fmoaking, when they feed the
worms.

The time in which they fhould pull the
leaves, ought to be as foon as the dew is
off them in the morning, for they ought
never to be pull’d with moifture on them.
As the worms ought to be fed with leaves
which are tender and young, in propor-
tion to their tender age, therefore you
fhould begin by pulling one tree regularly
after another ; you muft not begin to pull
■ a fecond tree till you have pull’d all that
you ought to do of the firft, for you muft
not quite difleaf a tree for fear of hurting
it 3 nor muft you pull the fame tree twice,

though

o

xo6 THE CULTURE

though by the time that you have pull’d a
good many of your other trees, it (hould have
thrown out a confiderable quantity of leaves,
both becaufe it would injure the tree, and
becaufe thefe leaves would be improper for
the worms, being a fecond growth and
tender ; whereas the worms will then be
advanced in age, and require older leaves.

If your trees are kept in a flat form,
being planted like an efpalier hedge, you
may begin regularly at one end of your
hedge, and pull the leaves regularly on,
making a mark every day as far as you
have pull’d, that you may not go over the
fame part twice ; and thus when you have
gone in order down one fide of the hedge,
you return up the other, and fo proceed,
to another hedge.

If the hedges run in lines from north to
fouth, puli the eaft fide firfl, becaufe in
fpring, when the fun is weakefl, it will be
firfl: dried after the morning dew ; but as
the feafon advances in warmth, the weftern
fide will be fufficiently dried, though the
fun has not fiione upon it when you begin
to pull in the morning. It is belt I think
to have the hedges run from north to fouth,
that each fide may fhare the fun alike ;

but

OF SILK. 107

but if a fhower of rain have driven with
an eafterly or wefterly wind, pull that fide
which lay to the leeward, as being leaft
moift.

In pulling the leaves it is much better to
do it eafy, taking the leaves in your hand,
than to take the whole branch or fhoot in
the lift, and thus to rake off as many leaves
as you can at once ; for this both bruifes
the leaves, which makes them bad for the
worms, and alfo breaks and damages the
branches, and fills the leaves with fhreds
of broken boughs ; wherefore one of the
gatherers fhould be a fkilful perfon in feed-
ing and managing the worms, and fuch as
can be trufted to diredl and overfee the
others 5 for as it is common to pay the
gatherers by meafure for the quantity of
leaves they bring in, they will be apt only
to make it as large as they can, without
either choice or fkill. The leaves as they
are gathered fiiould be thrown into clean
bafkets, and not too much fluffed or preffed
together, which would make them heat
and otherways damage them ; each gather-
er fhould have a fmall bafket, which he
may hang befide him to the tree, by a
hooked flick* that he may not be obliged

to

io8 THE CULTURE

to fluff his hands too full before he empties
them ; and thus all the gatherers having
fill'd their fmall bafkets, may empty them
into one or more large ones, in which they
are to be brought home.

Such a quantity of leaves ought to be
gathered each morning, as will ferve to feed
the worms during the reft of the day, and
alfo enough to give them their firft feeding,
early the next morning, before the new
leaves can be gathered : after one or two
feedings you will eafily judge what quan-
tity will be neceffary for this, and give di-
rections to the gatherers to fill their balkets
accordingly. The leaves which are brought
home fhould be kept in a cool place, but
not in too great an heap : if they are
young, and litch as are gathered for new
hatched worms, they may be kept in a
glaz’d earthen veffel, as they then make
but a fmall bulk ; and when they come to
make a large heap, as they mu ft for a great
number of worms that are grown large,
they may be kept in large wicker pinniers
or bafkets, or even in the corner of a cool
room for two days. It is accounted beft
not to feed with the leaves frefh taken from

the

OF SILK. log

the tree, for they are good as long as they
remain green and firm.

Though your general method of gather-
ing the leaves may foe as has been defcrib-
ed, yet, if the weather tends to be rainy,
you mull provide at lead two days food,
or in proportion as you forefee the difficul-
ty of gathering, which if pofiible fhould
not be in wet weather, efpecially while the
moidure is a finally upon the leaves : you
may keep the leaves tolerably well for two
or three days in a cool place, but you mud
take great care that they ' do not heat and
grow mouldy, which would greatly injure
your worms. If the leaves, therefore, any
way tend to this date, you mud often
turn, and give them air; fpreading
and placing them where there is a current
of air, or on fame of the hurdles of thofe
dands which may happen not yet to be
employed,

Notwithdanding the foregoing caution,
it may often happen, that on the very
morning when the gatherers go out, and
when you have no provifion for that day,
but what they fhall bring in, there fhall
fail rain, and wet the leaves : in this cafe
you are under a neceffity of having the leaves

gathered $

tio THE CULTURE

gathered ; they fhould therefore {hake the
trees before they begin to pull, and if it
is an hedge in the efpalier manner, they
may {hake it with a forked pole without
wetting themfelves, and thus they will
throw off a good quantity of the moifture ;
and for what remains, it muft be taken off
by fhaking and toiling the leaves between
two dry fheets of linen, and afterwards
fpreading and airing them as above ; for
no neceffity fhould force you to give them
to the worms while any moifture remains,
it is better they fhould faft. The gatherers
fhould not ftay till they had pulled their
whole quantity, in this laft cafe ; but
fhould at leaft fend in a fufficiency of leaves
for one feeding, as foon as they have ga-
thered them, that they may be fufficiently
dryed by the time they are to be ufed.

As gathering the leaves in moift weather
is to be avoided, fo is alfo the pulling them
after they have born the fcorching heat of
the mid-day fun 5 they might then be too
deftitute of fap, and would be apt to wither,
and grow unfit for the worms before they
were all ufed.

The leaves of trees which grow in moift:

(

I

t

t'

t

0

e,

grounds, or where they are fo {haded that |<j

4 the

Ill

OF SILK.

the fun cannot fhine on them, are bad for
the worms 5 fo alfo are all fpotted, blafted,
and yellow leaves ; and thofe which are
upon fuckers, or other proud fhoots grow-
ing from the trunk or principal branches,
are only fit for newly hatched, or very
young worms. Therefore you may pull
all thefe forts at firft, through your whole
plantation, as long as they laid ; and then
go regularly from tree to tree, as before di-
rected ; but obferve that even the young
worms, if they had been ufed to feed on
firm leaves, would be kill’d by giving them
thofe which grew on fuckers ; fo that if
thefe are us’d, it muft be at the firft.

Some mulberry-trees are apt to have fuch
quantities of fruit, that it is difficult to
pull the leaves without having great quan-
tities of the berries mixed along with them ;
thefe, befides that they are faid to be hurtful
to the worms, will occafion a great quan-
tity of litter, and mouldinefs ; and will
oblige you to clean the fhelves much often-
er than would other wife be neceffary: you
fhould rather therefore avoid pulling fuch
trees as are thus loaded with fruit, if you
have enough without them 5 or, if you are
obliged to ufe them, you fhould feparate the

berries,

JI2 t’he culture

berries, if they are in any great quantity*
by (baking the leaves in wide mefh’d fieves
or forne fuch way : but if you fpare pulling
fuch trees, the berries will give you feed
for new plantations ; for if they are ftrip-
ped of their leaves, the fruit will not ripen
well nor grow large,

Befide the foregoing obfervations, the
gatherers mutt be cautioned not to bruife
the leaves either by pulling them roughly,
fqueezing them in their hands, or preffmg
them into the baskets ; not to break the
branches of the foregoing year, nor mix the
fragments of broken branches among the
leaves. In fhort, to injure the trees as lit- ;
tie as pofiible, and to pull the leaves with
clean hands, and bring them home in as
neat a manner as they can. Not that it
is abfolutely neceffary to follow minutely !
every thing which is above mentioned ;
but if your conveniency anfwers, you will
find them of advantage.

Some authors fay that if the leaves are
pulled by ftripping them downward, it
will dilbark and hurt the branches ; but I
have found that this is not faft, for they
come off by ftripping downward much
eafier than upward, and without injuring

the

OF SILK.

ji3

the bark, or being fo much bruifed by the
hard grafping, which you are forced to
ufe when you ftrip them upward, which
makes them lels agreeable to the worms,
you muft however take hold of the end of
the branch with one hand when you ftrip
downward.

HE filkworm is fubject to four fick-

nefles, from each of which it recovers
by what I fhall hereafter call moulting, or
throwing off its fkin ; and the times in
which this happens are carefully to be ob-
ferved, together with the different appear-
ance, which the worms makes both at the
time of its fickening, and after it has moul-
ted ; became thefe are periods which great-
ly regulate your conduct in managing your
broods.

The times of their ficknefs are fo v-ari-
oully fet down by many different authors,
that fcarce any fixed times can be taken

CHAP. VII.

Of the four fickneffes or moulting, s which the
Silkworm undergoes .

I

from

u4 THE CULTURE

from their accounts, efpecially for the firft
ficknefs, fome. fixing it to the feventh or
eight day after hatching, and others not
till the twelfth : but Malpighius , in his ac-
curate anatomy of the filkworm, fays that
thofe worms which he hatched in May were
eleven days old before they fell into their
firft ficknefs ; thofe hatched in July ten
days, and thofe hatched in Augujl not quite
nine : yet as he obferves thefe times vary
according to the weather and other circum-
ftances. Some French authors fix the feventh
or eighth day for the firft ficknefs, in
France , and I found it to be about the
the fame time in England .

That you may not be at a lofs for the
time of their firft ficknefs, upon which the
other three depend, I will be fomewhat
more particular concerning its approach,
and concerning the appearances which the
filkworm has during its firft age ; becaufe
from its fmallnefs, at this time, they might
efcape a common obferver.

The filkworm- when it comes out of the
egg appears quite black, this in two or
three days changes to a light moufe co-
lour : upon the approach of its firft fick-
nefs, the head begins to fwell fo as to be

apparently

OF SILK. its

Apparently larger than it was, in proportion
to the body ; it appears alfo more pointed
towards the mouth than it did before, and
upon their adlually falling into the height
of their ficknefs they leave off eating, and
remain quite motionlefs with there heads
fwelled, and raifed, generally, above their
bodies $ and their colour is now a light
yellowifh brown, in which the rings of
their body may be feen* if you view them
elofely.

They continue thus, without feeding, a~
bout three days $ then the fwelling of their
heads begins to fall, and they caft their old
fkins, which tho’ on account of their fmall-
nefs you may not readily obferve, yet is as
eompleatly caft now as at their laft moulting*
of which the magnifying glafs will fully
inform any one. You will know that they
are quite recovered by the different appear-
ances which they immediately make after
moulting, for they now appear of a very
light grey colour about their necks, and
the reft of their bodies a dark grey ; their
heads are no longer fwelled, nor their nofe
fharp ; their bodies alfo appear {lender, and
not fo ftiff and fhortened as when they lay
I 2 in

n6 THE CULTURE

in their ficknefs ; and in half an hours
time they fall eagerly on their food.

In the above defcription obferve, that
the fwelling of their heads is the obvious
fign of their approaching diford'er; their
motionlefs fituation with their heads erec-
ted fhews their continuance in the height
of it ; and the light colour about their
necks, their motion, and beginning to eat,
fhews their recovery.

Though they fall into their ficknefs by
fome degrees, yet their recovery is almoft
inftantaneous > for from the time that
they begin to throw off their fkins till it
is quite 01T, is oft only *about two or three
minutes fpace. They caft it by fixing their
tail to the leafy fibres, and then moving
their body forward, after which they feem
to reft themfeives for a fhort time, and
then begin to eat.

Having fed about three days, they be-
gin to fall into their fecond ficknefs with
much the fame appearances as the firft,
and iafting the fame time, viz. three days,
therefore it need not be particularly defcrib-
ed ; only obferve that though they are faid
to be well and feed three days, and to faft
and lie motionlefs for three days more, yet

* this

OF SILK. 117

this Is not to be taken ftridly, becaufe they
eat a little even after they begin to lichen,
and therefore are fomething longer in an
eating condition, than in a falling inaftive
one : you muft make this fame allowance
for what lhall be faid of their third and
fourth ficknefs ; obferve alfo that the warm-
er the climate is, fo much the fhorter is the
time of their continuing fick.

Having recovered from their fecond lick-
nefs, they continue in health for about
three days, and then their heads fweil as
before, and they begin to fall into their
third ficknefs ; their bodies grow fomewhat
glofly of a pale yellowilh colour, and fome-
what leflened in length ; they remain mo-
tionlefs with their heads rais’d, which now
alfo appear fharp toward the mouth, as In
their former ficknefles. After three days,
the fweliing of the head falls, and fometimes
they fuddenly grow as it were fpeckl’d
with dark breaks, which colour proceeds
from their old Ikin then beginning to fe-
parate ; they then continue ftretched out
at their length, for about two hours, after
which they begin to ftrip off their, old
Ikin from the head downward towards the
tail, which is always the manner In which

I 3 it

ii8 THE CULTURE

it is done, and from the time in which
they begin to ftrip it till it is quite off,
there is but about one minutes fpace : they
appear now of one uniform colour, which
fomewhat refembles that which the fmall
fmooth branches of an alh-tree have : the
new fkin at firft appears fomething wrink-
led, but as they begin to eat it ftretches
and grows fmooth.

After their recovery from the third fick-
nefs, they continue in health about three
days, as before, and then their fourth fick-
nefs begins with the fame appearance as
the third, and therefore need not be parti-
cularly defcribed, being much of the fame
duration, and, as the worm is now grown
large, eafily obferved 3 this is their laft fick-
nefs : after their recovery from it they ap-
pear of the fame colour as after the third ;
two black comma’s, in this fituation (°)
appear on their back, a little below their
firft ring, which before this moult were
not fo manifeft : after this they continue
eating, and in perfect health for about
ten days, that is till their time of being
ready to fpin.

I have in the foregoing account only
mentioned the cafting off of their fkins ;

6 but

OF SILK. 119

but I mufl: inform you that they do at the
fame time, by rubbing their heads among
the leafy fibres, caft the entire fcull includ-
ing their teeth, and all other parts of it •>
and as their fkin is ftripped downward off
their tail, fo the lkull comes forward off
their mouth, and this is what gives their
muzzle that fharp appearance which it has
during their ficknefs, it being no more than
the old fcull flicking to the point of the new
one. When the worms are large you can
eafily with the naked eye perceive this caft-
ing off their fculls 5 and through the micro-
fcope you may perfettly difcover their jaws,
teeth, &c. in it, together with feven moft
exceflive fmall holes, on each fide near the
mouth, which were thofe of their eyes :
for the two broad appearances on their
head, which fome miftake for their two
eyes, are only two bones of their fcull :
their eyes are feven, as I have faid, on each
fide, but fo fmall that when greatly mag-
nified with a glafs, they do not exceed a
fmall grain of fand. The fpots which,
when the worms are grown, appear at re-
gular diftances down each fide of the
body, are alfo by fome miftaken for their
eyes, but thefe fpots are the breathing holes
1 4 through

iso THE CULTURE
through which the air enters into their
lungs ; and all the kinds of worms, and
caterpillars which change into flies, do, in
their principal organs and transformations,
fomewhat referable thofe of the fllkworm.

From what has been faid, it will eafily
appear that their ficknefs is not fleep, or a
ftate of refl, though by fome called fo ;
but rather a fever, like that which accom-
panies the toothing of children, or the call-
ing of the feathers in birds, attended with
a lethargick motionlefs ftate, which indeed
refembles fleep, and a total lofs of appetite,
and abftinence from food till they call their
fkins and the diforder goes off.

The final caufe of their thus calling
their Ikins, &c. feems to be, that their bodies
may have room to grow and enlarge ;
their old Ikins, it is likely, growing too
tough to admit of further extenfion, for
which reafon a new and tender one is ne-
ceflary.

I hinted above, that though the duration
of their ficknefs, and of their fubfequent
health, is fet down at three days each,
from the beginning of their firft moult to
the end of their lail, yet this fliould not be
taken in too Uriel a fenfe, lince they eat a

little

I 2 1

OF SILK,

little fometimes after their head begins to
fwell ; and their ftate of total inaclion doth
not come on immediately j fo that they are
perhaps a day longer in a ftate of eating,
than they are of abfolote falling. So that
you might reckon four days, in three of
which they feed heartily, the fourth eat a
little, and on the two next totally fall.

Malpighius , who took his dates of their
ficknefs from the beginning of their total-
ly inaftive ftate, divides the times of their
health and ficknefs in the following man-
ner : after their being hatched, they con-
tinue in health for ten or eleven days, then
they are fick about a day and an half 5 their
health after recovering lafts four days and
an half ; and their fecond ficknefs a day
and half -3 their next health continues for
three days $ and their fubfequent and
third ficknefs a day and half 3 the next
health, which proceeds their laft ficknefs,
he fets down at four or five days continu-
ance 5 the laft ficknefs at two days and an
half ; and their laft healthy ftate nine or
ten days and then they begin to fpin : but
ft/e obferves that the weather, and other
circumftances make thefe times vary,

5

Not-

122 the culture

Notwithftanding that the particulars
which I have fet down on this head, will
inform you pretty well of the times of their
ficknefs, yet to be more perfedt in it, you
mull* add your own diligence of obferva-
tion ; and alfo confider the climate and
weather, which if it be cold or moift, ge-
nerally retards and lengthens out the times
of thefe changes and moultings in the filk-
worm $ but your own experience, join’d
to the tokens and marks which are given
above, will enable you readily to know
what ftage of life, and what condition the
worms are in, and alfo to know what will
next happen, and confequently what ac-
commodation and management you are to
prepare for them. Their times of moulting
being, therefore, the principal thing which
regulates many particulars in your atten-
dance, and which when well known will
eafe you of much trouble, I need not in-
fill how much they are to be regarded.

The time preceeding each moulting of
the filkworm may be called one age ; fo
that to the fourth moulting there are four
ages ; and from the fourth to the time of
its being ready to fpin may be reckoned a
fifth age. Each age is about five days

long

OF SILK. 123

long except the firft, which is about feven,
and the laft which is about ten, in the cli-
mate of England but in a warm feafon,
or in warmer climates. None of their
ages are of fo long duration.

The fizeof the filkwormwhen firft hatch-
ed, and at its recovery from each moulting
is fhewn, Plate I. Fig. VI. the little curve
line at top fhews it juft hatched. The
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, fhews its fize at the
moultings which correfpond to them -y the
horizontal line being its length, and the
perpendicular its diameter j and number 5,
fhews it a little before it is ready to fpin ;
for, when quite ready, its fize is fomewhat
leffened.

CHAP. VIII.

Of feeding and managing the filkworms during
their two firjl ages , or till they pafs their
fecond moulting .

HP HE filkworm’s life, unto the time
when it is ready to produce its filk,
has been divided into five ages, reckoning
one age at each recovery from moulting,

and

124 THE CULTURE
and the fifth age from its fourth moult till
it is ready to fpin. The whole five ages
together comprehend the fpace of five or
fix weeks, more or lefs, according to the
coldnefs or warmth of the climate.

The filkworms had juft began the firft
of thefe ages, being newly hatched and dis-
tributed into their nurfery-drawers, when
I left them in order to fhew the method of
getting food for them, and to give you a
general defcription of their four moultings;
I now refume the management of them at
this firft age.

They begin to eat as foon as they come
out of the egg, and immediately fix them-
felves on the mulberry leaves, which are
thrown upon them ; and from this time,
until they become ready to fpin, they con-
tinue almoft conftantly eating, except at
night and during the time of their moult-
ings. Now, as they are placed in drawers
large enough to admit of their increafe of
fize until they arrive at their firft moult,
you will have no occafion to touch them
nntil they have pafs’d it, and will have
little more to do than to feed them regu-
larly, by ftrowing the tender fliced leaves
of the mulberry over them, and to give

them

O F $ I L K. 125

them a little air, or to keep them clofe and
warm, according as the weather is hot and
clofe, or cold and damp.

Some authors prefcribe, that they fhould
be fed only twice a day till after their firft
moult 3 but as the ftrowing of a few leaves
over them is a matter of fmall trouble
when they lie in fo narrow a compafs, I
fhould rather choofe to do it thrice or oftner
in a day; for if you give them in the
morning the quantity which is to fcrve them
the whole day, you muft lay them thick
on the worms, and moft of them would
be withered, or unfit for food before night;
and when you gave them frefh leaves*
many of the worms would not come up to
them, but would continue attached tothofe
that happened to be a little frefh among
the former old leaves, and thus you would,
from time to time, bury and hide many of
the worms among the fragments that re-
mained, and it is by no means practicable,
or worth the toil, to be fearching and pick-
ing for them among the leaves.

But if you only ftrew fiiced leaves thinly
over them, fo as that they fhall juft touch
one another or thereabout, but not lie in
heaps; or if you give only fo many leaves

as

126 THE CULTURE

as you find by experience your worms can
eat before they decay* excepting the grofler
parts and fibres, then at every new feeding
your worms will quickly come upon the
frefh leaves, and you will not then bury
the worms underneath, neither will you
make fuch wafte of food, nor fuch a great
quantity of litter, or of moifture and
mouldinefs ; and thus no more than fome
dry wither'd fibres will be left, which are
of ufe and fervice, as the dung of the worms
will fall and be buried among them, and
not at all taint the frefh leaves which you
from time to time give the worms.

You fhould therefore avoid giving too
great a quantity of leaves at any age of the
worms; for though when they are well
grown, they will not be fo eafily buried,,
except at their moulting, yet by thus heap-
ing, you will both wafte food and increafe
litter, mouldinefs and moifture, and the
labour of often being obliged to clean
them. You fhould rather defer giving them
a frefh meal for fome little time, than give
them it before the former was eaten, if it
remained frefh or fit for food ; nay, if at
any time you find the worms, while they
are out of their moult and well, lazy to

come

OF SILK. i%y

come on the frefti leaves which you give
them, it is a fign that they are too full,
and you would not do amifs if you let
them faff a little beyond the time in which
you ufed to give them their next meah

I have been thus particular, that you
may avoid the great trouble which I have
known to proceed from heaping too much
food.

When you feed the worms, let the firfl
feeding be as foon as you can conveniently
in the morning ; this muff be done with
the remainder of the leaves which were ga-
thered the day before, and let the lait feed-
ing be as late as you can before you go to
bed.

As the worms lie in the middle of the
drawer, and at their firft being placed there
fhould only take up about one third of it,
you may enlarge the fpace they lie on,
at the time of feeding them, according as
you perceive them to grow large and crowd
one another to effect this, you have no
more to do than to place leaves round
about, fo as to touch thofe the worms
lie upon ; and thus, as you fee it neceffary,
you may extend their fpace, for they will
always follow and fpread themfelves over

the

228 THE CULTURE

the leaves which are contiguous to them $
but if you fpread the worms too much,
they will not be able to eat all the leaves
you throw over them, the inconveniency
of which I have mentioned ; therefore al-
ways keep them as throng as they can lie
without being crouded upon one another.

While they are very young, you mull,
in cold weather, keep them clofe and
warm, (hutting the drawers or boxes as
foon as you have fed them, and expofing
them as little as poffible to cold air ; you
may for this end keep a blanket or fuch
like over your whole cheft of drawers.

But you mull, on fine and warm days,
ufe them to the open air, according to
their age and vigour, pulling the draw-
ers in which they are kept about quar-
ter or half open in the middle of the
clay, and for as long as you fliall judge ,
convenient j and when you fhut the draw- !
ers, turn that fide which was out inmoft, j
that when you air them next, the other
fide may have the benefit of it ; for which {
reafon the drawers fhould be made to go
in at either fide. Scarce any general rule |
can be given for the time of thus airing 1
them 5 the climate, weather, and other fuch ;

circum-

OF Si L K* 3^9

cireiimftances muft direft you. In tem-
perate climates they fhould be kept clofe
and warm till after their fecond moulting ;
in hot climates too much heat and want of
air will oftener hurt them than cold.

It would be of good fervice, where great
quantities of worms are kept, to have a
thermometer 3 and having, by your expe-
rience, determined the greateft degree of
cold and the greateft degree of heat which
.they could bear, without any manifeft
figns of harm, you might afterward, as
the fpirit in the thermometer varied above
or below thefe points, regulate your con-
duct. You can give a good guefs at their
health by the vigour with which they eat,
and their alacrity in coming on the frefh
leaves which you give them, and hence
you might pretty well afcertain the degrees
of warmth in which they thrive beft. A
like good ufe might be made of an hygro-
meter, which meafures the moifture and
drynefs of the air, and moifture hurts them
more than cold 3 but thefe are niceties
which few can or will make ufe of. If the
worms are near their moult, you muft not
then judge of their health by their liftlef-
nefs and inaftivity, for thefe are at that
K time

i3o THE CULTURE

time natural tokens of a natural and peri-
odical diforder, which though it is by fome
called a deep, yet is rather a fort of lethar-
gick fever.

In about five or fix days after hatching,
the worms will begin to fall into their firft
ficknefs, which precedes their moulting.
When therefore you perceive their heads to
dwell, and that they do not eat fo heartily
as before, give them their leaves more fpa-
ringly, adjufting the quantity of their food
fo as that it fhall be eaten before next meal,
and when you perceive them all to lie inac-
tive, with their heads erefted, and that they
no longer attempt to eat, you fhould then
defift from giving them any more leaves,
and by no means dilturb or move them
either now or in any of their moults, but
let them lie quiet and warm, by fhutting
the drawers or boxes where they lie,
efpecially if the weather is cold, during
their two firft moults.

You will often perceive fome worms
grow fick a little before the reft, though
they were all hatched together, on account
of fome inequality in their ftrength or con-
ftitution ; or becaufe, though they were
all taken out of the hatching boxes toge-
ther*

OF SILK. 13 i

tlier, fome came out of the egg perhaps
three or four hours before the reft 5 thefe
early ones will be a fort of notice to you to
inoderate their food, for that the others
will foon be in the fame ftate.

If by any mifmanagement worms of dif- •
ferent ages were mixed together, you may
now feparate them from one another $ if,
for inftance, a great number of your worms
which are in the fame drawer abftained
from their food, and grew motionlefs in
the morning, and the reft continued eat-
ing till late at evening, then by giving a
few frefh leaves thefe will come upon them,
and fo may be taken away from the reft
with thofe leaves on which they have fixed.
But as the picking the leaves up in order
to remove them is tedious, and alfo unlefs
great care is ufed may crufh many of the
worms, whether by taking hold of the
leaves with your fingers or with plyers ;
therefore I think it a better way to fepa-
rate them now by the means of papers
with holes cut in them, in the manner di-
rected for taking away the worms out of
the hatching boxes.

But if all your worms fell fick together,
you would now have nothing more to do
K 2 than

132 THE CULTURE

than to wait for their recovery, and would
not have the trouble either of feparating
thofe of different ages, nor of feeding
fome which were of a different age in
feparate drawers. And this you might
effedt, by getting all your eggs to hatch at
once, which therefore you fhould, as much
as you can, ftrive to do. It is true indeed,
that though all your worms had been taken
out of the hatching boxes at one time,
there might be fome which would ficken a
little fooner than the reft from different
ftrength of conftitution, and confequently
recover and begin to eat fooner $ and if the
difference of time were about twelve hours,
and that there were a fufficient quantity of
fuch worms to deferve a diftinft place, it
would be beft to feparate them 5 but then
this may be done after their moult, by
giving them a few leaves when they recover
before the reft, and then taking thofe leaves
with the worms on them, and placing them
by themfelves in a diftinft drawer. But if
you have large quantities of worms hatch’d
at different times, and that almoft all your
firft hatched lickeneth at once, then you
may take away thofe few that are later than
the reft and put them among your fecond

hatching,

OF SILK. 133

hatching, and the few that fhall happen
to be tardy among the fecond hatching
transfer to the third, and fo on. Yet if
there is but little diftance, for inftance,
only half a day, or even almoft a whole
day, between the fickening of thofe which
lie in the fame drawer, you may defer fe-
parating them till their fecond moult, or till
their third, if the difference of time is too
little at their fecond j the difference gener
rally increafing at each moult.

You muft however take care to feed thofe
which are in a feeding ftate among the
fick ones, if you do not feparate them, but
do it very fparingly, fprinkling the leaves
very thin, that you may not bury the fick
worms. Moft of what I have been faying
tends to one principal end, viz. that of
keping the worms of different ages diftinft
from one another, and whichfoever of the;
methods you choofe, you will be fenfible
that it is an ufeful and neceffary thing.

You will not be at any lofs to know
when your worms have moulted and reco-
vered from their firft ficknefs, the appear-
ance they then make being very different
from that which they had during their
diforder* according to the marks given in
* K 3 the

i34 THE CULTURE

the chapter on moulting. And now, as
they recover, give them their leaves gather-
ed as neat and clean as pofiible, and if they
lie too throng, feparate and diftribute them
into other drawers as they come upon the
frefh leaves. You may either diftribute
them in fmall parcels at fome little diftance
in the drawer, fo that they ftiall fpread and
meet as they grow large, or you may place
them all in the middle of a drawer, anc|
let them extend and fpread all round, by
laying leaves round them when they begin
to lie too throng.

Your worms are now in their fecond
age, and enlarged in fize and the leaves
which are to feed them are alfo grown
firmer; with thefe you muft continue to
nourifh them : and the ryles which have
been already delivered for their firft age
being, with your own difcretion, fufficient
for this, their appearance alfo and time of
moulting being much the fame, excepting
their ftze, I fhall only refer you to what
has been already taught, to avoid the te-r
dioufnefs of repetition. After about three
days health and three days ficknefs, you
wiil find them recovered from their fecond
moult, in which ftate I fhall take them up

in

OF SILK. t

in the enfuing chapter. Obferve here how-
ever, that a worm juft recovered from any
moult is not larger, but rather lefs, than
one which is going to fall into the fame
moult, left you fhould miftake their age
on account of their fize, which fize only
advances during their health between each
moulting. Take notice alfo, that the
drawers and warm-keeping here mentioned
are only for climates where the fpring is
cold at the time of hatching filkworms,
and are not neceffary in the warmer lati-
tudes.

What I have faid in this chapter is fuf-
ficient for the management of the worms
during their two firft ages $ I have made
no mention of cleaning away their litter,
or the broken fibres of their leaves, for at
this time it is unnecefiary $ the litter they
now make is foon as dry as duft, and the
fibres of the leaves are alio foon withered,
and make a foft bed, on which the worms
lie cleaner than if they were placed on pa-
per, for the litter runs down among the
fibres, and fo doth not at all incommode
them, efpecially if they lie on a hurdle
made of ftraw, reeds, or fuch like, through
which the litter can pafs. I have known
K 4 fome

r36 THE CULTURE

fome of our ladies who kept filkworms give-
themfelves an endlefs trouble in cleaning
and picking them from the old leaves and
fibres every day, a thing which cannot be
done without injuring the worms, and for
which there had been no neceffity, had not
their food been crouded fafter than they
could eat it, and the leaves given with-
out flicing them, which would have hin-
dered them to curl and invelope the
worms.

I have read, that in Spain they keep the
very young worms in flat flraw bafkets
fmeared on the infide with cow’s dung,
and then dried, and that they reckon the
fmell of the dried cow-dung wholefome
fox the worms.

CHAP.

OF SIL K.

*3 7

CHAP. IX.

Mow to manage the Silkworms during their
two next ages, that is, from their re-
covery out of their fecond moult to their
recovery out of their fourth.

WHEN the filkworms are recovered
from their fecond ficknefs, they
will be able to bear the air on open
fhelves if the weather is fine, and you had
accuftomed them to the frefti air at times
before, when you found the day warm, to
inure them to it. You may therefore now
place them upon fome of your fhelves made
of hurdles, in the large ftands, and as there
has been no occafion as yet to take away
their litter, if it remain'd dry and they
were properly managed, fo neither is there
any now; it is no more than a loofe cake
of dry fibres connefted paitly by its own
materials, and partly by a fine cobweb
which the worm is a! moll conftantly fpi li-
ning from its birth ; the little dung, which
lies among the fibres of this cake, is alfo
quite dry, and in this cafe I never found a

worfe

i3S THE CULTURE

worfe fmell proceed from it than that of
dry grafs or hay, but indeed if it had con-
tracted much mouldinefs and moifture for
want of air, or t>y heaping too much food,
it would be otherwife, and have an offen-
five fmell.

You might have inured the worms to
the open air, by laying the drawers, or
whatever elfe they were nurfed in, upon
the hurdles in the day time, and returning
them back into the cheft of drawers at
night, and afterwards, if the weather is
warm, by letting them lie all night on the
open ftands in the fame drawers.

When you intend to fhift them out of
their drawers to the hurdles which com-
pofe the fhelves of your large ftands, you
need only raife the whole cake of fibres
with the worms on it, and lay it on the
middle of the hurdle, or raife one edge of
the cake over the edge of the drawer upon
the hurdle, and then gently fhift the drawer
from under it ; this would be the eafier
done if one of the ledges of the drawers
had been contrived to flip of.

As the wrorms will as yet take up but
few of your fhelves, you fhould place them
on thofe fhelves where they will be eafieft

fed*

OF SILK. 239

fed 5 that is about three foot high, and al-
ways obferve to keep the high and moft
troublefome {helves empty of worms as long
as you can.

When the worms lie thus on the cake
of fibres in the middle of the fhelf, you
are fenfible that as they grow and fpread
on the hurdle, thofe on the edge of the
cake will have fcarce any thing under them
but the reeds or twigs of which the hur-
dle is competed ; if therefore you think
this keeps them as yet too cold, or that
your hurdle is fo wide that they drop
through, or any other inconvenience at-
tends this, you may remedy it by laying
fheets of coarfe paper, but free from every
thing offenfive to the worms, round the
edge of the cake of fibres, and as the cake
extends with the growth of the worms, by
the fame degree you may draw out the
papers, ftill leaving fome under the edge
of the cake, till you find no inconvenience
follow from taking them quite away. A
little fine hay, fpread thin over the empty
part of the hurdle round the cake of fibres
on which your worms lie, might anfwer
the fame end.

On

i4o THE CULTURE

On thefe ftielves continue to feed your
worms thrice a day ; do not be at the trou-
ble of laying the leaves over them one by
one, but, taking them by handfuls, fcat-
ter them at firft thinly over your worms,
not letting them fall in heaps ; it is beft to
fcatter them firft where the worms lie thin-
neft, which will draw them from lying in
crowds, and afterwards you may throw
them over thofe places which remained un-
applied.

As the worms are now to continue on
thefe (helves, you muft, if the weather
fihould change to cold, keep the doors and
windows very clofe, and you may further
guard againft the cold, by throwing a co-
vering of thin light paper over them, fo
long as the bad weather continues ; and
thefe remedies will have the better effeft,
if, while the weather was warm and fine,
you had not kept them too tenderly, but
had given them the frefh air now and then,
efpecially in the heat of the day; an equal
temperature of heat being what agrees beft
with them, and to this your conduct and
contrivance muft come, as nigh as you can
bring it.

Now

• o f -s i l k; ' 141

Now after the third day from their j:eco«
very out of their fecond ficknefs, your
worms will begin to fall into their third ;
their heads will fwell, their bodies look
fmooth and gloffy, and fomewhat fhorter*
and they will, after fome time, defift from
eating, remaining motionlefs, with their
heads generally raifed, as in the former
moultings.

Thofe which continue feeding fix or
feven hours after the others have done,
may now be removed, taking up the leaves
on which they are, and claffing them with
thofe of the fame time of moulting, or
you may wait till they begin to grow well,
and then feparate thofe that firft recover
from their moult. Their moult ends in
about three days as before, but their ap-
pearance juft before they moult is fome-
what different from the two former moults ;
for having been during their ficknefs of
one uniform light colour, they now, about
an hour or two before their recovery, turn
dark and fpeckled ; they then lie inactive
for about an hour or two, the {welling of
their head falls, and they ftrip off their
{kins from the head downward, and caft
their fculls forward oft' their nofe like a

Y4* THE culture

mafk taken from the face, as you may
now obferve with the naked eye ; their co-*
lour alfo after this moult is different from
what it was after the two foregoing ones, 1
having no more that light grey on the neck,
or that darker greyifh colour which they
had on the reft of their body, but being of
one uniform hue, like the fmooth bark of
an afh branch, but a little more inclined
to a red colour.

Your worms being recovered from this
third moult will be pretty large, and fome
of them fhould be diftributed on other
fhelves to make room for their further
growth, which will be pretty considerable
before their next ftcknefs. You may diftri-
bute them on the other ftielves or hurdles, ;
by taking up the frefh leaves with the j I
worms on them in what quantity you find J <
convenient to take away ; but it would ]
perhaps be belt to take them entirely from j t
one fide of the hurdle, and not pick them \
up here and there, for this might leave t
thofe that remained fo fcattered as not ea- t
lily to be fed, and I mentioned elfewhere I i
that they fhould always be kept as clofe r
as they can, without crouding on one \
another. c

Or

OF SILK. 143

Or you may diftribute them on other
(helves, taking what portion you think
proper of the cake of fibres whereon they
lie, by putting your hands under it and
gently feparating it from the reft, and then
laying it where you intended, repeating
the fame method if you had not taken
enough at firft.

And if at any time you find this cake of
litter moift, mouldy, or fetid, your worms
fhould all be taken from it when they come
upon the frefti leaves, and all the cake of
litter fhould be thrown away, or at leaft
you fhould feparate the upper layer of
fibres whereon the worms lie from the un-
der part ; which you may pretty ealily do,

! as the cake is generally cornpofcd of many
layers of fibres, by railing the layer at firft
j on the edge with your hand, and ft ill as
| you raife it, Hiding a thin board under it;
the board fhoulft have a ftiort handle like a
wool-card, and when you have as much of
the cake as it will take of, feparate it from
the reft, and gently Aide it on the fhelf you
Idefigned it for, and fo proceed to take
I more. A little (hovel or board of the above
kind, with a fmall ledge on all (ides, ex-
j cept the forepart, may be found at other

times

144 THE CULTURE

times convenient for carrying parcels of
worms from one ftielf to another.

When your worms after this third moult
are diftributed conveniently, continue to
give them leaves thrice a day, in fuch
quantity as they can confume between each
feeding, and according to thofe general
rules given concerning the quality of their
leaves.

As the worms may now take up fo much
room that fome muft be placed on hurdles
under others, you muft guard that their
dung falling through may not incom-
mode the under fhelves; coarfe paper,
thin matts made of bafs, or other fuch like
cheap materials may be placed under them
on the hurdle to prevent this ; or rather,
fix thefe matts, fo as that one fide of the
matt being fattened to the bar of the ft and
which goeth acrofs, the other oppofite fide
of the mat having a rod fattened to its edge,
(as large maps are fometimes framed) may
hang with a Hope, the rod bearing on the
oatfide of the uprights which form the
ftand. If thefe are thought too trouble-
fome, the hurdles ftiould have been woven
fo clofe as not to let the litter pafs through 5
or at leaft you fhould take out the hurdle
2 when

OF SILK. T45

when you go to clean it ; but if the hurdles
were made fo clofe as to hinder their lit-
ter from falling through, there would be
no occafion for any thing under them.

After about three days feeding of the
worms, which mu ft be managed much the
fame way as in their foregoing age, they will
begin to fall into their fourth and laft
moult, which having the fame appearances
as the former need not be infilled on. In
three days they recover from it, being of
a colour the fame as after their former
moult, but their foreheads broader and
their feet larger and furnifhed with claws ;
their tails alfo broad, and furniftied with
an infinite number of fine hooks, with
which they are enabled to cling and fup-
port their weight.

N. B. If each receiver has two rods a
little longer than its edge, one rod may lie
over the pins which fupport the hurdle a-
bove it, inftead of making crofs bars, as
mentioned in the laft paragraph but one.
See Plate I. Fig. i.

L

CHAP.

146 THE CULTURE

CHAP. X.

fhe management of the Silkworms during their
fifth age , thdt is from their recovery out
of their fourth moult , till they are ready to
fpin their filk .

IF you did not diftribute the worms upon
other fhelves on their falling into their
fourth ficknefs, it muft be done now up-
on their recovery from it, by fome of the
methods given in the laft chapter ; and
though they be kept on the wide-woven
hurdles, yet they need have nothing under
them, unlefs it were fome loofe ftraw or
fuch like, that the air may have the better
accefs both to dry the fibres which the leaves
make, and to keep the worms cool and
refrefii’d ; for too much heat or any moif-
ture would at this age very much hurt
them.

The floping receivers of coarfe paper,
bafs-matting, or fuch like, will hinder their
dung from dropping through one hurdle
upon another, if they are fuch hurdles as
were woven wide for this purpofe ; and
this litter may eafily with a feather or light

brufh

OF SILK, 147

ferufii be fwept off thefe receivers when there
is occafion 5 but thefe are unneceffary with
dofe hurdles.

It is in this laft age that you will moil
find the benefit of keeping the worms on
hurdles ; for as they will now eat during
nine or ten days before they are ready to
fpin, and will grow very large, making a
prodigious deal of litter 5 they would, if
they were kept upon fhelves made of boards,
require to be cleaned every day, which
cannot be done without removing them
every time you clean them : but on hur-
dles made of final! reeds, which are very
dry and light materials, and have vacan-
cies between them, the air will have accefs
to that litter which flicks and remains a-
mong the fibres and fhreds of their leaves,
and it will not fo fuddenly grow putrid,
moifi, and mouldy, as it would do if the
whole quantity- of litter and fibres lay on
boards or fhelves, which did not admit
the air underneath.

It will, however, often happen that
pretty large fhreds of leaves which are not
eaten, ftiall fo clog and fence up the interftices
of the hurdle, as to hinder the air from
palling through, and will nake it necef-
L 2 fary

I4g the culture

fary to clean them in fome manner or
other : to do this I would propofe the fol-
lowing method, when the hurdle is made
fo as to let the litter pafs through. Raife
the hurdle on one fide fo as to ftand allope
as much as the next upper fhelf will let it,
and fix it in this fituation fecure from
dropping down ; then take a final! fork
made with two or three wide teeth of pretty
ftrong wire, and a little hook’d at the
points, andthrufting it underneath between
the interftices of the hurdle, fo as to take
hold of the under fibres, draw them down,
and thus going over the bottom of each
hurdle, moft of the litter which before
ftuck will rundown on the receiver.

The fork fliould not be very fharp, but
have round blunt points ; and, if the fibres
are not very thick, take care of hurting the
worms as you pull them down : it will al-
fo promote the falling down of their dirt,
if either before or after this, you do with a
copper or br'afs bodkin or fuch like inftru-
ment, a little raife the fibres on which
the worms lie, fo as to make them lie
loofe, which will difengage the dirt from
them, and will aifo make the worms eat
thofe parts of their leaves which remain

frefh ;

OF SILK, 149

frefh 5 but which, by lying flat under the
worms, would not otherwife be eaten : it
would' be bed therefore to do this before
you give them a frefh feeding, if much of
their former leaves remained unconfirmed.

If your worms lie on fhelves of boards,
or in any other way that their litter can-
not fall through, and, that it is neceffary
to clean away all their litter from under
them, you may do it by removing the
worms wh en they come upon the frefh
leaves to one fide of the ftielf which is
empty, and then making clean the part
from which they were taken, remove the
next neared worms upon this, and fo on
until you have clean’d them all 5 and you
need not at this age of the worms be af-
fraid of taking them up with your hands,
provided they are clean. But in remov-
ing the worms thus with your .hands, do
not by any means pull away thofe fibres
which (hall cling to their claws, but lay
them along with them : the tearing and
forcing them from thefe fibres, I take to
be a great caufe why many of them do
not care for mounting the branches where
they are afterwards to fpin ; their claws
being fo blunted and drained, that they
L 3 cdnnot

- *p ■ >•

150 THE CULTURE
cannot lay hold of the twigs and climb, ">
without being fubjeft to fall and tumble
down, which fo fatigues them that they
give over the attempt.

The worms at this fifth age will eat a
prodigious quantity of leaves, which fhould
now be of the bed fort you can procure
for them, becaufe it is now that they coU
left and digeft the matter out of which they
afterwards form their fiik : if you were to
open a worm before the fourth moult, you
would find nothing but a watery humour
mixed with the green mucilage of the leaves
which they feed on ; but when they are
fomev/hat advanced in this laft age, you
will find in their filk-vefifels a pale or yel-
low gum, out of which they form their
balls of filk.

The goodnefs, therefore, of their filk de-
pending, in a great meafure, upon their
being properly fed at this time ; you mull
take care that their food may be, in all re-
fpefts, as good as can be got ; not the
foft tender leaves of fuckers, or of trees
growing in moift watery places, or of thofe
which are very young, but the firmed:
dark green leaves from your oldefl: trees j
pnd thefe always free from dew or moif-

ture, .

OF SILL 151

ture, which would now make the worms
dropfical and burft them.

They muft in the beginning of this age
be fed four or five times a day, viz. very
early in the morning j about ten of the
clock ; about three in the afternoon 3 about
fun-feft and at night juft before you go to
bed. Your gatherers fhould 'therefore be
abroad as foon as the dew is off the leaves,
that they may fupply you at ten of the
clock ; or, if they have far to go, and
cannot return fo foon, you muft always
preferve two feedings out of the former
day’s leaves.

During the ten days in which the worms
are now to be fed, before they are ready
to fpin, you muft increafe the quantity of
leaves which are gathered every day 3 for
the worms every day will eat more than
on the former 5 and when they are within
a few days of fpining, you muft not con-
fine them to four feedings, but muft take
care that they get them as often as they
want, remembering always to feed them
late at night before you go to bed, and as
early as you can in the morning.

In this laft age alfo you muft give them
air, by opening the windows for three or
L 4 four

i52 THE CULTURE

four hours during the heat of every fair
day ; and even though the weather is foul,
yet, if you perceive the place where they
are kept to fmell ftrong upon your coming
into it, you muft, notwithstanding this,
open the windows for a fhort time to refrefh
the airs and you fhould afterwards examine
whether their litter is not gathered too
thick, and clear it away. Nor fhould you
now keep the worms too throng, but as
airy, clean, and neat as you can convenL
ently.

Notwithftanding the many rules and in-
ftrudrions which have been given, chiefly
that you might not be at a lofs in any cir-
cumftance, yet before their fourth moult,
you will not find much trouble in mana-
ging the worms 5 but in this laft age your
labour of feeding, and attending will be
confiderably increafed $ yet as it lafts but
about ten days, and as the advantage which
you are to reap from the filk worms de-
pends much on your diligence at this period ;
you muft fubject yourfelf without referve
to it, or lofe the profit which you ex-
pected.

The worms being fed plentifully as al-
ready mentioned, will, within ten days afi,

ter

■ OF SILK. 153

ter their recovery from their fourth moult,
have arrived to their utmoft growth, be-
ing two Inches and an half long, and an
Inch and quarter round, nearly ; their co-
lour light, but not gioffy, with feme mix-
ture of a dark greenifh hue : but in a days
time, having prepared and digefted the
materials of their filk, they will lofe this
greenifh colour, their bodies will get an
ivory colour and poiifli, toward their necks
fomewhat tranfparent, with a little of a
faint orange colour. They will leave off
eating, and before they are ready to fpin,
they will fomewhat leffen in iize; but their
bodies will feel more firm and confident
than they did before.

They will now totally defift from eat-
ing, and begin to wander about, ftretch-
ing out their heads in queft of a place
proper to fix in and fpin their filk-balls.
Nowr though, on account of preferving
feme little order and method, the inftruc-
tions for accomodating them, at their fpin-
ing time, are not given till the beginning
of the next part of this treatife ; yet it is
proper that you fhould have look’d forv/ard
ii)to that part, in order to have made the

necefiary

i54 THE CULTURE

neceffary preparations for them fometime
before-hand 3 for you would find yourfelf
greatly embaraffed to do it when numbers
of the worms were to be accommodated
if you had not made fome provifion be-
fore.

It may be proper, before I end this chap-
ter, to inform you that the worms which .
are hatched from fix ounces of eggs, re-
quire the attendance of two perfons till
they have pafied their fourth moult, after
which they require five or fix. They will
produce from fifty to fixty pounds of filk,
and in a favourable feafon a good deal
more,

THE

THE

Culture of S I L K.

PART III.

CHAP, I.

i the method of accommodating the Silkworms
with branches proper to fpin their Jilk in .

I Have now brought the filk worms to
that period of their lives, at which
your labour of feeding them ends; for
from the time that they are quite ready to
fpin, they no more take any kind of food,
though their life in different forms laft a-
bove a month longer, and, in cold climates,
a good deal more. Yet, though you will
be eafed of the trouble of feeding thofe
which are come to their fpinning time, you
will for a few days, till they are all fettled
in their work, be obliged to give them a
diligent attendance.

In

iS6 THE CULTURE

In order to drefs the fhelves for your
worms to fpin their filk, you fhould have
prepared before hand good quantities of
broom, heath, pruning of vines or fuch
like materials, of which broom is the beft,
which fhould be very well dryed, in the
fun, fometime before you ufe them, and
fhould be free from leaves, and all dirt,
moifture, mouldinefs, or offenfive fmell ;
thefe branches fhould be laid in bundles
like a whifk or befom, their fmall tops
placed as equal together as you can, and
then you fhould with a bill-hook cut off
their thick ends, fo as to leave them half
a foot longer than the diftance between
each fhelf, that, when the thick ends are
fet on the fhelf, the fmall twigs being ben-
ded, may bear againft the bottom of the
fhelf which is above it. With thefe twigs
you are to form feveral long arbours, arch-
ed at top, quite acrofs each fhelf; the
diftance between the fides of thefe arbours,
fhould leave the arch open quite through,
about a foot wide, that there may be room
to put in your arm, and feed thofe worms
which are not yet quite ready to fpin.

You muft form thefe arbours by the
following method : firft place one row of

twigs

OF SILK, 157

twigs within two or three inches of the
edge of your fhelf, bending their tops in-
ward, fo as to bear on the fhelf above ;
then place another row of twigs, at about
a foot diftance, with their tops bending
fo as to meet and form an arch with the
firft row. The third row of twigs, which
is to form one fide of the next arch, muft
be placed within two or three inches of
your fecond row, with the tops bended
the contrary way ; and the fourth row,
which compleats this fecond arbour, at a-
bout a foot diftance, with the tops bended
fo as to meet and arch with the third row ;
and thus proceed till you have formed as
many of thefe arbours as the fhelf will
contain, which will not be above two, in
a fnelf of three foot fquare, or three on a
fhelf of four foot fquare ; becaufe the
bufhy partitions between the arches, and
alfo thofe of the outer fides, will each be
four or five inches in thicknefs. You
muft fhift the worms afide to make vacant
lanes where each partition ranges.

You fhouid form thefe arbours fo as to
have a fort of bufhy appearance without
being too thick or too thin, but fo that
the worms may have room enough to fpin,
and yet the vacuities among the twigs not

be

1 58 THE CULTURE

be fo large as that they fhall wafte a great
deal of their filk, before they can fix on a
proper place; the fize of their balls, which
is that of a pigeons egg, will direft you
in this matter ; and the better to accom-
plifh this end, you may leave the vacant
fpaces, among the partitions of the ar-
bours, pretty large and open, till you have
done forming the arbours ; and then you
may thicken them properly by placing in
thefe vacancies, either fmall twigs, or fome
kinds of large hollow tubes, fuch as thofe
of full grown angelica, and others which
have no bad qualities. You fhould gather
thefe tubes the year before, when they are
white and withered, and if you flit them
lengthwife from end to end, they will make
a very good conveniency for the worms to
form their balls in, being very light and
dry, and foft, and fmooth on the infide,
and of fuch a form that the worm will im-
mediately fall to work in them, and make
very little flofs or ufelefs filk s and if you bun-
dle, and lay them by when you have done
with them, they may ferve you many times
over; you may thru ft thefe, along the va-
cancies, into the partitions of your arbour,
among the twigs and branches, and you

will

OF SILK, 159

will find the advantage of them ; fince,
as I mentioned before, the more any place
is adapted to the fize and figure of the
{ilk-ball, the lefs filk will be waited in fiefs
and ufelefs web ; befides that the worms
will more quickly fet about, and finifh
their balls.

With thefe therefore, or any branchy
materials, you may fill up the partitions of
your arbours ; obferving Hill to leave the
arches clear and open, fo that you may
readily thruft in your arm, and feed your
worms that are plac’d under them, which
mull be fupplied with leaves, moderately,
till they climb up among the branches to
fpin.

I have faid that, whatever materials you
make ufe of, in forming thefe arbours, they
fhouid be very dry, and clean ; for frelh
branches with the fap in them are not pro-
per, nor fhouid there be any leaves on
them, for thefe would fo flick among the
flofs filk of the balls as to render it ufelefs;
it is beft therefore to cut the branches of
broom in winter, and have them dry’d a-
gainft-fummer, for broom, on account of
its pliablenefs, is very convenient for form-
ing thefe arbours, the ftruciure of which

I have

i6o THE CULTURE

I have given from Ifnard a French author*
who treats the management of filkworms.

If the making of fuch arbours as thofe
I have mentioned be thought too nice, and
troublefome, it may fufficiently anfwer the
fame purpofe, to place branches of broom
round the fides of the Hands. And to do
this ; firft fur round the Hand with a cord
tied very loofely to the uprights, fo as to
leave room to thruH in a fufficient quan-
tity of branches ; the branches now may
be as long as the height of the Hands, and
their thick ends, being thruH down be-
tween the cords and the Hands, may reH
upon the floor; and thus you may thicken
them to what degree you pleafe ; but you
muH remember to keep an open on one
fide of the Hands, to feed thofe worms
which fhall not yet have climb’d the bran-
ches ; and becaufe the lower ends of the
branches are not fo bufliy as the * upper
ends, you may place fome with the bufliy
part up, and others down, to make it all
alike branchy.

If the branches are not tall enough to
reach as high as you have worms on the
Hands, you muH place other branches ref-
ting on thefe where they end, and fupport-

ed

OF SILK. 161

td by other cords ; and thus you may
quickly furnifh your worms with a con-
venient place for fpinning their filk.

If the hurdles are very broad, you may,
when the worms are near fpinning, draw
them towards the fides where the branches
are, by fcattering the leaves toward the
branches when you feed them $ or you
may, if neceflary, place them near them
with your hands ; or, which is eafier, you
may make bufliy partitions acrofs the end
of each hurdle by branches laid horizon-
tally.

Du Halde^ in his hiftory of China , fays
they there make ufe of matts for their filk-
worms to fpin on $ in the middle of this a
thin ftrip of about an inch broad is fixed
on its edge, and forms fpiral rounds, at
about an inch diftant, over the whole fur-
face of the matt 5 and between thefe rounds
the worms fpin. There would be lefs fiofs
made in this method, but then the breadth
of mattings muft exceed the breadth of all
the hurdles whereon the worms were fed,
becaufe a iilk-pod takes up much more
room than a filkworm.

It would be endlefs to recite all the me-
thods which 'might be contrived for this
M purpofe.

162 THE CULTURE

purpofe, for a filkworm will fpin in any
corner where it can ftretch its threads, fo
it is able afterwards to form its oval pod
upon them ; that contrivance which, with
little trouble, will have the leaft flofs pro-
duced, would be the beft.

Note, that in placing the broom round
the ftands, it may be ufeful to place fome
branches acrofs, mixing them with thofe
which ftand upright, to give them fome
ftiftnefs; otherwife the fpring of the thread
which the worm fpins may, after it has
begun its ball or pod, draw the twiggs too
clofe, and not leave it fpace enough to fpin
in, which I have fometimes feen happen
among fome of the fmall detached twigs,
that were not made firm by others mixing
with them.

Plate I. Fig. I. in the middle divifion of
the fland at G. is fhewn the manner in which
the arched arbours are to be formed on
each hurdle for the worms to fpin in, ac-
cording to Ifnard' s method.

In the other divifion at C I. is fhewn a
part of the ftand furrounded with branches,
according to the other method. The whole
ftand is to be furrounded in the fame man-
ner, leaving only an open in front at each

divifion

OF SILL 1 63

dlvifion to feed the worms. Branches may
alfo in this method be fuperadded to thole
which furround, by laying them acrofs the
hurdles on the fides which are quitted by
the worms.

CHAP. II.

fhe management of the Silkworms during
the time of their fpinning .

WHILE the filkworms are fearching
for places to fpin their pods* fome
of them will often wander about the mid-
dle of the hurdles* wafting their filk in
ufelefs flofs. Indeed* if the ftands are fur-
niftied with arched arbours* as defcribed in
the firft part of the foregoing chapter * or
if there is a buftiy partition made acrofs
the hurdles, which have the broom only
placed round them * in either of thefe cafes
the filkworms will fcarce mifs of a place
where they may readily fpin their pods -9
but in large hurdles* that have the twigs
only placed round them, you muft often
look, and whatever worms you find wan-
dering under the hurdle* or far from the
M 2 arbours*

*

164 THE CULTURE

i

arbours, you muft take and place near the | 1
twigs, provided they are ready to fpin, and t

their wandering from their food is a fign 1

that they are ready 5 you need not fear j 1
hurting them by taking them in your hands, t

only let thefe be clean, efpecially from to- ; t
bacco, onions, and fuch like; and you c
may take as many at once as can lie in your
hollow’d hand without fqueezing ; but ob- f
ferve to take them up with whatever flicks I r
to their claws, without tearing it away, v

for fear of blunting the claws by which t

they are now to climb. Wooden fnovels, v

which have a fmooth furface, on which f

they cannot lay hold with their claws, are t

the fitted: to convey them from one place (

to another, becaufe they can readily be (

taken off them without ufing force. f

As a great many of the worms will con- e
tinue to eat for fome time after others have j
begun to fpin, you muft conftantly fupply 1
them with the beft kind of leaves, fprink- j t
ling them very thin over them, and feed-
ing them often, and this even at night juft j 0
before you go to bed, and as early as you 1
can in the morning ; for their quantity of i 1
filk, and their ftrength and activity in fpin- ji 2
ning it, depends now upon their being 5

properly

I

OF SILK. 165

properly and fully fupplied as long as they
continue to eat ; for which reafon, you
muft give them their leaves often, though
but few at a time, becaufe if they lie under
the arbours it is not eafy to clear away
their litter, which yet however muft be
done, if it grows throng and frnells much.

If you find that as many worms have
got among the branches as can conve-
niently fpin there, then take away thofe
which have not yet mounted, and place
them upon another ft and, among worms
which will fpin nearly at the fame time ;
for if the worms are too much crouded in
the arbours, they will be more apt to fpin
double balls, which having two worms in
one pod, cannot be reeled off 5 and there-
fore, as you look over the arbours, when-
ever you fee two worms begin one common
pod, you fhould take one of them away,
and place it in Lome other part of the
twigs.

A little before the worms on any
of the ftands were ready to fpin, you fhould
have clean’d away their litter from all the
hurdles, that the ftands may be fweet and
airy at the time of fpinning, and that you
may not at that time difturb or fhake the
M 3 arbours

1 66 THE CULTURE

arbours where they are fpinning ; for this
would flop and interrupt their work, fo
that fome would debit from making any
more filk, and the pods of others would be
ill-formed, and difficult to reel off ; for
which reafon you muft always take care,
in whatever way you are employed about
thofe worms which are fpinning, to fhake *
or moleft them as little as you can.

As you were directed, in feeding the
worms, to keep thofe which were of the fame
age on the fame hurdle, fo you fhould alfo,
in diftributing them as they grow large, al-
ways have kept them on the fame ftand, that
they may fpin at the fame time, fuppofing
that you have many (lands of hurdles.

When moil of the worms that lie on
any hurdles have climbed the branches
in order to fpin their pods, you will gene-
rally have fome on each hurdle, which,
though they are ready for fpinning, yet are
either too lazy, or too infirm to climb the
branches, and remain below, wafting their
fil'k among the ftireds of leaves $ thefe
fhould be collected from all the feveral
hurdles where they lie, and fhould be
placed on beds of branches ftrowed pretty
thick on fome (pare fhelf, or other conve-
nient

OF SILK. 167

aient place, which branches may be mixed
with the fhavings of deal boards, peelings
of ofiers got from places where bafkets are
made, and fuch like materials, being well
dried. Among thefe fuch worms will fpin,
unlefs they are much fpent and grown very
fhort in which cafe you may place them
in paper cones, or fuch hollow tubes as I
mentioned above, where, if they have any
ability left, they will not fail to fpin ;
their balls however will be but fmall and
imperfeft, and none fuch as thefe fhouid
ever be faved for breed. A warm place
helps the fpinning of weak worms.

It is ufeful to vifit all the arbours from
time to time, and to replace fuch worms
as may have tumbled down, and fuch as
have ftrayed into places where they cannot
fix their balls ; or rather you fhouid put
them upon fuch beds of branches as have
been juft now mentioned, if they are late
fpinners.

If the worms, at the time of their going
to fpin, do feem in general lazy or fickly,
to perfume their room with thyme, laven-
der, and fuch like fweet aromatick herbs, is
good for them j it may be done, by put-
ting the herbs on an earthen plate over a
M 4 chaffing-

1 68 THE CULTURE

chaffing- difh of clear charcoal, and fhifting
it to different parts of the chamber. The
fume of vinegar is alfo faid to be good for
them, and thefe things are alfo dii edfed at
other times when they are fick, but if they
are well they will rather hurt them.

Cold and damp weather during the time
of their (pinning is extremely hurtful; in
very cold weather the worms defift from
their work ; you may fee them, while their
balls are yet thin, either moving very (low,
or quite inadtive ; if you remove one of
the balls to a warm place, the worm im-
mediately begins to work with adlivity,
and defifts again when put in the cold,
where, if it continues, the worm at length
totally leaves off its ipinning, and is
changed into a grub or chryfalis , which is
its ftate in the ball before it becomes a
moth. This interruption of its work,
though it fhould continue to fpin, makes
the ball difficult to wind off, the thread
often breaking; wherefore, if this kind of
weather fhould happen, you muff keep the
room clofe and warm, ufing perfumes and
fires of clear charcoal on iron chaffing-
difhes as above, and it is advifed by fome
to put a piece of iron among the coals, to

O F S I L K. 169

keep down the fulphurous vapour of them.
If the fume of the coals Ihould become
very fenfible, it were beft to admit the frefh
air for a little while.

This inconvenience of cold and moifture
will happen chiefly in cold and changeable
climates ; but in hot climates you will of-
tener have occafion to guard againft fultry
and fuffocating heats, which can eafily be
done by admitting the frefh air. An eafy
method of introducing either frelh air, or
aromatick vapours into the room where
you keep the filkworms, may be feen in
the chapter on the difeafes of lilkworms.

CHAP. Ill,

fhe manner of the Silkworm's fpinning its
filk-pod or ball its continuance in it , and
the changes it fuffers while it remains there ,
till it comes forth in form of a moth or

There is fcarce any thing, among
the various wonders which the ani-
mal creation affords, more admirable than
the variety of changes which the filkworm
8 undergoes ;

butterfly

!7o THE CULTURE

undergoes ; but the curious texture of that
filken covering with which it furrounds
itfelf when it becomes a moth, and arrives
at the perfection of its animal life, vaftly
furpafles. what is made by other animals of
this clafs. All the caterpillar kind do in-
deed undergo changes like thofe of the filk-
worm, and the beauty of many of them in
their butterfly Rate greatly exceeds it ; but
the covering which they put on before this
change into a fly is poor and mean, when
compared to that golden tifllie in which
the filkworm wraps itfelf. They indeed
come forth in variety of colours, their
wings bedropp’d with gold and fcarlet, yet
are they but the beings of a fummer’s
day, both their life and beauty quickly va-
nifli, and they leave no remembrance after
them 5 but the filkworm leaves behind it
fuch beautiful, fuch beneficial monuments, 1
as at once record both the wifdom of their i
Creator, and his bounty to man. 1

The matter out of which the filk is
formed is, while contained in the filkworm, {

only a fine yellow tranfparent gum, con- <

tained in two veflels as thick as a grofs c

knitting needle, and, when unfolded, a- t

bout ten inches long 5 thefie open clofe to j

one

OF SILK. 171

pne another In two exceeding fmall orifices
below its mouth ; on which account it is,
that though the filk thread as it is fpun
feems only Angle, yet it is in reality two
threads flicking flightly together by their
fides from beginning to end, and they may
be eafily leen and drawn afunder by the
help of a microfcope, or even without one.
This gum is of a particular fpecies, neither
diffolvable in water nor fpirit of wine,
though they will a little foften it, and it
receives its firmnefs and tenacity imme-
diately upon the filkworm’s drawing it
out in a thread, by the air exhaling its
moiflure.

I take this gum to be of the nature
of horn if it were in the flate of a
jelly ; for the filk veffel, being taken out
of the worm and hung up, will, in a days
time, become quite dry and hard, not dif-
fering in appearance from a piece of tough
yellow horn, and having the fame fmell
when burned : thus filk will be only an ex-
ceffive fine hair, with feme fmall portion
of gum on its furface, of fuch kind as water
can diffolve, and which caufes feveral of
thefe hairs to cling together when they are
reeled out of warm water, and it is this

diffolvable

172 THE CULTURE

difiolvable part of the gum which occafions
the wafte fuffered by filk in boiling it ; but
there is a much greater wafte than this
would occafion when the filk is artificially
gummed, as is fometimes fraudulently done,
to increafe its weight, or to make it lie
fmooth when they comb it to conceal what
has been ill reeled.

The filkworm can fix and form its ball
in any angle, or hollow place that is near-
ly of a fize with the ball ; it generally
roams about for fome time among the
branches, till, having got a fit place, it
begins its work by firft fpinning thin and
irregular threads which are to lupport its
future ftrudlure ; upon thefe it doth, on
the firft day, form a fort of oval of a loofe
texture, which is called the flofs-filk ; with-
in this, on the fubfequent three days, it forms
the firm and more confiftent ball of filk ;
it remains always on the infide of the lphere
which it is forming; during its work it
refts on its hind part, and with its mouth
and forelegs faftens and directs the thread.
This thread is not directed in continued
rounds on the infide of the ball, but is fpun
in fpots forward and backward, in a fort
of wavy figure ; and this is the caufe why a

ball,

OF SILK, 173

ball, in winding off its filk, will perhaps
not turn once round while ten or twelve
yards of filk are drawn out.

At the end of three or four days the
worm has ufually finifhed its ball, in fize
and fiiape like a pigeons egg ; the infide
of it is generally fmeared with a fort of
gum of the fame nature with that out of
which the filk is formed, and which feems
defigned in their natural ftate to keep out
the rain, for it refifts the wet fo well, affift-
ed by the filk which is round it, that the
balls, when put in hot water to reel them
off, fwim on the top like fmall bladders,
not admitting it within fide unlefs they are
imperfectly formed, or the filk aimoft quite
reeled off. When the filk-ball is finifhed,
the filkworm, being now much fhortened
and wrinkled, fo that the rings of its body
appear very deep, refts a while, and then
throws off its fkin ; this is the fifth time
of its moulting, though not mentioned
among its other moults, becaufe it doth not
interfere with your management : and
now, upon opening the filk-ball, you would
fee it in the form of a grub or chryfalis , in
fhape fomewhat like a kidney-bean, but
pointed at one end, having a brown fmooth

fkin

i74

THE

CULTUR

E

fkin compofed in rings, und the worm’s
fkin which it threw off lies in the ball
with it.

In this form it continues, according to
the different heat of the climate, from fif-
teen to thirty days 5 in England it is thirty,
reckoning from the time of its beginning
to fpin ; it then throws off the grub’s fkin,
which may be called the fixth moult, and
has now the compleat form of a large
white moth, with four wings, two black
eyes, and two horns or antlers branching
fide ways, like two very fmall black fea-
thers. It then immediately begins to moift-
en the end of its fiikball with a clear liquor
which it throws out of its mouth ; and
thus foftening the gumminefs of the filk,
it, by frequent motions of its head, loofens
the texture of the filk, but doth not break
it, and thus widens a paffage by which it
comes forth in the form of a moth, as de*
fcribed above.

Though the fdk is not broken, vet the
balls which are thus pierced by the moth
can never be reeled off, on account of the
fuzzy burr of filk which is raifed and
loofened at the hole where the moth comes
out, which immediately entangles the

threads

OF SILK. i7S

threads upon attempting to reel them ;
therefore, that you may reap the advantage
of the worms, it is neceffary that the chry-
falis or grub fhould be killed in thofe filk-
balls which you have not leifure to reel off
before the time of the moth’s piercing them ;
after having firft made choice of a fufficient
number of balls to breed from ; the man-
ner of choofing them I fhall give in
the following chapter. But here I muft
mention one thing which I had forgotten,
and this is, that after the filkworm has
begun its firft loofe threads, it generally
lets fall a drop or two of moifture, the
more in quantity as the feafon has been
wet; at the fame time it evacuates its laffc
litter, which is very glutinous and moift ;
and by thus emptying itfelf before it is in-
clofed, it avoids fouling the infide of the
filkpod.

CHAP.

t7e THE CULTURE

CHAP. IV .

Of dijbranching the arbours where the 'Worms
fpin . How to choofe thofe filkpods which
are defigned for breeds and fort thofe which
are to be reeled .

HP H E time in which the filkworms fi-
nifh their filkpods varies according to
the weather 5 if it is warm and dry, the
worm makes quick difpatch ; but if it is
cold or moift, they are languid, and fpin
{lowly. You may know whether they have
finifhed by fhaking the pod in your hand*
for if the chryfalis is loofe and rattles in
it, this is a fign they have done fpinning*
that is to fay, all that began to fpin at or
near the fame time with the one on which
you make tryah In three or four days
after the time when the worms began to
fpin, you may generally gather their balls
or filkpods' from among the branches*
Begin with thofe llielves where they fpun
firft, taking the branches and twiggs down
regula ly, and pulling the balls from among
them fucceilively as you take them down.

In

OF SILK. 177

In gathering the balls you fhould make
four different for tments of them, for which
purpofe place four different bafkets, in
one of thefe place gently thofe which are
defigned for breed ; in another put all
thofe which are double, having two worms
in them ; in the third put the firmed: and
faardeft of thofe which are to be reeled ;
and in the fourth thofe that are of a loofer
texture. Thofe which are very thin, un-
fimfhed or imperfedt, may make a fifth
fort.

Let. your choice of thofe which are for
breed, be always from thofe (helves or ar-
bours where they fpun earlieft. Choofe
from thefe the larged, the firmed, and the
deeped: coloured balls, that your breed
may be drong and healthy. For if you
make ufe of finall, or foft and imperfe.61
balls, which are the produce, generally of
finall and weak worms, your future broods
will degenerate, both in fize and vigour,
and give you vadly more trouble, and lefs
profit than ftrong and healthy ones.

In choofing thefe balls you muff, as well
as you can judge, take an equal number of
males and females : the balls which con-
tain the males are generally more taper
N and

i;8 THE CULTURE

and fliarp at the ends than thofe which
hold the females, which are more blunt
and round at the ends, and fomewhat
more fwelled in the middle 5 the reafon of
which is, that the female, having a grof-
fer body as being full of eggs, adapts its
ball to this form. You might miffake
thofe which are fpun double for females
but befides, that thefe are of an extraordi-
nary fize, you may difdnguifh them by
their clumfy fhape, which is rather round
than oval, and a little obfervation will
make you pretty expert in this know-
ledge. You cannot however expedt to dif-
tinguifh exaftly equal numbers of males
and females, there may after all be a confi-
derable difference, and therefore you may
keep as a fuperflulty, feme of the belt a-
mong thofe which are fpun double, and
when the moths are come out (for you
will then eafily diftinguifh the males and
females) you may add from thefe to the
fide that was defective. A French writer
has indeed hinted that thefe double balls
would produce worms, which would alfo
fpin double balls, and that therefore they
are improper to breed from ; but this has
no foundation, fmee it is accident, or a

con-

OF SILK. 179

confined place which brings two worms to
fpin in one ball 5 and therefore the largeft
and ftrongeft of the double ones would be
as good as any for breed ; and as they
can't be winded off would be fo much
faved : but as they are twice as . ftrong as
the Angle ones, the moths cannot well
make their way out, therefore you had befit
cut them with a pair of fizars, and take
out the chryfalis, which being laid in a
box, and covered about an inch thick with
chaff, will change- to a moth as well as the
reft.

An hundred males and an hundred fe-
males will together produce about an ounce
of eggs, from which computation you may
determine what number of balls you will
keep for breed 3 and you fiiould rather
keep too many than too few, to prevent
failures which may happen either in the
moths coming out ; or their breeding ; or
the eggs which are to be kept till the en-
fuing year, fome of which generally decay.

The balls which you choofe for breed
being thus fixed upon, take a pretty ftrong
thread and with a needle pafs it through
the outer filk of the balls, taking care not
to hurt the animal which is indofed, and
N 2 having

180 THE CULTURE

having filled a thread of three or four foot
long in this manner, tie the two ends of
it together, and hang it up out of the
reach of rats or mice, which would infal-
libly deftroy it. Proceed with the reft of
the balls defigned for breed in the fame
manner, and firing the fuperfluous double
ones by themfelves. Let them all be hung
up in a temperate fituation, if it is a hot
climate, but, if it is a cool climate, a
warm room will haften the coming out of
the moth. The moth will the eafier make
its way out if before you firing the balls,
you ftrip off the outer flofs ; and if you
firing the males and females upon feparate
threads it will have a convenience which
will be mentioned hereafter in the direc-
tions about breeding.

The reft of your filk-balls which are to
be reel’d, muft either be reel’d off direclly,
or, muft be proceeded wdth fo as to pre-
vent the moths piercing them, till you
have leifure to do it ; for though the filk
of thofe balls which are reel’d off without
keeping is faid to appear feme what more
bright and gloffy, yet there wall be no dif-
ference in the goodnefs of their filk, and
of thofe in which the grubs are killed, in
2 order

OF SILK, ri8i

order to preferve them till you have time,
provided you kill them in a proper man-
ner ; befides where you have a great quan-
tity of balls it cannot be expected that
you fliould be able to reel oft many before
the time of the moths piercing ; therefore
you muft be careful in preventing this,
which, if it happened, would . be an irre-
parable lofsj and thus by having all the
balls in a condition to wind them off at
your leifure, you will be able to go the
more regularly about it, and to reel off
their (ilk to greater advantage and perfec-
tion.

Moft perfons in the countries where filk-
worms are bred, do not reel off their
balls, but fell them to thofe who make this
their bufinefs ; and there is no doubt but
that all manufactures are the more ex-
peditioufly carried on, the more branches
they are divided into : -yet where perfons
who breed filkworms have leifure and con-
veniency, they will confiderably increafe
the profit of their filk by reeling it them-
felves. Three thoufand three hundred filk®
pods, with the chryfals in them weigh
bout twelve pounds, and may be worth
about eight drillings, according as the filk
N 3 feafon

i8a THE CULTURE

fea foil has prov’d favourable, or not ; thefe
twelve pounds will make about fixteen
ounces of reel’d filk, which is worth near
fixteen fhillings, befides about eight ounces
of flofs. So here then the reeling of the
pods doth double the profit.

You will fee the advantage of forting the
balls, as mention’d in this chapter, when
you come to that part which treats of win-
ding the filk proceed now to the me-
thod of killing the grubs, to hinder the
balls from being pierced.

CHAP. V.

rfhe methods of killing the Grub or Chryfalis 3
to prevent the Silk-balls from being pierced .

THE forting and feparating of the
ftrong, hard, and thick filk-balls,
from the thin and foft ones, as directed in
the foregoing chapter, will be of fome fer-
vice, when you intend to kill the grubs
within them, in order to prevent their
piercing ; for as this is done by the means
of heat, the thick afid hard balls will re-
quire to be placed where the degree of hea

is

r-t

O F S I L K. 183

is greateft, that it may penetrate more ef-
fedtualy through their thick and hard fub-
ftance. There are three methods of fuffo-
cating the grubs in the filk-balls : firft by the
ardent heat of the mid-day fun ; fecondly
by the heat of ovens 3 thirdly by the fteam
preceeding from fcaldiftg water ; in the
firft and the third of thefe methods there
is no danger of the heat injuring the filk,
and therefore they are to be preferred, when
your conveniency permits.

In order to kill the chryfals or grub by
the heat of the fun, you muft choofe a
clear day, without clouds or wind ; about
ten or eleven of the clock, fpread the filk-
balls to its rays, and letting them remain
in this manner for about four or five hours ;
wrap them up clofe in coarfe cloths, w inch
ftiould alfo have been expofed to the funs
heat, to the end that their foiling warmth,
added to what the balls have before re-
ceived, may .the better anfwer the intend-
ed effect. If the cloths were black or of a
dark colour they would conceive the heat
better, and after the worms are wrapped
up in them, they ftiould remain in the
fun’s heat fo long as you perceive it can
prefer, ve any confiderable warmth in them,
N 4 The

184 THE CULTURE

The bed fituation for expofing the balls to
the fun is before a fouth wall, or in the
angle between two walls which lies open
to the fouth, if fuch can be obtained, the
reflection Lorn the walls giving an addi-
tional heat.

It is hard to determine the time which
is neceffary to kill the grubs ; in the more
temperate climates, the balls will require
to be thus expofed three or four fuceffive
days 5 the colder climates fuch as England ,
will not do it at all effeftually, and, even in
the hot ones, you may be clifappointed in
the weather, and be obliged to repeat the
operation, or, at lad, to have recourfe to
the heat of the oven, or the fleam of fcald-
ing water.

The bell method to determine the lead
time which is neceffary to kill them by the
heat of the fun, is by expofing a few dur-
ing different lengths of time, and then ob-
ferving which is the lead time which can
effectually prevent the moths from pierc-
ing, by opening the pod and feeing if the
grub is kill’d: you may make this tryal
while you are expofing to the fun all your
fdk-bails, but the experiment can only
be pf fervice to you the enfuing feafon, for

you

O F S I L K. 185

you muft make fore of the balls which
you intend to wind off ; and it is better
to overdo than not to expofe them fuf-
ficiently. After having wrapped the balls
up in cloths as directed above, keep them
fo while any warmth remains ; and take
care not to admit the cool air to come at
them, elfe the chryfalis may recover and
pierce the balls.

The heat of an oven, fucli as it has af-
ter the bread is drawn, will generally kill
them ; but this requires nicety and atten-
dance, for if it is too hot, or they remain
there too long, it will fcorch and injure
the filk 5 and if too cool the grub will re-
cover as above ; the balls fhould be put in
bafkets, or in feme ordinary bags that
they may not be fcorched by touching the
fides of the oven $ it might alfo be of fer-
vice to moiften the bags, in order to pre-
vent this fcorching ; the oven mouth fhould
be well flopped, and in about a quarter
of an hour after they have been there, it
will.. be time to take them out; efpecially
if upon liftening you hear a fmall crack-
ling noife come from them ; after taking
them out, you muft wrap them up in
cloths made hot, as wgs before directed

1 86 THE CULTURE

in killing them by the heat of the fun ; (\
and, when they are quite cold, expofe j
them to the air, or to the fun, becaufe the j
heat of the oven will make feme moifture
fweat out of the grubs which are killed, j
which fhouid thus be dryed up, leafl it j
rot or injure the filk. It is advifed alfo by j
fome to take the fiofs off before you put j
them into the oven, becaufe, being very j
delicate, it is apt to be fcorched and injur- !
ed 5 but if this is neceffary* it would take ]
up too much time, which at this juncture j
might be very dangerous, efpecially if it i
was near, the time in whiqh the moths J
pierce the fiik-balls.

The third method of killing the grub \
or chry falls, which is by the fleam of boil-
ing water, is preferable to either of the 1
others, as it performs the work without
any in] ury to the filk, and alfo with, certain-
ty and expedition ; and, furely, fome re-
gard is to be had for creatures which die
for the ufe of man, fo as to kill them as j
quick and with as little torture as poffible : ^
it may be done in the following manner.

In a large wooden veflel, fuch as thofe
ufed in brewing ; put about two foot depth
of boiling water $ over the water fix an

hurdle j

OF SILK. 187

hurdle of wicker, fitted to the infide of the
veffel, about an inch diftant from the wa» •
ter : you may fix it thus by driving three or
four nails, which fhall fupport it firmly at
this diftance.

Having fixed the hurdle firmly, and alfo
fupported it by a prop in the middle, if it
is liable to bend, throw over it a coarfe
woollen death, or fomething of the nature
of taylor’s wadding, which will eafiiy let
the fleam pafs ; and on this place the filk-
balls, covering them clofe with a thick
ftrong cloth. You may pile them about
four inches, or as high as the fuffocating
fleam of the water can reach, which you
may judge of, by putting your hand under
the cloth which covers them 5 when they
have been there long enough for the fleam
to get through them, for if the heat there
is uneafy for the hand to bear, it is fu£*
ficient, and an hour or two continuance
in fach heat will kill the chryfalis.

When the water cools, fo as not to be
uneafy to the hand, it muft be changed for
other boiling water, therefore you fhould
have a kettle conftantly on the fire to flip-
ply you, and one fupernumerary veffel
which you fhould fill with boiling water

when

1 88 THE CULTURE

when any of the others do not retain fuf-
ficient heat to kill the chryfalis, and thus
the water which was ufed but ftill retains
fome heat, being poured again into the
kettle, will foon boil, fo as to furnifh you
with frefh fupplies. It would make this
method of killing the worms, by the fleam
of boiling water, much more commodious,
if, inftead of placing them on the hurdles
as before directed, you proceeded in the
following manner, viz.

Have a broad but fhallow wicker bafket
made, pretty open in the twigs, and of
fuch a fize as will fit and go into the ket-
tle or boiler $ it fhould be of fuch a depth
as you find by experience, the fleam can
penetrate through the heap of filkballs;
this bafket fhould alfo have a wicker cover,
to fhut over the filkpods which are put
into it.

Having filled it with pods, fhut the cover,
and let it down to within an inch of the
hot water, fupporting it by nails, as you
were direfted in ufing the hurdle, then
cover it with a cloath. * After it has re-
mained in this fituation, till you think the
chryfalis is killed in the lower part of the
pods, take the bafket out, and turning it

up fide

OF SILK* iSg

upfide down, fix it in the fame manner as
before over the fleam, thus will the pods
which were before uppermoft be now next
the water. Thus when they are fufficiently
ftoved, pour them out in a heap on a blan-
ket made very hot, and wrap them up
clofe, but not fo as to bruife them, that by
this continued heat you may be more cer-
tain of having killed the ' chryfalls ; then
fill the bafket again, and proceed in the
fame manner till all your balls are ftoved*
When the balls are cold in the cloth
where they were wrapped, they fhould be
fpread in the fun, or in an airy place to
dry any moifture which they may have
gotten from the fleam of the boiling water.
j| If the weather is not favourable for drying
them abroad, you may do it by fpreading
them on the fhelves of hurdles where the
worms were fed, at the fame time open-
ing the windows, that the air may have a
free paffage. You may, after they are
quite dry, heap all the balls on the fhelves
j of the ftands till you have occafion to reel
them of; they will be. more fecure here
than if laid on a floor, where rats and
J mice may get at them, and will gnaw and
deftroy a great many for the fake of the

grub

I90 THE CULTURE

grub which is in them. Therefore if the
place where you fed the filkworms washa-
ble to be infefted with rats or mice, befide
laying traps for them, you fhould guard
the feet of the ftands, by ftringing fome
fharp thiftle- burrs on a thread, and wrap-
ping it two or three times round each of
the feet, clofe to the lowermofl: fhelf,
which fnould be at leaft fourteen inches
from the floor ; this will fecure both the
worms and the filkbahs from being preyed
upon. The thiftles are moft fit for this
purpofe when their flower begins to decay,
before they begin to open and fhed their
down and feeds.

Having thus fecured your fdkballs ready
to be winded off at your leifure, you will
not be hurried in that bufinefs, for the
balls might now be kept for fome weeks ;
they will however wind off eafier by not
being kept too long, which is apt to harden
the gum which binds the threads together,
and if they are kept till the grub withers,
they cannot be reeled, not having weight
fufficient to keep them down in the hot
water, befides they will foon fmell very
offenfively.

Having

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OF SILK, 1 91

Having thus brought your filkballs into
fuch a ftate, that you need not be anxious
about any mifchief happening to them, It
is time that you give fome attention to
thofe which were feparated for breed, the
method of managing which I fliall now
proceed to.

CHAP. VIII.

The management of thofe flkpods which were
chofen Jor breed . The coming out of the
moths . j the method of coupling them . ‘The
materials proper for them to lay their eggs
on> and how to preferve the eggs till the
next fpring .

InPHERE is nothing of greater Impor-
tance in the management of filkworms
than that of obtaining a ftrong and healthy
breed, whether you regard the trouble
which it will fave you in feeding, or the
advantage of their filk. Every method
therefore which improves the breed is care-
fully to be attended to, for when you have
pnce got a good kind you can eafily keep It
up, but if you let your worms degenerate

and

t92 THE CULTURE

and breed promifcuoufly, the weak with
the ftrong, in a fhort time you will have ,
none fit to raife a good breed from.

I have already given directions how to
make choice of fuch fiikballs as are proper
to breed from, and how to firing and hang
them up, the next thing you mult expedl
to fee is the coming forth of the moth. ]
The time of its coming forth is various,
according to the warmth of the feafon and
climate; in Spain and Italy it is about
eighteen days from the time of the worm’s
fpinning ; in France about three weeks, in
England and Ireland about a month. How- ;
ever, you may haften the coming out of the
moths in the colder climates, by hanging
the fiikballs in a warm room, fuch as a
bed-chamber, or where there is a fire gene-
rally lighted, againft the fide of the room
cppofite to it ; and this in the colder cli-
mates is very neceffary, that the cold wea-
ther may not have advanced before the
time of their laying their eggs, which would
hinder their doing it in perfection.

When the moths are near the time of
their coming forth, the firings of filk-
balls fiiould not hang fo as to bear againft
the wall, becaufe fome of the balls might

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OF SILK. i 93

prefs againft it in the place where a moth
Was to come out, which is always through
one of the ends of the filkball 5 for which
reafon alfo, in threading them you fhould
have run the thread acrofs the fide, that
the two ends of the ball may not bear upon
one another 5 and if you had hung the
firing upon two nails about three inches
afunder, the fides of it would not touch
one another* fo as to hinder the eruption
of the moth.

The moths generally come out in the
tnorning, and cling with their feet to the
outfide of the balls ; fome odd ones may
chance to fall, and if the place is fubjeft
to have rats or mice they will deflroy them >
cats will alfo infallibly kill them. To pre-
vent any accidents, you may place a flrip
of paper under each firing of balls, which
will receive thofe which fall.

When you choofe the balls for breed, I
advifed the putting the males and females
on feparate threads, becaufe if they were
on the fame, they would begin to flutter
about and couple as foon as they came
out, and would hinder that regularity
which you fhould obferve in putting them
together. You may chance indeed to mif-

O take

1 94 THE CULTURE

take fome males for females, and the con-
trary, while they are in the filkballs ; but this
is of no confequence, for when the moths
come out they are ealily diftinguifhed, the
females having a large round belly, their
colour fome what whiter, and their horns
not fo large nor fo black as the male ; be-
fides the difference of fliape, which in the
body of the male is more {lender and fharp ,
at the end, you will obferve him fluttering
his wings with great quicknefs, and moving j
about with aftivity $ whereas the female j |
remains very quiet, and ftirs her wings
very little. When you find the moths are ! ,
come out of the balls, you fhould nail J (
againft the fide of the room a piece of L
fmooth woollen fluff, no matter how old : ^
and ordinary, about a couple of yards u
broad every way, or in proportion to your
number of moths ; then, by means of two j
or three fhort threads faftened to its lower c
edge, you may turn this edge up about a
three or four inches, and faftening the
other end of the threads a little higher into j
the fluff, fix two or three fhort flicks j
fharpened at the ends, to make the lower
edge of the fluff ft and out from the wall, 1
like a kind of finelf, about three or four

inches

OF SILK.

inches broad. This will hinder any of the
moths, which are to be coupled on the
fluff, from falling to the ground.

Now take the moths gently from off the
filkhalls to which they cling by their claws,
and place them by pairs, a male and female
together, on the above-mentioned piece of
Huff, to which they will fallen by their
claws, and, having purged themfelves of a
liquor, in colour like brick-duff, which
fpurts from their bellies in a final! fir earn,
the male and female will couple together.

You may, in thus pairing them, put
the ftrongeft and largeft nigh one another
on the fluff, and you may quite rejedt
thofe that are very fmall, weak, or fame-
way injured, by which means you will
further meliorate the breed.

You fliould have another piece of fluff,
hung in the fame manner with that already
defcribed, in a different part of the room,
and, as often as you find the: moths cou-
pled, take them off the firft fluff, and
place them, thus coupled together, on this
fecond one 5 by which means you will
avoid any confufion, which might arife
from your not knowing which had cou-
pled and which had not.

O 2 When

i ^5 THE CULTURE

When they have remained thus coupled,
on the fecond piece of duff where they
were placed, about eight or nine hours,
which will be till the evening of the day
when you placed them there, you muft
feparate them by gently drawing them
afunder, the male from the female the
male may be thrown away as of no further
ufe, unlefs you happen to have a fuperfluity
of females, and then you may keep a few '
of the males which remain moft vigorous
to pair with them. It is better however,
if you can fo ad juft it, to let none of your
moths couple a fecond time^ for the eggs
produced thus are not fo good, nor do.
they give fo ftrong a breed as thofe which
are laid after the firft pairing. • In fepa-
rating the male and female, take care not
to hurt the latter , you muft draw them
afunder foftly and gently, taking fome time
to do it, and if you find any which will
not come afunder without danger of hurt-
ing, quit them for fome little time and go
to others, after which you may return to
thefe. Some hold them by the wings while
they feparate them, but I think if you
hold them gently by the body, it does as
well.

The

OF SILK, 197

The reafon of feparating the males and
females, and not waiting till they uncouple
of themfelves, is, becaufe their vigour be-
ing now but of fhort duration, the female
fhould have time to lay her eggs while (lie
remains in ftrength, whereas, if you left
them to uncouple of themfelves, they would
frequently not do it in lefs than two days,
efpecially in the more temperate climates.

You fhould vifit the moths at times,
while they are paired, and fhould bring
together thofe that wander out of the way,
and thofe which uncouple too foon, that is
to fay, in an hour or two, that they may
pair a fecond time.

% Before the moths are unpaired, whether
they do it of themfelves or by your means,
you fhould have in readinefs proper ma-
terials for the females to lay their eggs on.
The fitted things for this purpofe are the
leaves of the walnut-tree, or rufhes, which
lad you may cut to the fize of any broad
drawer, and fpread fo as to cover its bot-
tom. From both thefe you can with great
eafe feparate the eggs, in order to preferve
them in little boxes till they are to be
hatched in the enfuing fpring 5 but do not
by any means let the moths lay their eggs
O 3 upon

i98 THE CULTURE

upon paper or linen, for to thefe the eggs
will flick fo faft, that it will give you vaft
trouble to get them of, and even that can-
not be done without bruifmg many of
them, and fcraping off a great deal of
down along with them, W'hich is apt to
cbftrufil and entangle the young worms
when you come to hatch the eggs. Some
ufe the fmootheft fort of woollen fluff,
which has no pile, for the moths to lay
their eggs on, and afterwards fcraped them
off with a blunt knife ; this is better than
paper or linnen, but yet is nothing com-
parable to the walnut leaves or rufhes.

The drawers in wdiich you fed the worms
when young may ferve to put either the
walnut leaves or ruffles in ; or if you hav^
not drawers enough, tables or /helves,
which are out of the way of all vermin,
and creatures which might injure the moths
or eggs, may ferve-, for, befides rats and
mice, ants and crickets are faid to deffroy
the eggs, as will birds and poultry ; cats
or dogs would alfo kill or difturb the
moths.

The walnut leaves or rufhes being pre-
pared, take firft thofe female moths which
}iad feparated of themfelves, and place

then*

OP SILK. 199

them upon them ; then feparate the others
which remain coupled, in the manner be-
fore directed in this chapter, and place
them alfo on the leaves or rufhes, and fo
proceed with the reft of your moths after
they have coupled the proper time of eight
or ten hours. The males are to be thrown
away, and none of them to be left among
the females which are laying their eggs,
for they would only difturb and hinder
them. In putting the moths on the leaves
or rufhes, you may place them fo throng,
that there will be about twice fo much
fpace empty as what they cover, which
will leave fufficient room to lay their eggs.

If you make ufe of a fmall net of the
fize of your drawer, looping it over the
heads of a few fmall nails all round the
edge of the leaves or rufhes, and proping
the middle with a piece of bulrufh (becaufe
they will lay their eggs on the prop) about
three or four inches long, to keep the net
from preffing on the moths, you will by
this hinder them from creeping off the
rufhes, and laying their eggs againft the
Tides of the drawer, from which you would
find it very troublefome to feparate them.
Or you may with a needle and thread
O 4 firing

200 THE CULTURE - j
firing feme rufhes, fo as to make a fort of
mats, and fix them all round the fides of
your drawer for the moths to lay their eggs
on, other ways you muft vifit them oft, ■
and replace fuch as creep from the rufhes.

On thefe leaves or rufhes the moths will ;
lay their eggs, each moth will lay about
four or five hundred, more or lefs, accord-
ing to their ftrength and fecundity ; fo
that an hundred females will produce about
an ounce of eggs. The eggs flick, to
whatever the moth lays them on, by a na-
tural gum with which they are fmeared ;
they are lirfl: of a pale yellow colour, then
greenifh, afterwards they grow fomewhat
red, and in about four or five days after
being laid, they attain a blueifh grey co-
lour ; this happens fooner or later, as the
weather is favourable ; and of this colour
they always remain, unlefs they afterward
happen to be damaged by too great cold,
heat, or moifiure in keeping them. The
eggs which do not get this blueifh colour,
but remain yellow, are good for nothing,
having not been impregnated by the male.

When the moths have done laying, or
begin to lay but flowly, and thofe eggs
final!, you may take them off the rufhes or

leaves

201

OF SILK.

leaves, and put them upon fome leaves
ftrowed on a table, where they may lay
the reft, which fhould not be mixed with
your firft layed eggs, becaufe they will not
be fo good, and many of them will not
change to the blueifti colour. If the rallies
from whence you took the moths after
laying are not very full of eggs, you may
put other moths on them to lay, but if
they are full, take them away, and place
others in their room.

When the moths have done laying, and
the eggs have attained the proper colour,
you muft take the nifties, and rub the eggs
oif gently, by drawing them through your
nails over a drawer, that none of the eggs
may be fcattered. They will very eafily
feparate either from the walnut leaves or
nifties, efpecially- when thefe are a little
withered, (for they fhould be -green and
frefh when the moths are placed upon them
to lay) either by rubbing them gently, or
where the eggs ftick fomewhat more faft,
by loofening them with your nails, or a
blunt knife ; but indeed moft of them will
come off upon the leaft rubbing.

As often as you feparate any quantity of
eggs from the rallies or walnut leaves, you

fhould

202 the culture

fhoulcl put them into a glazed earthen
veffel, and cover the veflel with a plate or
fawcer, to prevent any injury from rats,
mice, &c. after which place it in a cool,
but not a moift part of the houfe, and
there let it remain fo long as the weather
continues moderately warm, for fear of
bringing the eggs into a tendency to be
hatched. When the weather begins to
grow cold, pour the eggs into clean little
fir-deal boxes, fuch as thofe made to keep
wafers, and fhutting their lids ciofe, place
them in a cheft of drawers among woollen
or filk cloaths, but not among linnen, it
being apt to draw moifture to it ; or you
may put the boxes among the flofs-filk
which came from the outfide of the filk-
balls, and thus they are to be kept till the
enfuing fpring.

The place where the cheft of drawers
ftands fnould be fuch as is neither expofed
to moifture, heat, or cold ; for moifture
rots many of the eggs, and on this account
too, thofe who let them be laid on paper,
and keep them fo all the winter, will have
many decayed ones ; for paper draws
moifture to it. Heat is to be avoided, be-
caufe it might bring the eggs to hatch be-
fore

OF SILK. 203

fore their time; and great cold would
mortify them as effectually as moifture ;
a bed-chamber therefore is a proper place
to keep them in, but not near the fire ;
and if the weather grows warm before the
mulberry leaves open in fpring, they fhould
be removed into a cooler place, to retard
them till there is food for the worms.
Obferve alfo, that if the weather is cold or
moift when the moths are put to couple or
to lay their eggs, it fhould be done in a
place with a fire in it, otherways they will
not lay many, nor fo good.

PLATE I. FIG. IV.

A. ihews the manner in which the pods
kept for breed are ftrung and hanged.
13. (hews a little fhclf of ftiff paper or
pafte-board hanging under the eggs,
to receive any moths which chanced
to fall.

FIGURE V.

Reprefents the cloath, on which the
moths are to be put to couple,
placed againft the wall ; its lower
edge A B. turned up by means of
two threads C C. to hinder the moths
from falling.

N. B.

20 4 THE CULTURE

N. B. The chief reafon for placing this
cioath againft the. wall is, that the red
liquor which the moth throws out may
not fall upon the cioath. If the moths
do not cling well to it, but fall in crowds
to the bottom 5 it is then beft to fpread
it on a table.

CHAP. IX.

On the breed of Silkworms degenerating . An
experiment propofed to be tried , in order to
hinder it . Another experiment of cur 'lo-
fty propofed for tryal.

POME French authors fay, that it is
kJ neceflary to renew the breed of filk-
worms every four or five years by eggs
brought from other countries that are
warmer or more natural to the worms, as
from Spain and Sicily to France and Italy ,
and that without this renovation the breed
will degenerate in four or five years. It
may however be fufpedted, that much of
this degeneracy is owing to perfons not
being careful to raife their breed from a
healthy and ftrong ftock, according to the

rules

OF SILK. 205

rules already given in this treatife, among
which that of Keeping the eggs in warm
wine, or even warm water, and feparating
the fmall and weak ones which fwim, feems
of great ufe, and no difadvantage, becaufe
if you want a fufficiency of eggs, you may
rear and feed thofe which fwim, but you
fhould not breed from them.

Yet fuppofing even what is faid of re-
newing eggs by thofe brought from diffe-
rent countries to be neceffary; in cafe I was
obliged to have eggs from a climate which
was warmer, it fhould not be to raife an
entire new flock from them, but only to
crofs the flrain, between feme of the beft
of them, and the ftrongefl of my own
which were already naturalized 3 becaufe
it often requires feme time to make the
conftitution either of plants or animals
adapt itfelf to the change of climate.

But another kind of degeneracy, as I
imagine, may proceed from the worms
being fed, and kept in a manner which
differs a great deal from their natural way
of living 5 for as you cannot reap any ad-
vantage from them but by keeping them
in houfesy becaufe of the injuries they
! would be liable to both from birds and the

weather*

206 THE CULTURE

weather, they by thefe means have neither
the advantage of air or exercife ; theiF
food is conftantly fupplied, and they are
pampered and full fed without having any
labour of fearching about and going from one
branch to another, which they are obliged
to do in their natural ftate. Now though
this method of your fupplying them with
food is unavoidable, and though it may
for the prefent make them large, and pro-
duce a great quantity of filk* yet I think
it muft at length caufe the breed to be lefs
healthy, and lefs fit for propagating fo
ftrong and vigorous* or fo numerous an
offspring as the worms which enjoy a free
air. and are forced to move about and hunt
for their food : for I believe it will be al-
lowed that if a cock and hen were con-*
fined to breed in a coop, and their offspring
to do the fame, the breed would foon lof@
its mettle, and degenerate.

To prevent this degeneracy in the health i
and vigour of filkworms, and to continue i
the breed in full perfection, I would pro- (
pofe an experiment, viz. that a few might (
always be bred wild on the mulberry-tree, I
with the bed of which you might crofs i
the ffrain of your own breeders. To ef- i

fedt

O F S I L K. 207

fe6t this, in climates where the weather
will not injure the worms, no more care
need be taken, than to fecure them from
birds 5 and you might perhaps do it, in
the following manner.

Take as many as you think proper of
your firft hatched worms, and throw fome
frefh leaves on them, in order to divide
them fo, that there may not be above a
fcore on each leaf; when you have thus
divided them, fallen each leaf with the
worms on it by pinning them here and
there among the fmall branches of the
mulberry-tree, and fecure them from birds
by covering the tree with a net. If the
tree was trained againft a wall it might be
the more convenient, becaufe its leaves
would be the more forward, and it would
not be liable to be fo much fhaken by
winds; you could alfo the eafier fecure it
by a net, which you might fix In fuch a
manner as to be at fome little diftance
from the leaves, fo that no bird could
come at any of the worms ; this might be
done by fome covering of boards or fuch
like, which, projecting from the top of the
wall, might have the net hung to it, and
would be an additional advantage againft

perpen-

208 THE CULTURE

perpendicular rains and dews 3 however,
you fhould choofe a wall with an afpect
toward the lead: rainy point, but the north
afpect muft be excepted 3 the net alfo
fhould come clofe to the wall on the fides
of the tree, and be fattened with wooden
pins to the ground. By this method the
worms may perhaps without danger fubfift
themfelves in their own wild and natural
ftate, and may afford you not only an
agreeable entertainment, but alfo fome ufe-
ful obfervations, drawn from the wormV
own natural (economy.

When thefe worms are ready to ipin,
they wdll find convenient places between
the wall and the branches of the tree, and,
as foon as they have finittted their filk-balls,
you fhou’d take them down, and ftringing
the beft of them, keep them in the fame
room with the reft of your balls defigned
for breed, that the moths may come out
about the fame time 3 and then pair the
wild males with the houfe bred females,
and the wild females with home bred males,
as far as their number and time of
coming out will conveniently anfwer 3 the
better to effedl which, you might mark
fome of your own fhelves for breed, which
went to fpin at the fame time with thefe

I wild

OF SILK, 209

wild ones, if the worms on thofe fhelves
were ftrong and healthy, although not the
fir ft that went to fpin 2 or you may haften
or delay a little the time of either coming
out, fo as to make them anfwer* by' a fmall
difference in the warmth of the place
where the pods are kept when ftrung.

The foregoing method may be tryed ill
thofe countries which are not fubjeft to
. fuch rains, winds, or cold, as would hurt
the worms. The following one for trying
to keep filkworms on fmall trees within
doors is propofed as a matter of curiofity,
for thofe who keep them only for amufe-
ment, which if it fucceeds, will fave the
trouble of attending and feeding them.

For this end get two or three young mul-
berry-trees as bufhy, and full of branches
as you can procure, and of fuch a fize as
that when placed in pretty large but fiat
boxes of earth, they will pafs through the
door of the place where they are to be fix^
ed. Thefe trees fhould be fuch as fpread
into branches within about half a foot of
the ground, that by thefe means they may
have the larger heads and more leaves, and
yet pafs the eafier through the door, which
they will alfo the better do if they are of a
P fiattiih

210 THE CULTURE

flattifli form ; if they were not originally
trained to this form, you may bring them
to it when you are going to make ufe of
them, by bending the branches alternately
acrofs pretty ftrong flicks placed among
the branches on each fide of the tree. And
this form will both make the branches lie
thicker, and the better enable the worms
to fhift from one place to another ; and
will alfo give you a fairer view of them :
but in bending the branches take care to
fecure them fo that none of them may
flart, after the worms are plac’d on them,
for this might deflroy many of the worms.

Thefe trees fhould be planted in the
boxes of earth, with all their roots taken
up as whole as poffible, and at leafl on the
autumn preceeding the fpring when they
are to be ufed $ though I think it would
be better to tranfplant them in February ,
and to let them ftand one year in the tubs
before you ufed them, and if on trans-
planting you cut oft any of the branches,
let it be only thofe which fhoot flrait
forward, and which would not fo eafily
bend to the flat form. They fhould ftand
abroad in the warmefl Situation which you
can find, that they may bud the fooner,

till

OF SILK. 2x1

till juft before you want to make ufe of
them , and then may be carried into the
room which you defign for them.

Before you put the hlkworms on the tree,
you Ihould take a piece of bays or any ordi-
nary cloth, and making a cut half acrofs
its middle, let the ftem of the tree go into
it ; then few up the cut and bring the
cloth clofe up to the under branches of
the tree on each fide, and fix it, thus fpread,
in fuch a manner, that if any worms
chance to fall, they may be caught by it,
and alfo by its lying clofe to the branches,
may make their way up again ; then place
the worms on it in the fame manner as
was direfted in the former part of this
chapter, when they were to be placed on
the trees abroad.

If you think the weather too cold, or
that the leaves are not fufficiently opened,
you may, in this as well as the foregoing
method, defer putting the worms on the
trees, till they have even paffed their fxrft
moulting. Neither Ihould too many be
put on a tree, left they ihould have eaten
all the leaves before they were ready to
fpin 5 about two hundred worms will be
enough on one of thefe fmali trees, even
P 2 though

212 THE CULTURE

though it is very full of leaves ; and the
tree Ihould be forwarded by a warm fitu-
at ion, fo as to have its leaves opened to
about the fize of a fixpence, before you
put the worms upon it. However, you
may have a fpare tree in a box for a re-
fource, in cafe you find any of the others
over-ftock’d with worms, and you may
bring the flat part of this clofe to the flat
fide of that on which the worms are, fo
as'that their fmalleft branches may a little
mix, by which means the filkworms will
go from one tree to the other, and the over-
flock’d tree will be eafed. That the flat
part of the trees may the more readily be
thus brought together, the boxes were di-
rected to be of a flattifh form.

While thefe trees are within doors with
the worms on them, you muft take care
to give them air by keeping the windows
open when the weather is good. You
may prevent any moifture at the bottom
of the box from injuring the floor under
it, if it is a boarded floor, by placing it on
a couple of pretty thick fquare polls laid
on their fides, which will keep the bottom
at a diftance from the boards, and give the
air liberty to pafs between them. If the
i box

OF SILK. 213

box Is pitched on the infide, it will both
preferve it the longer from rotting, and
alfo hinder the earth from drying too fait,
by means of the wood foaking up its moif-
ture ; and as the tree while it hands with-
in doors, will not have the benefit of rain
or dews, the earth fhould be pretty plenti-
fully watered, efpecially when the weather
is very hot 5 and there fhould be a fmall
hole in the bottom of the box clofe to its
edge, to let out any fuperfluous water
which may drop into a veffel placed to re-
ceive it 5 for which purpofe the tub fhould
be fixed with a fmall inclination towards
the fide where the hole is made.

When the worms begin to fpin, if you
think they have not enough of convenient
places, you may fix feme fprigs of heath
here and there among the branches ; and
thus if the experiment fucceeds, you may
rear filk worms within doors in the natural
wild manner.

If the leaves of the trees, thus kept with-
in doors, are found apt to flag for want of
the evening dews. Perhaps it might be
helped by winding three or four united
ropes of foft tow round the ftem of the
tree, and afterwards feparately round three

P 3 or

214 THE CULTURE

or four of the principal arms, after which,
being again united, their end might lie in
a veilel of water placed or hung above the
tree. This rope drawing moifture from
the veffel of water, would keep the main
branches and Item conftantly wet, and by
thefe means help to fupply that great quan-
tity of fluid, which the moft fagacious Dr.
Hales has proved to be perfpired by the
leaves ; and if the rope drew more than
the bark imbibed, the fuperfluity would
moiAen the earth in the box.

ITHOUT reckoning thofe acci-

dents, by which the eggs of filk-
worms become decayed and mortified be-
fore they are put to hatch, and which have
been already mentioned ; the filkworm
during the time of its formation in the
egg, tnat is, during the time of hatching,
is fubjedt to accidents and mortality : thefe
have been partly guarded againft in the di-

C H A P. X.

Of the difeafes and mortality incident to Silk -
ci9or??is.

redtions

OF SILK. 215

regions given for making the eggs hatch.
However, I cannot here omit mention-
ing, that the hatching of eggs in perfons
bofoms, as is pradtifed in many places, may
pofiibly often kill the embryo worm, and
make the breeders of filkworms wffnder at
their eggs not producing according to ex-
pedition, though they were very found
and kept in a due degree of warmth ; yet
this I think may often happen to eggs
hatched in the bofom. If the eggs of
pullets are fmeared with any clammy li-
quid which flops the pores of the (hell,
there will no chicken hatch from fuch eggs,
till that which thus flops the pores is re-
moved. The perfpiration and fweat of
perfons, who hatch filkworms eggs, mu ft
often pervade the bag in which they are
kept, and may produce the foremen tion-
ed bad effedl on many of the eggs ; fome
perfons, however, will produce this bad ef-
fect more than others, and therefore all
people are not alike fit to hatch filkworms
in this manner.

Indeed, in all the prefent methods of
hatching filkworms eggs, the frefh air has
too little accefs to them ; whether it is done
in bags kept in the bofom 3 or in boxes
P 4 kept

2X6 THE CULTURE

kept in the bed, or between pillows. It
may therefore be of advantage to open the
boxes now and then in a warm place, and
ftir the eggs that the frefh air may have
accefs, and the eggs, by fdrring them, en-
joy an equal degree of warmth ; but they
muft be expofed only a very fhort time,
left they cool too much.

It would be eafy to make a communi-
cation between the external air and the
box, by means of a fmall reed or a few
quills, and the air which pafled through
fuch a tube, would be fufficiently warmed
by the pillows before it came into the box :
fuch a tube might alfo be fixed to the top
of a little box, fitted to keep eggs in a
perfons bofom or pocket, and then there
would be no occafion for having fuch box
p>ricked with holes to admit the air thro’
the bag which is in it, as I mentioned in
the method of hatching the eggs ; and the
box being clofe, and only communicating
with the outward ah by means of its tube,
there would be no fear of the perfons per-
fpiration or fweat hurting the eggs. A
little tube of leather kept open by rings,
which could be cut out of a quill, would
bend in any direction, either out of the

bofom

OF SILK; Ilf

foofom or pocket, fo as to communicate
with the outward air.

Thus much I have thought neceffary to
hint, in order to prevent any ill confer
quence which may be fufpedted to arife
from the method of hatching eggs ; for I
think fleam and moifture may hurt them,
as much as an improper degree of heat or
cold.

Some few filkworms are alfo liable to
die in hatching by not readily getting out
of the fhell, which, as it is not fixed to
any thing, is apt to be dragged after them
in their efforts to get out, till growing tir-
ed they are not able to extricate them-
felves ; this, however, happens to but a few,
and thofe perhaps weak worms. But the
method in which the eggs meft be hatch-
ed makes this unavoidable, neither is it of
great confequence.

It is likely that eggs often are hurt by
not being wafhed, as mentioned in the
chapter on hatching; for then many of
them will remain fmeared over with that
moift fubftance, which the moths caft out
a little before they lay their eggs, and this
will flop their pores in the fame manner
%s was Laid of fweat or perfpiration. It

might

V

2x8 THE CULTURE

might not be amifs to wafh them as foorr
as they have got their grey colour, before
they are laid up.

The diftempers incident to filkworms
after they are hatched proceed, generally,
either from their food, or the temperature
of the air in which they live. The regi-
men of their food may err either in quan-
tity or in quality. I have formerly mention-
ed the manner of regulating the quantity
of their food : it will be a pretty fure rule
to avoid giving them too much, if after
they have eaten all their leaves, they are left
without any for half a quarter of an hour
or fo. But if by any accident they have
failed too long, it is fafeft to give them
fparingly and often for fometime after,
and then of the wholefomeft and beft
leaves. And if they have forfeited by over-
eating, let them fail a longer time, and
afterwards feed them alfo fparingly.

But filkworms are much more liable to
fuffer from the bad quality of leaves than
the quantity. The leaves of mulberry-
trees which grow in moifl grounds, or in
places fhaded from the fun, are unwhole-
some; and thole which grow on fuckers
produced from the trunk, or root, or prin-

of silk; 219

cipal arms, being full of fap and moifture,
crude and immature, will produce a moft
dangerous fatal diftemper in filkworms :
even by only giving them one feeding, they
grow immediately forfeited, and throw out
of their mouths a greenifh liquour, and a
clear pellucid humour out of the pores of
their fkin, particularly out of the little
point which grows near their tail. This
clammy moifture by their rubbing againft
one another clofes up the vents by which
they breath, which are thofe black fpecks
that appear down each fide 5 and I fcarceever
knew worms recover from this diford er,
fo as to make filk worth any thing. It is
therefore much better to avoid the diftem-
per than to attempt curing it; however,
as all may not be alike infefted, pick out
thofe which are in the worft condition, and
if you have a mind to make experiments
on them you may. Then make the hur-
dles of thofe that remain, clean and dry;
and letting them faft two or three hours,
give them afterwards fome of the beft
leaves you can choofe, but little at a time,
and gathered a good while before.

Du Haldes hiftory of China mentions a
powder made of the dried mulberry-leaves

220 THE CULTURE

in autumn, and referved for a cure agamic
a diftemper in filkworms which he doth
not defcribe. He fays, they moiften the
frefh leaves and ftrew this powder on them,
being ground very fine. Perhaps it might
be good againft the furfeit above mention-
ed, as hay and dry food would be to cat-
tle. But his account of filkworms being
a tranflation from a very antient Chinefe
manufcript, and in all likelyhood by per-
fons who were not acquainted with the
fubjefit, cannot be depended on. The
moiften’d leaves would, I think, be hurt-
ful.

Mulberry-trees may alfo have peculiar
diftempers in themfelves, which may make
their leaves unwholefome for filkworms,
but this will heft be difcerned in the growth
of the tree and of its leaves : and the dif-
tempers incident to the filkworms eafieft
avoided by not ufing fuch. Air is the next
thing to be confidered, and my much ho-
noured friend the Reverend Doctor Hales ,
whom fimple nature chofe for her fa-
vourite, becaufe he courted her with can-
did fimplicity, has fhown in variety of in-
ftances how air affe&s animals, and by a

variety

221

OF SILK.

Variety of incomparable contrivances, how
it may^ beft be turn’d and attempered' to
the ufes of life.

Now filkworms are more liable to be
affected by the air, which is perpetually
neceffary to animals, than by any other
|j circumstance of their lives : fudden changes
j! from heat to cold, and from cold to heat,
are very prejudicial to them, and fuch cli-
mates as are much fubjedt to fuch changes
unfit for them, Thefe changes however,
can be tempered by art and contrivances,
inafmuch as filkworms are kept within
j doors 3 but putrid air occasioned by the
worms being either kept too clofe, or not
| having their hurdles cleaned, is apt to de-
Iftroy great numbers 3 yet the caufe of fuch
diftemper is eafiiy feen, for the abundance
of their litter, and the fmell which it
Spreads over the room, are fufficient indi-
| Cations that the hurdles want cleaning, and
that the room wants a fupply of more
wholefome air. Indeed, a very little con-
trivance would keep the rooms conftantly
fupplyed with frefh air, which being a
thing of the utmoft importance, I (hall
'here mention an eafy method of effecting
it, which is founded upon that remarkable

pro-

222 THE CULTURE

property of the air, that when pureft, it
is always moft heavy; and when mixed
with vapour, either putrid, aromatick, or
watery, or indeed with almoft any thing
that affefts the fenfe of fmelling, it is
lighteft.

Now, in any room where filkworms are
fed, if an aperture, about nine inches fquare,
be made in that angle of the cieling which
is fartheft from the door, and this aper-
ture continued by a funnel of board, till
it communicates with the open air, then
will the putrid vapours, occafioned by the I ^
litter and the multitude of worms, con-
ftantly afcend thro’ this funnel, and thejw
pure heavy air will fucceed by the door in its | to
place ; or rather, if an aperture is made
towards the bottom of the door, of the
fame fize with that in the cieling, with a
fmall fhutter to open and clofe as occafion
requires ; then will the frefh heavy air
come into the room with greater advan-
tage, by raifing up, and carrying of the
foul air which is above it : or if two of
thefe apertures are made in the oppolite I |of
walls of a room, near to the floor, and
opening into the air abroad, they will have
this convenience that you can take the ad-

airi

vantage

OF SILK. 223

(vantage of opening that aperture, which
is on the windward fide, when the room
wants to be fuddenly and thoroughly clear'd
of the foul air thus forced thro' the fun-
nel.

If it be inconvenient to carry up a fun-
| nel as mentioned above, then an aperture
made through the wall, dole to the del-
c| ing, may ferve tolerably well to carry of
v the unwholefome air, provided you ufe
fome of the apertures which I have men-
tioned, for the admiflion of frefh and whole-
fome air. Thus, if the proper cleaning of
the worms, and the due admiffion of frefh
air be praclifed, the diftempers arifing from
dirt and putrefaftion will be prevented,
fo far as they arife from the manner in
which people are obliged to keep filk worms
in houfes ; and, until fuch cieanlinefs and
airing of the rooms -is obferved, there will
be always complaints, as there are at pre-
fent in the countries which breed filk-
worms, of unaccountable mortality among
the worms of fome perfons, while thofe
of others remain healthy. But the fmell of
the room will give warning of the danger,
and point out the heft cure, which is pre-
vention,

- 4 1

and

224 THE CULTURE

It is true indeed, that diftempers of the
fame kind may arife from fome peculiar
putrified Rate, or malignancy in the atmof-
phere, as in a hot and moift fummer, or
in places abounding with mineral exha-
lations, or fab j eft to earthquakes, which
let loofe fuch fleams. But then, the dif-
temper v/ill appear more univerfal, and will
more or lefs affeft all the filkworms in ad-
jacent places 3 in this cafe, often cleaning
the litter away will contribute to preferve
the worms, as alfo not keeping them too
much thronged and crowded together. The
malignancy of the air may perhaps be in
fome meafure qualified, by keeping Ben -
zoin, or even rofm melted in a pan, lb as
to mix its fume with the air of the cham-
ber 3 for I find the fume of fuch aromatick
gums recommended in fome books, but
without diftinguifliing precifely for what
kind of diforders3 with thefe alfo they
mention the fume of hot vinegar, and this
laft, being of known efficacy againft putrid
and peftilential diforders, has probably been
found ufefui to filkworms in fuch diftem-
pers, though indifcriminately prefcribed,
to other diforders it would prove inef-
fectual 3 and this method of preferring

muft !

OF SILK; 22 5

mull be too often practiced in diftempers
incident to brutes* who are incapable of
defcribing their ailments, and generally
under the care of perfons who have little
difcernment ^ yet it would be of great ufe,
if perfons, who have (kill and opportunity,
would apply themfelves to diftinguifh the
diftempers which are peculiar to animals,
efpecially fuch animals as are profitable to
|| mankind.

The fire which is ufed, in order to raife
l the fumes above-mentioned, fhould be of
j very clear charcoal, placed in a chaffing-
difh, into which feme advife to put a piece
of iron, in order to abforb and keep down
the noxious fulphur of the coal, and alfo
to move the chaffing-difh from one part of
the room to another, that it may be equally
fumigated, and not let ftay over-long in the
room. However, the inconvenience and
trouble of the fire might, as I think, be
eafily avoided, when gumms or other
things are ufed, which require to have
their fume raifed by heat. For a funnel,
about half a yard long, may be fitted into
the air-hole on the outfide of the room ; in
the under part of this funnel, near to the
air-hole, fhould be made a hole, fome-

Q_ what

226 THE CULTURE

what lefs than the mouth of an earthen i
pot, which holds the fumigating materials,
this pot being placed on a chaffing-difh of
coals, and its mouth brought up clofe to (
the hole in the funnel, will fend the fume <
up into it, which the air, entering by the
funnel’s mouth, will drive it into the room, j
and the offenfive fleam of the coal will be j
thus avoided. It may be convenient to let ]
the funnel incline a little, that the fume (
may the eafier afcend into the room. This (
method fuppofes the room to be contrived
in fome of the manners above defcribed, J
for the admiffion of frefh air, and letting ■
out the foul, becaufe the fume fhould come ,
in by the apperture which admits frefli air.

When fiikworms become lick and languifh
by a continuance of moift weather, it is !
difficult to relieve them, it being as yet a
defideratum among inventions, to fupply
quantities of dry air from a moift at-
mofphere. Fires may indeed warm the
air, and fo hinder the bad effe£f of its cold-
nefs ; but ftill the air which is conftantly
drawn into a room where there is a fire
muft be fupplied by the atmofphere, and
bring its moifture along with it. It is belt
in this cafe to admit no more external air

than

OF SILK. 227

than is neceffary to keep that within frefh.
It may alfo be of ufe, before you feed the
worms, to (trow over them fome very dry
chaff, draw, or hay, fo thin that they can
come through it, and upon this to ft row
their leaves, this may imbibe part of the
moiflure which is in their litter, or on the
furface of their bodies, and at leaft it will
keep them from lying upon their litter ;
on which account it may be ufed alfo at
other times, when there is a good deal of
litter on the hurdles, and you have not lei-
fure to clean them immediately. Silk-
worms fometimes die during their (pinning,
or after they have finifhed their pods, be-
fore they change into a chryfalis. The
proper regulation of heat, cold, and frefh
air in this cafe is all that is in your power
by way of prevention, and this has been
mentioned in its proper place. When the
worm dies before it has finifhed its pod, it
never feels loofe in it upon fhaking the
pod 5 therefore fuch pods muft never be
chofen for breed, nor indeed ought the
pods to be taken from the branches till
the chryfalis (hakes in them.

Such difeafes of the moths as are within
your reach, are only languidnefs in coupling

2 or

228 THE CULTURE

or laying their eggs, occafioned by the cold-
nefs or moifture of the weather, which in-
dicates warmth and a dry place as the pro-
per cure.

THE

Plate JT.

Pig-.n.

f

THE

Culture of S I L K.

PART IV.

CHAP. I.

The nature of the filk-thread as fpun by the
worm . A general idea of the manner of
reeling it .

THE three foregoing parts of this
treatife have only taught how to
obtain the filkpods in that form
which the worm fpins them 5 and thefe
pods are now no further advanced toward
being woven into the various fluffs which
fiik can compofe, than flax or wool are be-
fore they are fpun into yarn.

But the firft operation that takes place
in the filkpods is not like that of either flax
or wool 5 each filkpod is two continued

glofiy

CL3

230 THE CULTURE
gloffy threads, without breach from begin-
ning to end, yet fo glued together by their
natural gum, that to the naked eye they
appear but as one thread, in finenefs equal
to the fmalleft hair; were this thread to
undergo the operation of carding or comb-
ing, its fmooth uninterrupted furface would
be deftroyed, it would be reduced to a mafs
of broken and entangled fibres, fit only to
be fpun in the fame tedious manner as flax
or wool, and incapable of making fluffs
with that fine glofs for which nature ex-
tended it to a thou land foot length.

Yet, to reel off each filkpod feparately,
would be of no ufe, as the finenefs of the
thread would then be infufficient for ma-
nufactures ; it is therefore contrived that a
number fhould be joined and reeled at
once out of warm water, which foftening
their natural gum, makes them flick toge-
ther, fo as to form one ftrong fmooth
thread.

This thread however is not formed by
joining a certain number of fiikpods, and
fo winding them all off till their threads
ended, for by this method the thread which
is formed of them all together could not
exceed a certain length, and by thefc means

a new

OF SILK. 23 1

a new fet of pods muft be chofen, and a
new thread begun fo often as would greatly
interrupt the work ; "befides, the thread
would continually leflen in thicknefs as the
fmgle threads of the filkpods do, and by
the breaking of fome, and by others end-
ing before the reft, there would be a wafte
of what remained. They contrive there-
fore to be continually adding the fingle
threads of frefti pods as often as others
end or break, by which method the thread
is continued to what length they pleafe.
The fingle threads of the new added pods
are not joined by any tie, but only lim-
ply laid on the main thread, to which
they adhere by their gum, and their ends
are fo fine, as not to occafion the leaft
perceptible unevennefs in the place where
they are laid on.

i- or your eafier conception, I here give
a general fketch of the manner in which
the pods are reeled. Firft, the pods are
cleared of their foft outward flofs, and a
handful or two of them are thrown into a
fmall kettle of water, under which is a fire
to keep it hot. The ends of the threads
are found by ftirring the balls with a fmall
befom made of fine heath 5 then, accord-
CL 4 i ng

232 THE CULTURE
ing to the intended thicknefsof the thread,
a number of thefe ends are taken and
paffed together through a fmall loop of
wire, which projects over the kettle, and
hinders the reel from pulling away the
pods ; the thread is then paffed through a
wire-loop in a ftick which is called the
guide ; this ftick, by a contrivance which
fhall be defcribed hereafter, moves perpe-
tually forward and backward, fo as to hin-
der the thread from ever falling on the fame
part of the reel, by which means the feve-
ral rounds would be glued together, and
could never be winded off again. From
this guide-wire the thread is paffed, and
made faff to the reel, which is turned by
one perfon, while another, fitting by the
kettle which contains the filkpods, perpe-
tually fupplies frefh ends according as they
break, wind off, or grow fmall. The
principal perfections of fflk when reeled
off are ; that the thread fhould be fmooth,
of equal thicknefs and ftrength, not flat,
but of a round form, having the fmall
threads of which it is compofed as equally
ftretched as can be attained, and as firmly
united ; and laftly, that the feveral rounds
as they lie on the reel fhould not be glued

together.

OF SILK. 233

together. The methods by which thefe
qualities may beft be attained, will be fur-
ther taught in the more particular defcrip-
tion of the inftruments and manner of
reeling the filk ; and it lliould always be re-
membered, that this is a part well worth
attending to, as the value of the filk may
be greatly raifed, according to the perfeftion
in which it is reeled.

CHAP. II.

Of the furnace , reel^ and inflruments for wind -
ing the filk from the pods .

I Shall here defcribe the feverai parts of
the inflruments which are ufed in reel-
ing the filk off the pods, according to that
order in which the hlk-thread is conduced
from the pods in the cauldron to the reel.

The furnace marked A. Plate 2. Fig. I. is
either a little round building, or an earthen
veffel about a foot and an half in height,
and a foot and an half diameter in the
clear ; it has a fmall opening b. in its low-
er part to receive the fuel, and a funnel
in its upper oppolite fide to let out the

fmoak.

234 THE CULTURE
fmoak. A thin copper cauldron of the
fame breadth with the clear of the furnace,
and about four or five inches in depth, is
fixed upon its upper part : this contains the
water in which the pods are winded off,
its ftiape may be oval, the better to con-
tain two parcels of pods.

The ends of as many pods as are thought
proper, being united, are palled through
a loop of wire. c. which I fhall call the
flop-wire, fixed in the end of a rod which
proje&s about a foot from the bench of
the reel. Its ufe is to Hop the pods, and
hinder their being drawn farther towards
the reel ; and this wire projecting over the
copper, caufes any of the pods which
chance to leap out of the water to fall di-
reCtly down again. It is ufually made by
giving the wire a turn like one round of a
bottle-fcrew, making the end come a little
acrofs. By this method the filk-thread
eafily Hides into the loop, which, if inftead
of this contrivance it were a ring, would
give trouble in paffing the thread through;
this wire is fixed into the end of a fmall
flick, which fhould projeCl about a foot
from the front of the fland. P. R. S.
which fupports the reel and the loop

fhould

OF SILK. 235

fhould be about a foot or more diftant
from the furface of the water, and mould
be made of brafs wire, as fhould every
loop through which the filk paffes ; for
iron wire, though mentioned by mo ft wri-
ters, when it takes rufl, becomes a fort of
fde, and would fret and break the thread j
but brafs wire doth not take ruft by being
wetted.

From the flop-wire C. the filk-thread
was formerly conducted over a fmall pully
fattened to a piece of wood about three
inches high, which flood in the front of
the reel’s bench directly over the rod, which
holds the flop-ware. The intention of this
little pully, or bobbin, was to prefs the
moifture out of the filk-thread before it
came to the reel, but a better contrivance
has been fubftituted for it.

From this pully the filk-thread pafles
through a loop of wire E. which I call
the guide-wire $ this loop is formed in the
fame manner as the loop of the flop-wire
before defcribed ; the wire is fixed in a
fmall flick F. G. called the guide-flick, the
ufe of it being to guide and fpread the
thread E. t. in fuch a manner on the reel,
that it may not always fall in the fame

place.

236 THE CULTURE

place, fince this would fo glue the moifl
thread together, that it could not afterwards
be feparated.

The guide-flick receives its motion from
a wheel marked I. which formerly turned
on a pin fixed in the fide of the reel’s bench,
but that fituation is now changed ; its di-
ameter is from eight to ten inches, ac-
cording to the fize of the reel you ufe ; it
has holes nearer or farther from its center
to fhift the pin which goes into the guide-
flick, and fo fpread the filk lefs or more
upon the reek This is a round pin, and
is received into a round hole in the end of
the guide-flick F. fo loofe, as to allow the
wheel to turn freely. It is turned by means
of a band which pafies over another wheel
K. fixed to the axle of the reel. The befl
proportion of this wheel K. to the guide
wheel I. for diflributing the thread on the
reel, is as twenty two and an half to thirty
leven. The wheel I. being put in motion
by the turning of the reel, doth in each
revolution make the guide-flick F. G. go
and return, its end G. being round and
Aiding forward and backward in a hole
which is made in a piece of wood L. The
pin on which the guide-flick moves muft

be

O F S I L K. 237

be made with a little collar, fo as the guide-
ftick may not lie clofe to the furface of
the wheel I. left in its motion it fhould
ftrike againft the axle or pin, upon which
the wheel turns. From the guide-wire the
filk-thread is drawn to one of the bars of
the reel I. and there made faft in order to
be reeled.

The reel is compofed of an axle, IL
which is beft made fquare for the advan-
tage of boreing it true, in order to let in
the crofs ftick, 11. u. &c. which are to
fupport the four bars, t. t. t. t. for this
purpofe it is bored within half a foot of
each extreme, with two round holes pretty
near, and at right angles to each other.
The axle may be about two inches fquare,
and the holes about an inch diameter, in-
to which the crofs fupporters u. u. &c . mult
fit tight at their middle part, though they
may taper to half an inch diameter at
their ends. Thefe ends fit tight into holes
made in the four bars, t. t. t. t. the crofs
fupporters mu ft be of fuch a length, as to
make the four bars t. t. t. t. ft and two or
more feet diftant from each other, making
the round of the reel about eight feet.

The

238 THE CULTURE

The four bars have been generally made
round, but I would recommend, as a bet-
ter method, to form them firfl rectangu-
lar, about one inch by two, and then to
plane down the edge, which is to be the
outermoft and receive the filk, to any an-
gle lefs than a right ang is ; for being plac-
ed thus edgeways on the crofs fupporters,
they will refill the fpring of the filk as
joifts do the weight of a floor ; for one
could fcarce imagine, if he had not tryed
it, how great a power a thick fkain of
filk has to warp and bend the bars of the
reel. Another advantage of planeing their
outer edge down to lefs than a right angle,
is, that in this cafe the filk will only touch
the bars in a point, whereas if they were
round, it would lie upon one half of the
circumference of each bar, which would
caufe a good part of the fkain to be flat,
and the threads to be more glued together
in the four different parts which lay upon
the four bars. The angle however fhould
not be left fharp and cutting, but fhould
have its edge a little rounded. And the
bars fhould be made of wood which is
pretty hard and fmoothly polifhed, for if
it has any fplits, or roughnefs, the threads

of

OF SILK. 239

of the fkain will be apt to catch and
break when you are dilbanding it from the
reel.

The axle of the reel turns in two
grooves, made ir two pieces of wood x. x.
fixed in two oppofite fides of the bench,
by means of the wince or handle, L. the
axle is rounded and reduced to about an
inch and an half diameter, at the parts
which lie in the grooves ; in which it is
kept by two wire pins, w. w. one of which
finks a little into a fmall groove turned in
the axle itfelf, by which means it is kept
very fteady, or it may be kept fteady by
two flioulders, if they are exactly at the
diftance of the two pieces of wood which
fupport the axle.

In this defeription of the reel I have,
for brevity’s fake, only mentioned one filk-
thread ; but as two may be reeled at once
upon different parts of the reel according
to the expertnefs of the fpinner, which is
the peiion who fupplies frefh ends when
any of the pods break, or are winded off,
therefore you are to fuppofe the other
thread conduced in the fame manner, as
that already deferibed thro’ the other ftop-
wire, C, &c. at about fix inches diftance

from

6

240 the culture

from the other, in the manner which you
fee delineated in the figure.

The foregoing defcriptions mentions the
manner in which the filk-reel is at prefent
made and ufed, but the plate which re-
prefents it (hows it with the new improve-
ments made lately by Mr. Vaucanfon , and
defcribed in the memoirs of the academy
of fciences at Paris , but without giving
any figures of the defcription. The rea-
fon and foundation of thefe improvements
are confidered more particularly in the fol-
lowing chapter.

CHAP. Ill,

Phe improvements of the filk-reel^ and the
maimer of reeling .

WITH regard to the motion of the
guider-ftick, Mr. Vaucanfon obferves
that it v/as found that the band which paf-
fes over the two little wheels K. I. by be-
ing varioufly ftretched by the weather, in-
equalities of the wheels, &c. could not
make the guide-ftick F. G. move in fo uni-
form a manner as always to difpofe the

different

OF SILK, 24.1

different revolutions of the thread upon
the fame parts of the reel. And therefore
it was contrived that the guide-ftick iliould
be moved by a fet of three or four wheels
with teeth, or cogs communicating with
that on the axle of the reel. But thefe
being made of wood, and frequently break-
ing, and going out of order, occaiioned de-
lay and lofs in the reeling of the filk ; he
therefore revives the method of working
by the band, and to keep it always at the
fame degree of extenfion ; contrives that
the wheel I. which moves the guide-ftick
fhouid turn upon an axle, which is fixed
in one end of a bar of wood, W X, this bar
is moveable on a pin. y. pafling through a
hole in its other end, (the lower part of
that piece of wood through which the
guide-ftick goes and returns may ferve for
this purpofe) then the end W. on which
the guide-wheel turns is drawn by a firing
pafling over a pully near S, to which a
weight of one or two pounds is faftened.
And thus the band is kept conftanly at the
fame ftretch.

The next defedl was found in the fmall
pullies, or bobins, whole ufe as mentioned
in the foregoing chapter, was to fqueeze

R feme

242 THE CULTURE

fome of the moifture out of the thread as
it paffed over them. This however, they
did but very imperfectly, and were befides
found by their preffure to give the thread
a flat form, whereas its perfection is to be
as round as poflible. In ftead therefore of
thefe pullies, they contrived to make the
two threads crofs by twifting three or four
times round each other, between their paf-
fage from the ftop-wiresto the guide-wires,
which they called winding in crofs. This
method had great fuccefs ; the threads by
being thus wrapped two or three times
round one another became round and com-
pact. And the preffure made by the crof-
fing one another, added to the frequent
vibrations which were made at the angle,
where the two threads feparate in wind-
ing, caufed them to arrive at the reel well
drained of their moifture, and of a more
round form.

Mr. Vaucanfon obferves on this method,
that the threads are made to crofs by twif-
ting them over one another with their
fingers, which have no accurate fenfe of
feeling, by being continually employed in
the warm water j and that by thefe means

the

OF SILK. 243'

the degree of crofimg is not accurately de-
termined. He advifes to encreafe it by
making a double eroding, and defcribes a
method both of doing this and determin-
ing the degree, or number of the times,
that the threads are eroded, in the follow-
ing manner.

A wooden ring marked A. Plate II. Fig.
II. is made three quarters of an inch in
tlxicknefs, and one inch broad, its inner
diameter is fix inches and an half. Its
outiide rim has a groove for the reception
of a band, f. f, this ring is placed between
three little wooden rollers b. b. b. which
turn on pins fixed in a fquare frame of
wood, c. c. c. c. the frame is fixed by the
pin e. which comes from its lower fide in-
to a hole, Z. which is bored in the mid-
dle between S and R in the reefs bench.
Fig. I. the band which goes in the groove
of this ring goes alfo round a groove in a
wheel I. of the fame fize, which turns on
a pin going thro’ its center into an upright,
i. i. which is fattened in a hole to fuch a
part of the reefs bench, R. where it can
niofl: conveniently be reached by the hand
of the fpinner, who fits by the cauldron,
R 2 and

244 T I-I E CULT U Pv E

and turns it by a little handle k. when I
when the threads are to be eroded.

Now the two filk-threads after having
been paffed thro’ the loops of the flop-
wires, c. c. inftead of going over the bo-
bins, or pullies, are made to pafs over two
little hooks of brafs wire, d. d. placed oppofite
to each other on the infide of this wooden
ring. From whence they go each thro’
its own guide-wire, and fo to the reel.

And now, by giving the wheel I. over
which the band pafies two, three, or more
turns y the wooden ring, over which the
fame band paifes, is turned the fame num-
ber of times, and fo many times are the
filk-threads crofied over one another, and
that in two places, viz. before they arrive
at the wooden ring, and after they pafs
tin o’ it. By this double croiTing, or twit-
ting over each other, the filk-threads in
reeling, are as it were, wrung and fqueef-
ed ; and the gummy moifrure, which they
receiv’d in the kettle, drained and prelfed
out, fo that they arrive at the reel much
dryer than they ctherwife would do , and
from the preffure which they undergo at the
erodings are made more firm, compadl,

and

OF SILK. 245

and round ; fo as to appear in feme mea-
fure twifted.

Mr. Vaucanjin mentions a further life of
winding in the crofs : which is that it fhews
on which fide the fpinner ought to add
frefli filk-pods in order to keep the two
threads of equal ftrength and thicknefs :
he juftly obferves that keeping always the
fame number of filk-pods will not pre-
ferve the fame thicknefs in the thread 5 for
the fingle thread of one pod that is but a
little winded off, may be as thick and
flrong as two, three, or more that are al-
moft exhaufted ; but the crofs which is
next to the ftop-wire will, as foon as ei-
ther thread grows weaker than the other,
fwerve towards the fide of the ftronger
thread, and thus give notice that feme (ilk-
pods are to be added to the other fide.

But I muff obferve that this fwerving of
the crofs, to either fide, will not happen
unlefs the hooks of the wooden ring, over
which the threads pais be kept in a pofi-
tion horizontal, and alfo each hook on the
fame fide with that ftop-wire from which
its own thread proceeds ; and, tho’ Mr.
Vaucanfon mentions this as a method of
keeping each thread to the fame thicknefs
R 3 with

246 THE CULTURE

with which it began, it will only keep them
of the fame thicknefs with one another in
correfponding parts. For the addition of
pods on one fide or the other, in order to
bring the crofs to the middle, may happen
to be fuperadded fo equally, that, tho’ the
threads equal one another, yet at long run
you fhall either add more thicknefs to
each thread than you fet out with, or fall
Ihort of it ; fome regard muff therefore
be had to the number of filk-pods with
which the threads were begun, fo as not
confiderably to encreafe or leffen their
number.

Mr. Vaucanfon obferves that when the
crofs fwerves much to the fide of the weak-
er thread, and remains long in that fili-
ation, the thread is then apt to break 5 he
therefore fometimes made the crofs ftand
between the fangs of a fmall fork, that
young beginners, who were not expert at
reeling in crofs, might have time to add
frefh pods to the weaker thread, the fork
confining the crofs fo as not to let it fwerve
much.

Thus I have given the fcope of Mr. Vau^
canforis improvement of the double crof-
fxng, and the advantages he propofes from

it-

OF SILK. 247

It. He fays indeed, that the women who
reel the pods will with difficulty be brought
to ufe it, became the threads thus eroding
twice are liable to be broken, and occasion
delay, efpecially if they are not kept' clear
of any flofs, or burr, which is apt to rife
either from the pods not being at firft
well clear’d of the flofs, or from the water
being too hot. Mr. Vaucanfon therefore
propofes this double eroding chiefly for fuch
filk as is to ferve for warp ; which, becaufe
it differs a confiderable ftreis in the oper-
ation of weaving, is therefore to be made
more compaft and flrong.

It may be obferved that the apparatus
of the wooden ring is only for the readi-
n'efs of eroding the two threads, for they
may receive a double eroding by means of
two little hooks plac’d at each extreme of
a flick fix inches long, and fixed in its
middle point upon another, fo as to form
the figure of a T. this being placed ereft
in the place of the wooden ring, the two
threads which pafs parallel over its hooks
will receive the double eroding, by taking
off the top of the T. which is only fatten-
ed by a hole in its middle $ and, after it
R 4 has

248 THE CULTURE
has been turned round fo many times as
is neceffary for the croffing, replacing it.

I mention this becaufe it requires little
apparatus 5 the double croffing may firft
be tried in this manner, and, if it comes
into practice, Mr. Vaucanforis method may
afterwards be ufed. The chief advantage
of two croffings are the ftarts and vibra-
tions which the two threads undergo when
they feparate at the croffes ; this makes
them fhake of the moiflure with which
they are loaded, more fpeedly, as the vi-
brations are double of what they would
be with only one croffing.

Some dimenfions of the reel, &c. which
are as yet undefcribed, are as follows. See
Plate II. Fig. I.

The length of its bench, P. S. about
five foot.

Its breadth S R. two foot and a half.

The feet at S and R next the cauldron,
two foot high.

Thofe at P. and next the reel, two
foot and a half high.

The flop-wires fixed in the two rods
C C. project one foot from the tranfverfe,
S R. and are about fix inches afunder, viz.
equal to the diameter of the guide-wheel

L

OF SILK. 249

I. and about a foot diftant from the caul-
dron.

The bar M N. which fupports the guide-
wheel I. and guide-flick E. G. is two foot
diftant from the end C. of the flop- wires,
the guide-wires are fo long as not to let
the filk-thread make an angle at the m.

The axle of the reel K L. is three foot
diftant from the guide-flick.

The reefs diameter, viz. the length of
the crofs-bars about two foot for fine warp,
for woof it is often four or five foot 3 but
this is not reel’d in crofs.

The guide-wires, E. E. are at the fame
diftance from each other as the flop-wires,
viz. about fix inches.

The diameter of the guide-wheel’s groove
is to the diameter of the fmail wheel’s
groove, as 74, to 45 ; for ranging the filk
in the beft manner on the reel * the fize
of thefe wheels fhould enlarge with the
reel’s diameter, but the proportions fhould
be kept. The bench mu ft alfo be lengthen-
ed when the reel is made large.

The Furnace A. is round, or oval, with
a fire hole, B. and it would alfo be the bet-
ter of a flue to carry of the finoak.

The

250 THE CULTURE

The copper or cauldron is fhaped to the
form of the furnace ; (the oval form is
befl for reeling two or three parcels of
of pods) it is about four or five inches
deep ; it may fink into the furnace, and
be fupported by its ledge ; or it may be
only a pan Handing on the top of the fur-
nace, in which cafe the furnace muft not
be much above a foot high.

Though the fore feet of the reel’s bench
are by authors directed to be made only
two foot high, and the hinder ones two
foot and an half ; yet it would anfwer bet-
ter if they were made higher ; for then
the flop-wires C. C. would be raifed fome-
what more above the cauldron, which
would give better fcope to the adding of
frefli filk-pods by having more length of
threads beneath the flop-wires, for it is
thefe feparated threads that catch the frefin
ones which are added and carry them up,
Befides, the pods in the cauldron would
not then be fo apt to rife and flrike againfl
the flop-wkts, which often breaks fome of
the threads. The feet therefore fhould be
fo high, as that the flop-wires may be at
leaft a foot and half above the water in
the cauldron, and the cauldron itfelf not

fo

OF SILK. 251

fo low as to be uneafy to the woman who
fupplies filk-pods, by making her ftoop
too much, as fhe fits by it

Small models of the reel are made
by Mr. Thomas Belcher , Cabinet-maker in
Brownlowfreet , Holburn .

C H A P, VI,

How to take of the flofs or loofe filk from the
podsj the reafon of forting thefe accord-
ing to their different degree of finenefs^ in
order to be reeled .

BEFORE the filk-pods can be reel'd*
it is neceffary to free them from that
loofe fuzzy filk which is on their outfide,
and is called the flofs* it being of fo fine
and loofe a confidence, and partly broken
by taking it from the branches where the
worms had fpun it, that it cannot be reel-
ed off in water. It may be taken off by
opening it on one of the ends of the filk-
pods, and then thrufting out the hard part
of the pod, which is that .which is to be
reeled, clearing off the loofe filk which
adhers to it, and throwing this part with

the

252 THE CULTURE

the flofs, in order to make ordinary cheap

filk.

And now, at taking off the flofs, is a
good time for forting the filk-pods accord-
ing to their different degrees of hardnefs ;
this is a thing which is very little attend-
ed to in the countries where filk is produc-
ed. They carelefiy throw into the hot
water all kind of filk-pods, and fo reel of
the ftrong and the tender, and often the
double ones mixed with them, the confe-
quence of which is, a great deal more
trouble* in the reeling, the filk breaking
much oftener, and being much the worfe.

For the proof of this, let us fuppofe
only two filk-pods, one campaft and hard,
and the other of a loofe and foft fubftance
thrown together into the hot water, in or-
der to be reeled off together, and to make
one thread : if now the water be fufficient-
ly hot to let the hardeft of the two filk-
pods wind off with eafe, by diffolving its
gumminefs, then that water will be too
hot for the other pod whofe fubftance is
loofe, fo that it will run off in burrs, that
is flakes of the filk will come off without
being drawn to their extent, which burrs
as they pafs the ftop-wires, or guide-wires,

will

OF SILK, 253

will endanger the breaking of the thread,
filling it alfo with lumps and inequali-
ties.

On the other hand, if the water is juft
properly warm for the foft pod, fo as not
to occafion the above inconveniency, It
will then not be hot enough for the hard
pod, fo that its thread will not be difuni-
ted from it, without fome ftretch and vio-
lence endangering its breaking, and giv-
ing the trouble of adding a frefti pod.
And in both cafes the fingle hairs of the
filk-pods, being unequally ftretched in reel-
ing, will make the combin’d thread the
weaker, and alfo lefs even, and glolly,
fince the fingle hair of that pod which was
mo ft ftretched by the reel will, upon diff
banding, contraft itfelf more than the
other, and be feparated from it in fome
places.

On thefe accounts, having flrft feparated
the double pods, and alfo thofe which con-
tain nothing but ftofs, with any others,
which, being imperfectly formed, cannot
be reeled 5 fort the perfect pods into three
kinds, and do this at the time that you
are flopping off the flofs, which being re-
moved, you can readily perceive their dif-
ferent

254 "HE CULTURE

ferent degrees of hardnefs, and throw them
into three different bafkets. The firft fort
will confift of ail that are very compatt,
having their fingle hairs very firmly glued
over one another ; the fecond of thofe
which are of a middle confiftence ; and
the third, thofe whofe hairs are loofe and
open. The hard or loofe confiftence is not
judged of by the flofs, but by the compadl
part of the pod which remains under the
flofs.

It may not be amifs to obferve that chil-
dren may readily be taught the bufmefs
of ftripping the flofs from off the pods,
but to judge of their confiftence and fort
them, will require a perfon of fome fkill ,
and though the ftripping off the flofs may
be performed by candle light, this time is
not very convenient, either for foiling, or
reeling, thefe requiring a good light and a
quick eye ; though with regard to the com-
pactnefs or foftnefs of the pods, you will
partly be guided by the feeling, and partly
by the appearance, thofe being the hardeft,
. and requiring the water in which they are
reeled warmeft, whofe hairs appear moft
firmly adhering, and moft glued over one
another. The time fpent in forting will

be

OF SILK,

*5$

be very inconfiderable with refpedt both to
the time and labour which it will fave in
the reeling, and with refpedt to the advan-
tage and value which the filk will receive
from it; for which reafon, I do the more
earneftly recommend it as a work which is
both eafy and of great importance.

How to reel the jilk from the pods .

H E kind of water in which the fxlk

pods are reel’d is of confiderable im-
portance, water which is called hard ; fuch
as that of fprings and wells, is by no
means to be ufed, for it will not diffolve
the gumminefs of the pods, fo that they
will wind off with difficulty,' and their
threads be liable to break often. Choofe
therefore the fofteft water from flow run-
ning rivers, or ponds, and which has been
longeft expofed to the air. This water
being put in the cauldron of the furnace
before defcribed, let it be made juft to fim-
mer, or come to boiling, and then, with a

CHAP. VII.

2

fkim-

256 THE CULTURE

flamming difh, take off any fcum which
rifes on the top.

For the hardeft fort of pods a fcalding
heat will be neceffary, but a lefs degree for
the others. However, the heat cannot be
afcertained till you begin to reel, for then,
if the fxlk comes off in burrs, or lumps
not flxetched to their extent, the water is
too hot, and the fire mult be abated un-
der it. On the contrary if the filk comes
off with difficulty, which is known by the
pods often leaping out of the water, it is
then too cool, and the fire mult be in-
creafed.

The fpinner, which is (lie who attends
the management of the filk-pods in the
cauldron, mud be provided with a brufh
made of the fineft twigs, or tops of heath
bound together, and cut off fiat at the
bruffit part. Then being feated before the
cauldron, fhe throws into it an handful or
two of the filk-pods, of one fort or de-
gree of finnnefs, and preffing them gently
under water with the fiat brufh, the ends
of the filk-pods will adhere to the twigs :
file then takes as many of thefe ends as are
neceffary, according to the thicknefs file
intends her thread, and, bringing them to-
gether,

OF S 1 L 1C. 257

gather, draws out the united thread until
fhe finds that the Angle hairs of which it
is compofed come off eafy and free from
flofs. She then breaks off fo much of the
end of the thread as came of coarfe with
flofs, or burrs in it) and, throwing it afide,
delivers the end of the perfeft thread to
the perfon who Hands ready to turn the
reel, who immediately paffes it through the
flop-wire, and through its guide-wire, and
then makes it faft to the reel, as mentioned
in the defcription of the reel. In the mean
time the fpinner has another thread prepared
for him, which he paffes through the other
flop-wire, &c„ in the fame manner ) and if
the filk is to be reel'd in the crofs, you are
to underftand its being palled over the crof-
ling-wires.

And now, both threads being fattened
to the reel, it is turned with a regular
even motion, at firft feme what leifurely,
till the threads are found to run free and
eafy, for it will happen that feme of the
ends which were taken to compofe the
thread were falfe ones, becaufe in taking
off the flofs, there may be two or three
breaches made in the beginning of the hairs,
which in winding will foon end, and muft
be added anew to make up the number

S which

253 THE CULTURE

which you defign in the thread. It might
therefore he convenient in the beginning of
the thread to put a few more pods than
you intended to continue, which will foon

J J

be reduced to the proper number.

As foon as the pods begin to give the
thread freely, the reel is turned with a
quicker motion, and the fame thing which,
as I mentioned before, regulates the heat
of the water, will alio regulate the mo-
tion of the reel ; for if the pods leap up
often, and beat againft the ftop-wire, the
motion of the real mult be flackened, and
if the thread comes off in burrs, it muft
be turned quicker. And of this the fpin-
ner, who has her eye upon the balls and
thread, muft, as lire fees occafion, apprize
the reeler 5 and at the fame time the lire
muft be increafed or diminifhed, that the
reel may be allowed a proper motion,
which ought to be as quick as may be,
without endangering the breaking of the
thread, or hurrying the fpinner, fo that
fhe cannot add frefli pods as faft as the old
ones are ended.

While -the reel is turning, the fpinner
is continually adding frefli pods to each
thread . as faft as fhe can find the ends, not
waiting till fome of the number fhe be-

gan

OF SILK. 259

gan with art ended ; but being before hand,
and at any leifure intervals, preparing frefh
ends by dipping the heath brufh among
ffefh pods, of which fuch a quantity muft
' be conftantly thrown into the cauldron as
will fuffice to fupply the two threads which
are reeling, but not more, leaft, by being too
longfoaked in the hot water, they fhould wind
off in burrs ; and thefe pods which are
thrown into the cauldron, muft be often
forced under water, that they maybe equal-
ly foakedi for, as they fwim with their
greater part above water, that part would
remain hard and ftubborn, while the part
which is under water would be too much
foaked : or otherways you may with a
brufh frequently throw fome of the hot
water upon them, as you may likewife do
on the pods which are reeling, when you
obferve them grow dry at top, and yield
the thread ftubbornly.

The fupplying of frefh ends is perform-
ed by laying them fiopingly acrofs the
Angle filk hairs which continue feparate
till they reach the flop-wires, for here the
added one is readily caught by them and
drawn up 1 for which reafon the flop-wire
fhould be about a foot above the water,
S 2 There

260 THE CULTURE

There is a readinefs in adding frefli pods
which can only be acquired by practice, in
which fome are fo expert, that they can
fupply three threads of filk paffing thro'
three different flop-wires.

You will know when any pods are com-
pleatly winded off, when you fee the fmall
remainder of the pod rife out of the wa-
ter, and flick at the loop of the flop-wire ;
the worm having then droped out, the re-
maining filk becomes too light to remain in
the water. You will know when the ends
of any pods break before they are winded
off by their remaining at reft in the water,
and generally by their quitting the com-
pany of the reft, and lying clofe to the fide of
the cauldron. When the fpent pods leap up
and adhere to the loop of the flop-wire,
they muft immediately be taken away, elfe
by choaking up the paffage, they will en-
danger the breaking of the whole thread.

The quantity of filk which can .be reel-
ed in any given time is, caeteris paribus, in
proportion to the quicknefs with which
the fpinner can add frefli ends. Thus if
you fuppofe that every filk-pod, at a me-
dium, will either break or be winded off
at the end of five hundred foot, then, if

five

OF SILK, 261

five fach pods are reeled together, a frefh
end will be wanted at every hundred foot
that are reeled ; if ten are reeled together,
one will be wanted at every fifty foot ; if
fixteen together, then at thirty one foot,
and fo on. Nor doth it make any dif-
ference whether twenty pods form only
one thread, or whether they are divided fo
that each five forms a diftindt thread, in
both cafes, if they are reeled at once upon
the fame reel, they will require nearly the
fame difpatch to fupply frefh ends ; and
this points out a method of employing fpin-
ners according to their different ikill, for
if one fpinner can fupply two threads each
of ten pods, then another fpinner who
can fupply ends only half fo faft, can on-
ly attend two threads each of five pods, or
one of ten pods.

The feldomer that pods end or break, the
greater number of them can one fpinner
attend, which fhews the advantage of large
and found pods, and of every artifice which
can hinder either the breaking of the fingle
hairs, or of the whole thread.

The breaking of the fingle hairs is prin-
cipally owing, either to bad filk-pods, viz.
being ill formed, as they will be when the

S 3 worms

2&a THE CULTURE
worms were difturbedand interrupted dur-
ing their fpinning, either by fhaking, or
by cold weather rendering them torpid and
inactive at their work, a thing at that
time very manifeft to the fight. Or the
fingle hairs may break by an improper re-
gulation of the heat in the water, when
it is not fufficient to make them wind off
eafy 5 or when it is too great, and occafions
burrs which may ftpp at fome of the wire-
loops through which the thread runs 5 pods
alfo which have two worms inclofed will
perpetually break.

The whole thread may alfo break, by
burrs flopping at the wire-loops, or by the
reel’s being turned by jerks. It need not
however be knotted, but may be faftened
by laying the parts on one another, and
giving them a little twift ; or the end which
broke may be carried up to the reel and
fo fixed as readily to find it again, and
may be reel’d on without uniting it to the
other, for all delay fhould be avoided. To
avoid the breaking occafioned by burrs,
the wire-loops fhould not be too fmall, but
fo wide as to let them eafily pafs, and if
the diftance between the reel and the pods
were increafed j the thread then by having

length

*

cl

OF SILK. 263

length would have time to let the burrs
ftretch out, and thus make the thread more

even.

I think it would be convenient for the
fpinner to have a little flick erefted clofe to
the fide of the cauldron, which having two
or three pins in it would ferve to hang
her heath brufii by means of a little hook
at the end of it, and alfo any other little
inftrument which {he may want, fuch as
a fliarp fork with which fhe may draw
away the pods which are fpent, and have
dropped the worm ; or fuch as, being near
fpent, have the bag drawn together and
flick at the flop-wire 5 and as the heath
brufh will frequently take up more ends
than are immediately to be added, and as
the fpinner will fometimes have cccafion
to employ both her hands, the brufh will at
that time conveniently hang by the cauldron,
while the pods which are attached to it re-
main in the water, and the ends will be
in readinefs as they are wanted; in this
cafe the pods which do not reach the water
may be drawn down to it between the
fpread fingers of her hand.

If the fpinner is under a necefiity of
leaving her work for any length of time,
S 4 the

264 THE CULTURE
the pods Ihould all be raifed with a lkim-
ming-difh out of the water till her return,
otherwife by over foaking they would wind
off in buns 5 but it is beft to continue the
reeling without interruption, and to let
frefh perfons fucceed thofe who are tired.
The water however mu ft be changed as it
grows foul, and fometimes fetid, from pods
where the worms have been killed fome
days before ; the chryfalids when the filk
is reeled off them are ufed to feed hogs or
poultry.

The perfon that turns the reel fhould
have an eye to the threads and to the loops
of wire through which they pafs, that he
may apprize the fpinner when any thing is
wrong, for her eyes will be fufnciently em-
ployed about the pods. The reeler might
alfo reftify any thing which goes amifs in
thofe parts of the thread which are near
the reel, for he will always have one hand
unemployed, and muft even ftop from
turning for a little while upon emergency.
Though the reeler can change hands as
they tire by turning, yet for his eafe I
think he might Save a fupport for his
arm oppofite to. the axle of the reel, and
fo to turn the handle only by that motion

which

OF SILK. 265

which he can give it by the arm moving
upon the elbow as upon a centre.

I mu ft obferve here that the bufinefs of
winding the filk from the pods is, in fome
countries committed only to perfons who
upon examination are found properly qua-
lified, and that the feveral regulations which
regard the reeling are eftablifhed by law,
and penalties annexed ; but I doubt whe-
ther ftricft regulations would be proper in
the infancy of a manufacture of this kind
in our colonies, 1 believe it is better at firft
to encourage all endeavours, and to let re-
gulations grow upon time and experience.

It is neceffary to inform you here, that
as the heat of the water in the cauldron
will require to be varied according to the
eafe or difficulty with which the pods give
their filk, therefore the fpinner fhould al-
ways have fome cold water within her
reach, in order to cool that in the caul-
dron quickly, when the filk comes off too
eafy and in burrs, and fome chips or fhav-
ings fhould be at hand to augment the
heat quickly when the pods are ftubborn
in letting the filk wind off. A contrivance
indeed might readily be made by which
the fire, lying upon a little grate with ciofe
8 bars.

266 THE CULTURE

bars, might readily be approach’d to or
withdrawn from the bottom of the caul-
dron, which would more fuddenly vary the
heat. This might be done by making the
grate hang on a fwivel, with a handle
coming out of the fire place by which it
might be raifed or depreffed.

It would be convenient alfo to have a
tap-hole in the fide of the cauldron, at its
bottom, for emptying the water, when it
grows foul and fetid from the chyfalids
which foon corrupt it, and, as they fink
to the bottom, cannot eafily be taken away
without drawing off the water, which be-
fides its offenfive fmell doth, by its foul-
jiefs, diminifh the luftre of the filk.

CHAP. IX.

Some further hints for the improvement of
reeling the flk from the pods.

I AM inclined to think that a method
might be contrived, for reeling filk from
the pods, nearly as advantageous as wind-
ing in the crofs, and fubjedt to fewer in-
conveniencies.

Mr.

OF SILK. 267

Mr. Vaucanfon fays, that filk reeled in
the crofs has an appearance as if it were
twilled ; that this can be no more than an
appearance I think requires little proof, for
the end of the filk-thread at the reel and
at the pods may be fuppofed fixed, and
therefore any twill which is given at
the 'place of croffing, goes off as foon as
that part of the thread has paffed the crof-
fing $ it can no more remain than if one
fhould fallen any ftretched thread at its
two extremes, and then twill it in the
middle between the finger and thumb, as
foon as thofe are withdrawn the thread
untwifls.

The real advantages of croffing are the
wringing out the fuperfluous moillure,
and the compreffion of the thread, where-
by it is rendered more compact : the incon-
venience attending this method is the fre-
quent breaking to which crofs’d threads are
fubjedl. I leave it to experience to deter-
mine whether the following method will
not procure advantages nearly equal to
thofe which arife from winding in the crofs
without its difad vantages.

Let a {lender fquare pole of about three
or four foot long be fixed perpendicular in

the

268 THE CULTURE

the forepart of the reel’s frame, juft be-
tween the two flop- wires. At the top of
the pole let an ivory pully of about one
inch diameter turn upon a fmooth wire-
pin fixed in the fide of the pole ; and let
another pully of the fame kind be placed
in the fame fituation near the bottom of
the pole. Thefe pullies fhould have a
groove formed to the angle of an equila-
teral triangle and fmoothly polifhed -} they
ihould aifo be formed with a little round
navel at their center to keep their fiat from
rubbing againft the pole. The pole ftands
in a round hole, and can be drawn out as
occafion requires, or turn’d awry. See Plate
II. Fig. III.

Now when the filk-pods are to be reel-
ed, the thread after having pafled the flop-
wire is conducted over the upper pully,
then under the lower one, from hence to the
guide-wire and then to the reel. By this
method the length of the thread from the
cauldron to the reel may be increafed to
what degree you think proper, viz. either
by having a longer pole, or by having two
pullies above and two below, and fo mak-
ing the thread pafs up and down over
them. By thefe means it may have fifteen
or twenty foot fpace to run thro’, and

fhake

OF SILK. 269

Iliake off its faperfluous moiflure, which
will be further promoted by the prefiiire
which it fufters in palling over each pully ;
this preffure will at the fame time help to
make it compadt ; and the groove of the
pullies being the angle of an equilateral
triangle will throw it into a figure which
by the time it arrives at the reel will be
fufficiently round : yet this roundnefs is
not only to the grooves moulding the
thread into a compact figure, bat to a
caufe lefs apparent which is this : the plane
of the pully fhould not be exadlly parallel
to that of the thread by which means the
thread will always roll a little on the fide
of the groove, and fo will receive a fmall
twill as it approaches to, and as it leaves
each pully.

That this theory is alfo true in fa£l, you
may eafily prove by fcretching an untwis-
ted filk-thread on two pins 5 if you then
roll one of the above-mentioned pullies
along it, holding its axle between your
finger and thumb, you will perceive that
any fmall particle of down, which you
may fallen to the thread, will begin to
turn round as the pully draws near it,
provided you give the pully a very fmall

in-

2~o THE CULTURE

inclination, and do not keep its plane ex-
actly parallel to the thread.

The fmall twill which the thread fuffers
as it approaches the pully has this further
life, that it fecures the ends of the frefh
pods which are continually added, from
the hazard of flicking to the pully, and
fo of being (tripped from the main thread
and winded round the pully ; and this will
be more effectually prevented if the thread
is made hr it to pafs over, and bear a little
upon a fmall wire hook placed within an
inch or fo of the upper pully ; for then
the whole twifl will be confined to that
part which lies between the hook and pul-
ly, and will thus fecure the end juft where
there is a neceffity : but without this hook
the twill would be fpent over the whole
length of thread which lies between the pully
and the ftop-wire, fo that it would be but
very little in any. one part of that length.
However, there will be no occafion for the
hook unlefs it is found by experience, that
the end is apt to catch and (tick to the
pully, which in my tryals I have not found.

I mentioned before that the groove of
the pully fhould be very fmooth, by which
I chiefly mean the very edge of the angle

where

OF SILK. 2 yi

where the thread refts ; I don’t know whe-
ther there can be a better method of effedt-
ing this, than, after the angle of the groove
is formed in the turning-lath, to ufe a
piece of the fineft fteel-wire, as fmall as a
hair, ffretched on a bow, which being held
againfl; the angle of the groove, while the
lath turns the pully, may take off any
roughnefs, and alfo make the edge of the
angle, inftead of being quite fharp, fome-
what approach to a circular form, which
may be of ufe to the thread that runs in
it, which from pullies thus regulated will
at leaft not receive that fiat form which it
did in the old method of reeling over the
bobins.

C H A P. X.

Of dijbanding the flk from the reel , and tye-
ing it up in Jkains : the life of the flofs-filk.

WHEN a fufficient quantity of filk
is on the reel and you intend to
to take it off, there fhould feem to be no
great room for much inftruction. Yet
here I filial! take occafion to mention feme
2 things

z6z THE CULTURE

things which will be found ufeful, even in
this bufinefs.

One cannot confider attentively the man-
ner in which the filk is reeled from the
pods, without obferving that the Angle Alk-
hairs of which the thread is compofed, are
liable to fuffer very different degrees of
ftretching as they are winded from the
pods. If the balls are not forted well,
this different degree of extenfion will be
the greater, and, even when they are fort-
ed, they 'mult ftill be fubjedt to different
ftretching, becaufe fome are a little longer
in the water than others and therefore give
their filk eafier and alfo becaufe the weak
latter end of fome pods wind off with the
ftrong Arft part of others.

The hairs being thus ftretched unequal-
ly, will occafion (when the fkain is taken
from the reel too fuddenly) thofe hairs
which are mod: ftretched to contradt more
than the others, by which their union will
be in fome meafure deftroyed, and the
thread compofed of them rendered lefs
compadt and firm, the Angle hairs appear-
ing in feveral places disjoined from one
another.

To

OF SILK* 273

To remedy this the fkain fhould not be
fuddenly taken from the reel, but remain
there till the unequal extention which it
fuffered in winding is by the ftretch which
it undergoes on the reel brought nearer to
an equality, and till the thread by being
well dried has its hairs firmly united. This
would be beft effected by having two reels,
and when one was filled they might im-
mediately proceed to wind upon the other.
That which has the fkains being taken off
its frame fhould ftand in the fun, or at a
moderate diftance from a fire till the other
is filled with filk, and this is again want-
ed. This would alfo prevent delay as
the fkain might be taken off, and the reel
made ready by a perfon not employed in
the reeling. When the fkain is finifhed
there fhould fome mark be tied to the end
of the thread, otherwife it may be difficult
to find it, if it mixes among the threads
of the fkain.

When the Ikain is quite dry, and you
proceed to difband it from the reel, you
muff firft fqueeze it together all round, by
which it will become ioofe upon the bars,
becaufe its threads were all laid obliquely on
by the guide-flick ; then, with a piece of
T twine

274 THE CULTURE

twine made of the refufe filk, make a tie
juft on that place where it bore up-
on the bars of the reel : then Aide it off
the reel, and make another tie on the part
oppofite to that where you made the firft ;
after which you muft double it, and tie it
round near each extremity, and then it
may be laid up for ufe or fale.

As to the flofs filk which was on the
outfide of the pods, it is fometimes carded
and fpun on the wheel ; as is alfo the inner
bags of the filk pods, thefe being firft
foftened in boiling water. And fometimes
the flofs is reel'd without twilling, being
drawn out by the finger into a coarfe kind
,of thread, ferving for the woof of ordina-
ry ftlks ; but this and the further manage-
ment of filk, with the various manners in
which it is thrown, and prepared to be
woven, do not come within the fcope of
this Treatife.

CHAP.

OF SILK,*

Z7S

CHAP. XL

Some additional obfer vat ions on cleaning the
hurdles from the litter ?nade by the Silk-
worms.

THOUGH feme directions for keeping
the filkworms clean, have, occasion-
ally, been interfperfed through this Treatife,
yet it may not be amifs to give them a
particular place here , both becaufe the
cleaning of the hurdles is abfolutely ne«
ceffary to the health of the worms, and
alfo becaufe, when they are grown large,
it makes a principal part of the labour
which is bellowed on them ; for, as the
leaves are gathered and brought home by
particular perfons allotted to that bufinefs,

I fo altnoft the whole of their work who at-
tend on the worms confifts in feeding,
cleanfmg, removing, and occafionally fe-
parating thofe which do not ficken at the
fame time.

Till the worms have paffed their third
j moult, or ficknefs, the trouble of clean-
| ing them is very fmall ; for till they have
palsd their firft moult, which is fix or eight
T a days

:i

!

276 THE CULTURE

days from their being hatched, they need
not be cleaned at all, but may lie on the
fibres which they make, without being re-
moved from them, thefe form a foft warm
bed, and the litter which comes from the
worms, being then as fine as duft, foon
dries, and, finking among the fibres, doth
not at all incommode them. This, I fay,
is the cafe provided you have fed them
properly, not keeping the worms too thin-
ly fcattered, and fo being obliged to throw
more leaves on them than they can con- !
fume before they wither, by which means
they would be buried and inveloped in the
old leaves, which curl about them ; this
throws perfons under a neceflity of difen-
gaging the worms, which, befides the end-
lefs labour of it, wounds and hurts multi-
tudes of them : and here I muft repeat
what I have formerly mentioned, that flice-
ing the leaves for the young worms great-
ly tends to hinder their curling about them,
befides it makes the leaves go farther and
produces lefs litter ; a few handfuls of
leaves are quickly diced, which fhould be
done more or lefs, in proportion to the
age of the worms, till they have paffed

their

OF SILK. 277

their fecond ficknefs, for then they can
eafily mafter the whole leaves.

As there is no neceflity for cleaning away
the fibres from under the filk worms till
they have paffed their firft ficknefs, fo long
as it remains free from moifture or mould-
nefs, fo neither will there be any neceflity
to clean them again, till they have pafied
their fecond moulting, fo long as you per-
ceive it to remain tolerably dry 5 but if
there is a large heap of fibres, and you
perceive them to have grown damp and
mouldy, you may thin it as much as you
think proper by taking away the under
fibres, which will generally come off in
flakes 5 if you perceive many worms buri-
ed and invelop’d among thefe fibres as you
take them off, you may conclude that you
have either given too much leaves when you
fed them, or that they have not been all
hatched at the fame time, by which means
fome became fick, while the reft were in a
feeding ftate ; and fo the firft not being in
a condition to get upon the frefh leaves
|i were buried under them and ftarved.

You may readily take the worms off the
cake of fibres when it becomes moift, by rol-
ling a handful of hay between your hands
T 3 till

278 THE CULTURE
till its fibres become entangled in one ano-
ther ; then fpreading it out and flattening it, j

it will become a fort of net-work ; lay this
over your young worms, and ftrew the ; ,

frefh leaves over it, and when they are j

come through it, and have fixed upon the ; <

leaves, then Aide a very thin fhovel of j

board, or pafte-board, having a handle
like a wool-card, under the hay, and, tak-
ing it off the cake of old fibres, Aide it
with the worms from off the fhovel upon j
a clean part of the hurdle : you may very j
readily infinuate the fhovel under the hay
without incommoding the worms, if, while
you raife the hay with one hand, you by de- (
grees thruft the fhovel gently under it with
the other. You may let the worms be a (

little hungry, by faffing a little longer than (

ordinary, before you lay the hay over
them, that they may the more quickly ,
come up through to the frefh leaves which
you give them. And therefore, that you j

may lofe as little time as poffible, when <

you have fpread the hay and leaves over one ]

parcel of worms, you may proceed and do j

the fame to another, and fo on to all the
different parcels which you have, by which
means the firft which you fed will be get- ♦

ting !

OF SILK. 279

ting through to their leaves while you are
managing the others ; for the hay and
leaves fhould remain a good while on the
cake of old fibres before you remove them,
that you may give the worms time to get
on the frefli leaves ; fince it is trouble-
fome to collect the odd fcattered worms
which remain after the bulk of them is
taken away, for if any remain you muft
pick them up, with the fibres to which
they flick, and fo lay them among the
reft.

Befides what I have already mentioned,
you will find that if you, now and then
open and raife the cake of fibres with a
hooked wire, it will contribute to keep it
dry, by giving admiflion to the air and
caufimg the litter of the worms to run off.
And thus to clear away their litter after
each moulting may fuffice for the keeping
your filk worms clean until they have pa fi-
fed their third ficknefs, during which time
they lie in a narrow compafs and are eafi-
ly managed 5 for the worms neceffary to
produce twelve or fifteen pounds of filk
may, when firft hatched, lie on the fpace
of a foot fquare nearly, and thefe, by the
time they have arrived to their firft moult,
T 4 may

28c THE CULTURE

may lie on a hurdle containing about fix
fquare feet, at which time they will be about
eight days old 5 two and an half of fuch
hurdles may contain them at their fecond
moulting ; eight at their third 5 feventeen
at their fourth moulting, and fifty when
they are ready to fpin : by which allow-
ance you fee they will take up about three
hundred times the fpace which they did
when firft hatched.

You may continue to fhift and clean the
worms by means of the fhovels before
mentioned until they have paffed their
third moult ; if you keep them on the
hurdle in fi^ch diftinct parcels as may be
taken on a fhovel ; otherwife you may,
fhift them by the hand, the method of do-
ing which may be thus ; when you give
them frefh leaves, and they have got upon
them, take away the leaves with the w^orms
which flick to them, and place them up-
on loofe ftraw fpread on a clean hurdle,
and if any worms remain upon the old
fibres pick up the fibres to which they ad-
here, and place them among the reft.
This I think is better than (as fome ad-
vife) to fcatter a few frefh leaves, and wait
till the odd worms wrhich remain have got

upon J

OF SILK. 281

upon them, for befides the wafte of time, the
worms will often not get upon thefe frefh
leaves but lie upon the hurdle while they
eat them, fo that you might wait a long
time before you got them all fhifted.

When you have a number of hurdles
to clean, ftrew frefh leaves on as many
hurdles as you think proper, and by the
time that you have ftrewed them on the
laft, the worms will have got upon the
leaves of the firft. Then begin and take
thefe off and place them upon a clean
hurdle, and then after clearing away the
litter and fibres of the hurdle from which
you firft removed the worms, it will be
ready to put others on, and in this me-
thod proceed till they are all cleaned ;
by which means one fupernumerary hurdle
will ferve for cleaning all the reft, and the
laft clean’d will remain empty of worms,
being the fupernumerary hurdle with which
you are to begin your next cleaning.

For the greater eafe of fhifting the
worms, the two hurdles fhould be taken
from the ftand, and laid near one another
on a table, or fquare frame, which may
be removed from ftand to ft and as you
have occafion to clean them.

The

28a THE CULTURE

The reeds, or other materials of which
the hurdles are made, are fuppofed to be
placed lb dole that, after their third moul-
ting, little or none of their litter can fall
through, leaft it fhould incommode the
hurdles which are placed below one ano-
ther on the fame ftand. When the reels
are placed as clofe as they can be it will
not hinder, but that there will be fufficient
crevifes for the air to pafs and dry the
fibres ; but if the worms lie upon boards,
there will be always a great deal of moif-
ture, for want of the free accefs of the
air, and they will often require cleaning.

Before their third moulting, the litter
they make is fmall and moftly runs down
among the withered fibres, therefore till
their third moulting it may fuffice, as I
have faid, to clean away the litter and
fibres once after each moulting, efpecially
if the weather is moderately dry, and they
have eaten their meals clean, leaving no-
thing but the fibres, which fibres you may
raife up here and there with a bodkin to
make them lie open, and let the litter fall
down. But if it is clofe fultry, and moif-
tifli weather you fhould clean them often ;
for heat and moifture coming together are
the

OF SILK, 283

the great caufes of putrefaftion, and confe-
quently of diflempers ; but never offer to
clean them while they are in their moul-
ting ficknefs, for it is then very detrimen-
tal to difturb them 5 yet at other times,
when you find them come lazily on the
frefh leaves, and eat languidly, it will be
ufeful to make their hurdles clean at that
time in order to excite and roufe them.

But the great bufinefs of cleaning is from
their fourth and laft moulting, to their
time of fpinning containing about ten days,
they will then require to be cleaned every
fecond day, or oftener, otherwife their lit-*
ter, being now in great quantity, will foon
create moifture and mouldinefs, and in-
fe£t both the leaves and the worms.

Whatever contrivance can now be found
to lighten the frequency of cleaning them
would be of great ufe : it is very obferv-
able that at this age, their bodies being
very heavy, they frequently prefs down
and flatten great part of the frefh leaves,
and that, after having lain on them, they
feldom care to eat them 5 nor indeed can
they readily get at them, while thus cover’d
with worms and flattened to the hurdle :
this occafions both wafte of food and in-
6 creafe

284 THE CULTURE
creafe of litter, therefore if any light dry
materials, fuch as the withered fibres of
rape or muftard, were fpread on the hur-
dles (or framed in fuch a manner as I fhail
hereafter mention) fo as to form a xontex-
ture very loofe and open, about an inch
or more in thicknefs, which I fhail call
bedding, this will help to keep the leaves
in fuch a fituation as to be eafily and
wholy eaten, and will alfo prevent the
worms from lieing among the litter which
they make 5 for though, when they were
young and fmall, the fibres of the leaves
formed a bedding fufficient to fupport them,
yet at this age they fcarce leave any fibres
of the mulberry-leaves uneaten, and thofe
are too weak to fupport their weight.

If you drefs their hurdles in this man-
ner their litter will roll down through the
bedding and be received by the hurdle
which, as formerly diredted, is woven fo
clofe as not to let it pafs, and it may be
cleared away by fhifting the bedding with
the worms upon it, in large quantities at
a time, upon a clean hurdle, and then
fhaking the litter off the other.

This bedding may be much improved
in convenience, by fixing it in a flight
, fquare

OF SILK. 285

fquare frame, fo as that it may be all at
once taken off the dole hurdle when you
intend to clean it : thus four reeds about
the thicknefs of ones finger being notched
and tied together, as direfted in forming
the rim of the clofe hurdle, and having
fome fmaller twigs fattened acrofs it, fo
as to divide the fpace into fmall fquares of
about fix inches, will make a fufficient
fupport for the bedding, which may be
fpread upon it fo as to lie about two inches
thick, but fo loofe and open that the worms
might pafs through the interfaces. The
outfide ftraggling fibres may be confined
within the verge of the frame by a flxip
of thin matting going round, which will
alfo form a ledge, and confine the worms.

Now this bedding may either lie upon
the clofe hurdle, fo that both may be tak-
en off the ftand together when you would
fhake off the litter, or it may be fupport-
ed on the Hand by four nails of its own,
while the clofe hurdle is likewife fupport-
ed clofe under it by four others proper to
itfelf, by which means you may fake it
away and fhake off the litter without mov-
ing the worms. In order to take away the
clofe hurdle with eafe the two fartheft nails

that

286 THE CULTURE

that fupport it, fhould have no heads, and
the two fupports in front may be hooks
moveable on a nail, which hooks being
drawn back, you can lower the front fide
of the clofe hurdle and fo take it away ;
for, without thus lowering it, it would
xub againfl the bottom of the bedding,
and might hurt fome of the worms which
happened to lie low. Inflead of the flicks
which fupport the bedding in its fquare
rim, packthread may be tied acrofs to an-
fwer the fame purpofe 5 or nets with
mefhes five or fix inches fquare may fup-
port the bedding, and may be placed on
the nails in the fland by two fliff reeds
run through the mefhes of the oppofite
fides. And here, by the way, a good me-
thod occurs of taking the young worms
from off their litter and fibres when there
is occafion. Thus Plate I. Fig. VII. fup-
pofe you intended to remove all the worms
. which lie on a hurdle half a yard fquare,
to a thin light piece of lath A. fomewhat
more than half a yard long, fix feveral
fmall threads b. b. b. at about two inches
diffance, the threads fhould be fomewhat
more than half a yard long, and fhould
have fingle knots tied near their extremi-
:■ ties.

OF SILK. 287

ties, which are to catch and hold them
ftretched in the nicks of a thin lath E. or
between wires bent and fixed in a lath, as
reprefented at C. the lath flhould be of the
fame length as the other, with as many
nicks, or divifions made by the wire d. d. d.
and at the fame diftance as there are threads
fixed on the other, into thefe nicks flip the
knotted end of each thread, and, ftretch-
ing them between the two laths, lay them
over the worms ; then make a very thin
open bed of bents or hay, and lay it over
the threads and worms 5 upon this bed
ftrow their leaves, and when the worms
are come through the hay, and are fixed
on the leaves, remove all together by
means of the two flicks ftretching the
threads which lie under and fupport the
bed ; and when you have placed them on
a clean hurdle flip the knotted ends of
the threads out of the nicks, and, taking
hold of the other flick, draw away the
threads foftly from under the bed, and ufe
them in the fame manner for removing
other worms, or for difpatch you may have
a good many of thefe threaded laths.

Thefe things are fomewhat tedious and
troublefome in defcription, but of very

eafy

288 THE CULTURE

eafy performance ; and, according as they
are found ufeful, may be varied and im-
proved in difcreet hands. Some might
think that fmall nets would do as well
as thefe threads which I have defcribed
above; but if it is confidered that the
mefhes of thefe would never allow them
to be drawn away with eafe, and that
befides they would be liable, in drawing
away, to lay hold of fome of the worms
and cut them, then it will eafily be feen
how much this method is preferable.

With regard to the bedding which I was
mentioning you muft take notice, that tho*
ftiff fibres, or perhaps ftraw, may ferve
for grown worms, yet when they are
young light bents or hay is fitted:, always
proportioning the ftiffnefs of the beds to
the age of the worms, and making it fo
loofe and open that they may eafily pafs
through it. In the large hurdles, that are
thus bedded with ftraw, you may ftretch
two or three firings over the ftraw to keep
it in its place, if you fhould have occa-
fion to turn the frame upfide down to
fhake off any leaves or litter that lie on
it. If you ufe ftraw for the bedding, and
the weight of the worms fhould prefs the

ftraw

OF S I L Ki 289.

.ftraw too clofe, you may now and then
fork it up to make it lie loofe and open.

When you ufe the forementioned bed-
dings of hay or fibres, &c. you need not
dean the clofe hurdles under them till
you find the litter is fo thick as to
hinder the air’s paffing freely through their
crevifes, fo that by this method you will
be eafed of a good deal of labour, and the
worms will lie clean* and clear of their
litter, neither will they fo much croud one
another, the thicknefs of the bed afford-
ing them more fpace to lie in. It will be
ufeful to have a broad fhallow balket*
made fo clofe at bottom as not to let the
litter pafs through, upon which you may
lay the clofe hurdles to beat off the litter,
and fo convey it out of the room ; for if
it were fpilled on the floor, and trodden
under foot, it would become very noifome j
when you replace the clofe hurdle, after
cleaning, turn the under fide of it next
the worms, becaufe it will be the molt
dry and fvveet. The more open and bulky
fuch materials are of which you make
thefe beds, the more they will referable the
branches of trees, among which the worm
feeds in its natural ftate j it muft however*

TJ ■ be

29o THE CULTURE

be remembered that at the laft time of clean-
ing the hurdles, when the worms are ready
to fpin, the beds ftiould be taken away,
otherwife they will make their pods among
the ftraw or fibres, where their litter would
foul them* and there would be a lofs of
filk in drawing away the pods j therefore,
at that time the worms muft be laid on the
hurdles, without any bedding under them.

Thus far it feemed to me neceffary to
enlarge on the fubjedt of keeping fi'lk-
worms clean in a detach’d chapter, that I
might not too much interrupt the method
and order of the book ; and I thought it
a fubjedt too material to be omitted, even
tho’ only one ufeful rule of pradtife were
fuggefted by the whole chapter.

Among Inch a multiplicity of precepts
and obfervafcions, fome things may poffibly
have efcaped my attention ; one at prefent
occurs which is, that an equal continued
degree of warmth is what filkworms befl
thrive in, and this degree is about the
eighteenth of Reaumur s Thermometer, and
fixty feventh of Fahrenhati s, for filk-
worms will without any detriment bear
fome variation above and below this de-
gree. I (hall only juft mention one thing

more.

OF SILK. 291

frlore, and then with a few queries pro
pofed upon it, put an end to this treatife.

The Chinefe are faid to give themfelves
no more trouble, in many places, than
barely to hatch the worms after which they
place them on the mulberry-trees, where
they feed and make their pods without the
trouble which attends keeping them in
houfes. It fhculd be inquired whether this
is faft, and then

How do they preferve the worms from
birds, fnakes, lizards, &c ?

Doth the weather never injure them ?

How are the injuries of the weather pre-
vented ?

Will any climate in our colonies allow
of fuch management ?

May not low fhelter’d hedges of mul-
berry-trees anfwer beft for a trial of this?

May not fome cheap covering be found or
matting formed like a pent-houfe to defend
fuch hedges from perpendicular rains of ?

May not the attendance of a boy be
fufficient to keep off birds, lizards, &c.
can dogs, or hawks be trained, or ftation’d
for this purpofe ?

Will not hedges be pretty well fheltered
from winds by large trees planted proper-

U 2 ly*

292 the culture,®?;

ly, and from rains which drive with the
wind, by making them run in length par-
rallel to the dire&ion of the moft rainy

winds ?

Is it not worth while to make fome trials
of this fort, in our colonies, where hands
are fo much wanted i

IN-

INDEX.

AG ES of the Silkworm, how diflinguifhed, 122.
Air, its influence on Silkworms 220, 221. Me-
thod of fupplying frefh air 222.

America, its climate proper for Silkworms, 2, 3, Ad-
vantages of filk in the colonies would exceed thofe
of tobacco 3.

Animals not naturaliz’d immediately to different cli-
mates. This true of filkworms 1 .

Breed of Silkworms, on its degeneracy 204. TAn ex-
periment propofed to improve it 206. Another ex-
periment of curiofity propofed 209.

Chryfalis the fecond form into which the Silkworm
changes 176.

Cleaning of Silkworms. How you are warned of its
neceflity 143. The method of doing it in the laft
age 147. An additional chapter on cleaning and
removing the worms 275.

Prefling proper for mulberry-trees, 58.

Diftempers of Silkworms from furfeit 218. From bad
leaves 219, 220. From clofe air 221. From moift air
226. From peftilentia! air 224.

Dryed chaff its ufe in moifl: weather 227.

England how far fuited to the culture of filk 4.

Eggs of Silk-moths, what kind befl: for England 2.
To prevent their hatching 7. To choofe good ones
71, &c. Not more to be hatched than you can feed
72. Time of hatching them 73. A method to keep
them from hatching 75. How to manage when they
i hatch

Z94 I N D E X.

hatch too early 76* To procure food in this cafe
77. To manage the hatching in cold or moift wea-
ther 78. The various methods of hatching 79, See.
thofe hatched at very different times not to be mix’d,
and why 79, Sec. They hatch in about three days 81 .
Should be wafh.ed before they are put to hatch 86.
The method of management when the worms begin to
come out 8:, &c. New- hatched worms ihould lie
thick on the leaves 90. Small drawers proper to keep
new-hatched worms 92. Six ounces of eggs how
much filk they produce, and what attendance the
worms produced from them require 154. How many
lav’d by a moth 200. Their change of colour and
goodnefs 200, 201. How to be feparated from the
leaves where they were layed 201, and preferved till
the enfuing fpring 202.

Fibres of leaves not to be torn from the Silkworms 149,

Food not to be crowded on Silkworms 125.

Fruit of the black mulberry eafily bruifed 63. Fruit un-
wholfom for the Silkworms in.

Gathering of mulberry-leaves. The direction for it,
105.

Hatching Silkworms eggs, its method 79.

Heads of mulberry-trees, to cut them off is a bad
method 60.

Health of Silkworms, a fign to know it 129.

Hedges the bell form for a mulberry plantation 52, 106.

InO ructions for planting mulberry-trees, many of them
applicable to other trees 64.

Inoculation of mulberry trees, black and white on each
other 49. On trees of a different fpecies failed 49.

Imperfections of the Silkworms eggs 214. From Hop-
ed perfpi ration 215

Improvement of reeling, fome further hints for it 2 66, Sec.

Ladies ufe troublefome methods in breeding Silkwormsy.

Layers

INDEX. 295

Layers to raife mulberry-trees from them 46. More
certain of growth than cuttings 47. More lazy to
drike root 47.

Litter of Silkworms to prevent its falling on the lower
hurdles 144.

Lazy to fpin, how to manage fuch worms 1 66, 167.

Leaves of the mulberry tree how to be gathered, 105,
&c. Eafied gathered from hedges 106. Age of them
Ihould fuit the age of the worms 106. To keep
them frefh 108. Provifion to be made of them in
rainy weather 109. Bad leaves no. Berries mixed
with them, hurtful in. Leaves not to be bruif-
ed 1 1 2. Striping them downward doth not hurt the
branch 1x2. Should be diced for young worms 124.
Difadvantage of droning them too thick over the
wormsx 25. Unwholfome leaves 1 10.

Moift weather makes Silkworms languid 226.

Moulting of Silkworms 113. its final caufe 120. The
firft moulting is appearnce 130. The lecond 134.
The third 141. The fourth 145.

Mulberry-tree* different kinds n. Generals properties
and ufes 13. White bed for Silkworms and why 1 3,
Black fort will feed Silkworms 17. Different ways
of raifing mulberry-trees 19. Seed manner of fav-
ing it 19, &c. fhould not be chofen from trees which
were diileaf’d 20. To feparate the bed feed 21.
The foil proper for the raifing and planting of mul-
berries 25, &c. How to raife them from the feed
28, &c. Seed may be fown as foon as it is ripe in
fome climates 30. Faffing in digedion thro’ feme
animals, fprings up the fooner 31. Young feedlings
much dedroyed by fnails 32. To prevent this 3 3*
Crops of feedlings to mow 34. To encreafe the
heat of feed- beds 36. Cuttings the method of raif-
ing trees from them 37, &c. Autumn the bed time

38. Hedges the beft form for mulberry plantations

39. Cuttings mud be water’d well 41. and (haded
in great heat 42. Layers. Of raifing mulberry-trees
by them 46. Why they don’t put forth roots fo

quick

INDEX,

quick as cuttings 47. Of more certain growth 47
How to wean 47. Suckers of mulberries. To raife
trees from them 48. Root. Parts of, to raife mul-
berries by them' 48. Inoculation failed on trees of
a different Species 49. Of planting out the mul-
berry trees 49, See. Beft done in autumn 51. The
beft form of a mulberry plantation 52, Sec. Its cul-
ture and pruning for Silkworms, 58, &c. For fruit
62. N. B, Laying down a whole old tree is called
a ftool.

Mulberry papyrific of Kaempher a very quick grower, is
of the white kind, and ufed for Silkworms. It has
been lately brought into England and thrives Well.

Mules point out a method for the true diftin&ion of
the fpecies in plants and animals 13.

Moths the laft form in which the Silkworms appears,
Defcribed 174. The time of their coming out 192.
Manner of coming out of the pod 174. Manage-
ment proper for them 192, Sec. Females and males to
diftinguifh 194. Method of coupling them 194, 195.
How long they ftiould remain coupled 196. The
reafon of it 197. Paper bad to let the eggs be lay-
ed on 297. Wallnut leaves, or rufhes proper 297,
198. Each moth lays four or five hundred eggs 200.
Males ufelefs after coupling 199. Figure reprefenting
the woollen cloath, which is hung for them to be pair-
ed on 203. The ufe of it 204.

Occafion of this treatife being Written. Preface, page

Paper or linen bad, to let Silkworms lay their eggs
on 198.

Plantation of mulberry-trees the beft form for it 52*

Planting out of young mulberry-trees 49.

Perfpiration of human bodies fufpe&ed to hurt the
hatching of Silkworms eggs 215.

Peftilentiai ftate of the air, whence it may arife, and
aftedl Silkworms 224.

Pods, Silk-pods or cocoons how formed by the worm
169. What kind of fubftance 170, 17 1. How

foon

INDEX. 297

foon finilhed 176. How to choofe good ones for
breed 177, &c. Thofe of male and female how
diftinguifhed 178. How many to keep for breed
1 79. How to be kept for breed 1 80. Thofe which
are to be reeled muft be prevented from being pierced
1 8 1 . A computation of the filk contained in them
1 81. Methods of ftoving thofe which are to be
reeled 182. Stoved by the heat of the fun 183.
Stoved by the heat of an oven 185. By fcalding
water 186. Prey’d on by rats and mice 189. Of
forting them 177. The management of thofe kept
for breed 19 1. Figure fhewing how they are kept
203-

Reeling of filk-pods, a general idea of its manner 231.

Reel, a defcription of the Silk-reel furnace, &c. 233-
&c. Its improvement defcribed, 240, &c. Reel-
ing in crofs ^defcribed 242. Improvement in it de-
fcribed 242, &c. Obfervations on it 245, &c. Re-
ferences to the figures of it 243, 248 . Sorting the pods
neceflfary to eafy reeling 252, &c. The procedure
in reeling of filk 255. The kind of water to reel
from 255. Reel with what quicknefs to be turned
257, 258, The proper heat of the water 25 6.
Silkpods not to be too much foaked in reeling, nor
too little 259. Fre(h ends how fupplyed 259. To
know when to do it 260. The quantity reel’d de-
pends on the fpinners expertnefs in adding frefh pods
260. Caufes of the fingle threads breaking 262.
Caufe of the whole thread breaking 262. The pods
are to be taken out of the water when the fpinner
leaves off work 263. The turner of the reel his bufi-
nefs 264. The heat of the water to be varied 265.
Water to be changed 266. Some further hints for
the improvement of reeling 266, &c. How to take
the filk from the reel and tye it up in hanks 271,
&c.

! Seafon proper for hatching Silkworms 71.

Seed of mulberries to raile trees fiom it 27.

X Silk-

298 INDEX.

Silkworm^, a general brief view of their life 67. The
place proper for rearing them 68. No leaves pro-
per for them but the mulberry 73. Their four fick-
nefs’s or moultings commonly called fleeps 113.
Times and appearances of each moulting defcribed
at large 114, &c. The final caufe of their moul-
ting; 120. Time of moulting varies with the climate
1 21. The knowledge of their moultings very ufe-
ful 122. The length and thicknefs of the Silk-
worm after eack moulting 12% Caffs not only its fkin
but alfo its fcull at each moulting 1 1 8, 1 1 9. The eyes
of theSilkworm 119. Its breathing vents 119. Its life
to the time of fpinning divided into five ages 122. The
management of Silkworms during their two firft ages
1 23. How oft to be fed in the day, not to be over-
whelm’d with leaves 125. To be kept warm in
temperate climates, while young 1 29. The time
of their firft ficknefs 130. To know when they re-
cover from it 133, Their fecond ficknefs and re-
covery 134. The management of them during their
two next ages, 137, &c. Howto make them lie
thinner 139. Their appearance after their third
moulting 141. And after their fourth 145. The
fifth age of the Silkworm, viz. From their fourth
moult till ready to fpin 146, &c. The fibres to
which they ftick, not to be feparated from their
claws 149. They are to be well fed at their laft
age 150. It lafts nine or ten days 152. They de-
fift then from eating, and are ready to fpin 153.
The figns of their being ready 153. To manage
them while fpinning 163, &c. Muff be kept airy
while fpinning in hot weather 169. Lazy in fpin-
ning how to help 1 66. The manner of their form-
ing their pods 169, &c. The matter out of which
they form them 170, 171. How foon they finifh
them 173. Caft a fifth fkin while inclofed in the
pod 173. Change to a chryfalis 1 73. Continuance
in that ftate 174. Throw off a fixth fkin and be-
come moths 174. How many worms make a pound
of fik 1 8 1.

Sick

INDEX. 299

Sick Silkworms 224.

Silk-threads as fpun by the worm 229. Its length 230.
Standard trees, this the worftform for Silkworms 52.
Stands and hurdles for keeping Silkworms on, defcrib-
ed 97.

Thermometer ufeful 129. The eighteenth degree of
of Reaumur’s, which is the fixty feventh of Fahren-
hait’s, fhews the warmth in which Silkworms thrive
beft.

Water its proper heat for reeling the filk-pods 256.

Young Silkworms how kept in Spain 136. An eafy
method of taking them off their old fibres and litter.

186

N. B. Two little pullies, turning on two ftrong
wires, may be ufefully placed to make the band of the
guide-wheel lie parallel to the groves of its two wheels.
Plate II. Fig. IV.

Note, Alfo that the pullies plac’d at the top of the
pole, Plate II. Fig. III. may be fixed to a feparate piece
of wood, fo as to Hide, and be drawn up or down by a
rod with a hook, for the eafe of getting at them.

FINIS.

ERRATA.

Page 49. lin 13. read? on trees. Pag. 80 lin. ult. for
a perfon read perfons. Pag. 123. lin. 10. for fhews
read fhew. Pag. 198. lin. n. for fcraped read fcrape.
Pag. 269. lin. 10. read) not only owing. Pag. 102.
lin. penult for E. G. 1. read F. G. I. Pag. 249. 1-in.
3. for M. N. read W. X. Pag. 268. lin. 15. dAe or
turn’d awry.

Sold by A. MILLAR, in the Strand \

A POETICAL TRANSLATION
of Vida’s Silkworm, and Game of Chefs.
By Mr. Pullein.

f&LWr'-