The American Silk Growers Guide - 1839 Author:William Kenrick Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the first day, they consume 4 pounds 8 ounces, thus atoning for previous abstinence; on the third day, 7 pounds; but on the fourth day, comes on the moulting sic... more »kness, and they eat no more than 2j- pounds. In the third age and first day, they consume 6f pounds; on the second day, 21£; on the third day, 22 pounds; on the fourth, 12 pounds; and but 64 pounds on the fifth day; on the sixth day, they become sick, and take no food, this being a critical period ; they cast their skin for the third time. On the first day of the fourth age, 23£ pounds are consumed; but on the seventh, they eat absolutely nothing, and are again torpid, this being the critical period ; they cast off their skins for the fourth time. In the fifth age and first day, they consume 42 pounds; on the sixth day, they become most of all voracious, and consume 223 pounds; from this time, their appetite daily lessens, until the tenth day, when they consume only 56 pounds. The silk-worms, which at their birth occupied but 9 feet on the hurdles, now require 239 feet of space, and the whole quantity of food consumed, is 1600 pounds. According to another account or Diary of M. Bona- foux, two hundred thousand silk-worms were sustained on seventy-two hundred pounds of leaves. But it is admitted that a certain quantity of leaves were given in the intermediate meals, which were not reckoned in the account; also, that in the first stages the leaves were chopped, which enables the silk-worms to consume them without waste. Other and authentic accounts make the amount of food consumed even less than five thousand pounds. We will admit 9000. But much must necessarily depend on care and economy in feeding. The quantity of food consumed depends also in some measure on the season ; if that be moist, the leaves will contain les...« less