The silkworm eggs came in a very small box. They were sent by a friend of Uncle George’s who lived in the south of England. The eggs were stuck to pieces of paper in scattered groups. Some pieces of paper had only one or two eggs on them, others had as many as forty. They were small, round things, flattened on the top, and coloured light green. They reminded the boys of small mustard seeds, but they were not so round.
In answer to Frank’s question as to why the eggs were laid in irregular groups, Uncle George answered:
“When the silk-moth emerges from her pupa case, she lays her eggs anywhere on the floor of her cage. As the eggs are coated with a gluey material when newly laid, they stick firmly to the floor.
“Those people who rear silkworms always have a sheet of clean paper covering the floor of the cage before egg-laying commences. After the eggs are laid, they are found adhering to this sheet of paper. The paper is taken out of the larva cage, and those parts containing eggs are cut out with scissors.”
“How many eggs are laid by one moth,” Frank asked.
“From four to five hundred,” his uncle replied. “Let us get our larva cage cleaned out, and we will put these eggs in the lower part of it and await their hatching.”
“Why in the lower part,” Frank asked, as he set about cleaning the cage.
“Because its floor is a drawer which can be pulled out. If you put them in the upper part, you must lay a sheet of paper on the floor first, for your silkworms must not be handled on any account.”
“And how long do we have to wait for these eggs to hatch?” asked Tom.
