perature. It may be observed here, that the cool sensation felt while sitting in a current of air, is no evidence of that air or the place we sit in being of a lower temperature than the air of a room where there is no such current. The air passing over the surface of our bodies carries off heat, and thus causes the cold sensation, while at the same time the current of air, that feels cool,' is many degrees warmer than our bodies. But silk worms are not warm blooded animals, and of course they do not experience the same relief, having no excess of animal heat to be carried off. Although many persons have assured me that they had lost many worms by hot weather, I am constrained to think, that the heat was not the sole cause of the loss, for I have never lost a worm that I could attribute to that cause. Hot weather will undoubtedly cause the destruction of the whole of them, if the litter and excrement be left unremoved; and I always suspect some such want of attention in every instance of the destruction of worms by hot weather. Heat does not injure the worms in their natural state, nor will it in their state of domestication, if they are kept as free from filth as they are on their native trees. Keeping the shelves clean, the worms not too much crowded, the air in the room pure by the use of chloride of lime and ventilation, and feeding with fresh dry leaves, I consider the best and only preventives of any ill effects from hot weather.

Between the 25th and 35th days of the worms' age they will show signs of a disposition to spin. They will become somewhat of an amber color about the joints of the body, semitransparent, throw out fibres of silk on the leaves, and wander about. The brush for the cocoons should now be provided. The best and simplest that I have been able to find is the broom-corn. Clear it well from seeds, and cut it from the stalk close to the junction of the straws; spread out the top in imitation of a small tree, and set it on the shelf with the top pressing against the bottom of the upper shelf to hold it in its position. It may be set in rows six or eight inches apart, across the shelf, and over the top shelf an extra one may be placed for this purpose. The worms will readily find and climb these little trees and spin their cocoons in them; the worms will be four days spinning their cocoons, and they will all generally be finished on the 8th day after they first began —that is, all of the same day's hatching. The brush may then be taken down, the cocoons taken off, cleared of the loose tow, and prepared for reeling.

The cocoons from which eggs are expected must be spread out in a room, secure from mice and ants, and in five to ten days the moths will come out of the cocoons, when the males

and females will couple; they must then be taken by the wings in pairs without separating them, and placed upon sheets of paper disposed for their reception, where they are to remain. There is generally about an equal number of each sex. I have found the best mode for fixing the paper for the moths to lay on, as follows: stretch two pieces of strong twine across the room from wall to wall, about two feet apart, and another about a foot over the middle of these. Lay large sheets of paper (old newspapers will do) over them and pin them down at each side to the lower twine. The sheets of paper will then be in the form of the roof of a house. As many pairs of moths as can conveniently lie on the papers may be placed there. The room should be dark, if possible, while the insects are on the papers, and each sheet should be filled before any are put upon another, and as soon as the moths on one sheet are done laying eggs, it should be taken down, folded, and put into a tin box in a cold cellar, where all the eggs must be kept till wanted for use the next spring. The moths are in the form of a grayish white butterfly, and generally begin to lay eggs in 24 to 36 hours after leaving the cocoon. The eggs are at first of a pale yellow, or somewhat of a sulphur color, but in three days turn to a light slate color, and subsequently to a dull brownish slate color. When seen through a microscope they are speckled. Those that remain yellow have not been fecundated, and of course are worthless. Each healthy female moth will lay about 450 eggs, generally handsomely disposed and firmly attached to the paper in a circular form, the whole covering a space about the size of a fifty cent piece.

Should the eggs be permitted to remain exposed to the warm weather, they will hatch, and, unless another crop be desired, they will be lost. This is the only injury they are liable to from warm weather. The moths eat nothing after leaving the cocoons, and die in a few days after depositing their eggs. The tin box in which the eggs are directed to be kept, is intended to protect them from mice and insects. The eggs should be kept in a dry cellar, as mould and mildew will injure them. There will be many double cocoons, those which have two or more worms in them; these and as many more of the others as are wanted should be selected for eggs. After clearing the cocoons of the loose tow, such as are intended for reeling, and cannot be wound off immediately, must be subjected to some process by which the chrysalis will be killed, to prevent its perforating the cocoon. Heat is most commonly applied. In Europe the modes of its application are various. Some bake the cocoons in an oven about

half heated for bread; others apply steam, and others expose them to the rays of the sun for several days during the heat of the day. There is danger of scorching the silk in the first mode; of discomposing the fibres, in the second; and of not perfectly accomplishing the object in the third. I have found the following mode preferable to any other, as the object is perfectly effected without danger to the silk. I put the cocoons into a tight tin vessel, with a cover closely fitted; and put this vessel into another a little larger, containing such quantity of water as will nearly fill it when the other is put into it; fire is then applied and the water kept boiling half an hour, or more, according to the. size of the vessel and until the cocoons in the inner vessel shall have become as hot as the boiling water. The cocoons are then spread out in a dry room, that whatever moisture there may be, may evaporate. After this operation, the cocoons are ready for the reel or for sale. All the cocoons that can be reeled in the course of the first week after they are taken from the brush, may be recled without this operation; and a considerable advantage is gained by thus reeling them, as they unwind much easier than when they have been heated. Cocoons intended for sale, or keeping on hand for future reeling, must be secured against mice and insects.

REELING. To reel the cocoons, is considered the most difficult part of the duties of a domestic silk cultivator. On the first attempt, the reeler is ready to give it up as too difficult and tedious for his skill and patience. It is at this point where all who give up the business stop; thousands of persons in this country have gone thus far, and after a short trial, abandon the culture of silk in despair. But the difficulty of reeling silk is only in appearance; it is easily overcome, and only requires a little patient perseverance. Many rules have been written for the reeling of silk, but none to much effect. The art lies in practice. An expert reeler, in a week's time, would impart more information on the subject to the young reeler, than all the books ever written. But, as we have a ready market for the sale of cocoons, perhaps it would be better for small establishments to dispose of them in that way.

This treatise is not intended particularly for large establishments, but for those who wish to carry on the business in a small domestic way. All who have conveniences for raising silk, will not only find it a rich source of innocent amusement, but a laudable and profitable occupation in whatever scale it may be undertaken.