."

"It isn't," responded her mother. "In the first place it injures the
trees to take off so many twigs and let so much sap escape; furthermore,
it makes more waste to clear away. We should only be making ourselves
work were we to follow such a method. The best way is to gather the
single leaves just as we always have done. There will be four of us,
for old Josef can help us. It is fortunate he did not go to the war, for
while he helped your father he learned many things about silk-raising
which will be useful to us, I am sure."

"I wish the silkworms did not eat so much," grumbled Marie.

"They must eat if they are to grow, dear," said Madame Bretton. "Every
creature eats more while growing--even children," she added
mischievously. "But a silkworm does all its growing in a very short
space of time, and in proportion to its size grows faster than almost
any other living thing. Remember, its whole life is over in a few short
weeks. It must live very fast while it lives."

"If only ours _do_ live," interpolated Marie dubiously.

"I see no reason to fear they won't," Madame Bretton said once more.
"But we must neglect nothing. It is the trifling carelessnesses that
bring bad results--the tiny things that it seems silly to take the
trouble to do. If we lose our crop of cocoons because of slighting the
little details it will be our own fault, and we shall deserve failure;
if, on the other hand, we do the best we know, we shall have no regrets.
We must take every precaution to keep the silk-house clean and
well-ventilated, for silkworms demand spotless surroundings as well as
plenty of fresh air. Then we must not allow withered leaves or other
refuse to collect on the shelves where the worms are feeding, for any
waste matter ferments and causes disease."

"Aren't silkworms very likely to get sick anyway, Mother?" queried
Pierre.

"They are susceptible to certain diseases," nodded Madame Bretton. "For
example, there are epidemics which sometimes sweep away the hatching of
an entire season; sometimes, too, the eggs are diseased and hatch into
diseased caterpillars, which in turn lay more diseased eggs. This was
the tragedy that befell France in 1847. At that time the French people
could get no healthy eggs anywhere in their own country, and were forced
to send to Italy for them. Afterward the infection spread to Italy. Then
those from the region of the Danube, where growers had been purchasing
them, also became disease