CHAPTER VIII.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE MODE OF REARING SILK-WORMS, ETC.

Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China--Time and mode of pruning the Mulberry-tree--Not allowed to exceed a certain height--Mode of planting--Situation of rearing-rooms, and their construction--Effect of noise on the silk-worm--Precautions observed in preserving cleanliness--Isan-mon, mother of the worms--Manner of feeding--Space allotted to the worms--Destruction of the Chrysalides--Great skill of the Chinese in weaving--American writers on the Mulberry-tree--Silk-worms sometimes reared on trees--(M. Marteloy’s experiments in 1764, in rearing silk-worms on trees in France)--Produce inferior to that of worms reared in houses--Mode of delaying the hatching of the eggs--Method of hatching--Necessity for preventing damp--Number of meals--Mode of stimulating the appetite of the worms--Effect of this upon the quantity of silk produced--Darkness injurious to the silk-worm--Its effect on the Mulberry-leaves--Mode of preparing the cocoons for the reeling process--Wild silk-worms of India--Mode of hatching, &c.--(Observations on the cultivation of silk by Dr. Stebbins--Dr. Bowring’s admirable illustration of the mutual dependence of the arts upon each other.) 119