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NEW SOUTH WALES.

CORRESPONDENCE

RELATING TO

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to fco$ gouges of parliament, tw CommnnTr.

SYDNEY : THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

1870.
stlc 239—70

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1
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CULTIVATION OE SILK.

THE HON. SECEETAEY, ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY, NEW SOUTH
WALES, to THE COLONIAL SECEETAET.

Acclimatisation Society of ISTew South Wales,
Sydney, 7 June, 1870.

SIE,

This Society having exerted itself to promote the estab-
lishment of silk culture in this Colony, has recently received
from His Excellency the Viceroy of India, a valuable stock of
silkworms, and most useful information relative thereto. I wish
to submit the despatches containing this information for your
personal inspection, in the belief that in the interests of the
Colony you may think proper to publish a selection from the
papers.

To direct attention and impart a knowledge of facts about the
rearing of silkworms, the present time seems very appropriate.
First, the extremely critical condition of all European breeds
gives the gravest reason to fear that if they experience adverse
weather another year the whole may become utterly extinct, or
for all practical purposes so unreliable for stock to breed from,
that all the principal European silk producing countries will of
necessity be compelled to have recourse to importations of eggs
from other countries where the disease affecting the silkworms
does not exist, or is less severe. Secondly, the well known
operations of Mr. Brady in the Colony have already caused con-
siderable attention to be directed to Australia; and the very
remarkable system originated by that gentleman, and carried on
from time to time during several years under the observations
of this Society, of producing a succession of daily broods and
crops of silk during a great part of our long season, is highly
encouraging. This very important fact, so honorable, and, if
rightly understood, so calculated to do good to the Colony, was
thus commented on by Mr. Dickins, President of the Silk Supply
Association of London, at a public meeting held at Coventry, —
" the fact of producing silk day by day was most wonderful, and
was what was not done in any other part of the world "; and
Mr. Chadwick, M.P., at the same meeting took occasion to say, in
reference to this Australian plan, "that the daily production
exhibited an improvement in the production of silk which would
be as important a fact as ever occurred in the silk trade."
Thirdly, there are now most excellent varieties of silkworms in
the Colony, from which beginners could be supplied, wherewith
to commence the creation of a new export.

4

It seems, therefore, that the dissemination of the requisite
instruction only is yet wanting to implant this lucrative occupation
in Australia ; cognizant as this Society is of the advantages we
possess in soil and climate, and of the value of the information
and means at our disposal, as well as inducements to profit
thereby, I am desirous of urging upon you very strongly the
policy of adopting measures to bring practical knowledge on the
subject within reach of the colonists.

I have, &c.,

aEOEGE BENNETT, M.D.,
Hon. Secretary, Ace. Soc. 'N. S. Wales.

Simla, 13 August, 1869.
MY DEAR LOUD BELMOEE,

Enclosed is a letter written under my orders in Council to
Dr. G-. Bennett, Honorary Secretary to the Acclimatisation
Society of New South Wales, in reply to an application made
by him for a supply of silkworms and seeds from India. I shall
feel very much obliged by your causing the same to be delivered
to that gentleman.

It will afford me very great pleasure to assist the Acclimati-
sation Society as far as may be possible in the direction
indicated.

I remain, &c.,

MAYO.

[Enclosure.]

No.

From E. C. Bayley, Esq., Secretary to the Government of India, to G. Bennett,
Esq., M.D., Honorary Secretary to the Acclimatisation Society of New
South Wales.

Home Dept. $

Pu blic.

Simla, August, 1869.

Sir,

I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 16th
June last, containing a request on behalf of the Society for a supply of silk-
worms and seeds, for acclimatisation in the Colony.

2. In reply, I am desired to state that His Excellency the Viceroy and
Governor General in Council will be very glad to afford the Society every
assistance in his power, in the direction indicated, arid that immediate in-
quiries will be made with a view to compliance with the Society's wishes.

I have, &c..

E. C. BAYLEY,

Secretary to the Govt. of India.

Simla, September, 1869.
MY DEA.K LOED BELMOEE,

In continuation of my letter of the 13th ultimo, I enclose
a copy of a pamphlet by Captain Thomas Hutton, entitled
"Remarks on the Cultivation of Silk in India." A copy of the
pamphlet has also been despatched to Dr. Bennett.

I remain, &c.,
MAYO.

[Enclosure.']

REMARKS on the cultivation of Silk in India, by Captain Thomas Hutton,
F.G.S., C.M.Z.S., Corresponding Member of the Agri-Horticultural
Society of India.

(From the Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India. Vol. I, part 4 ;

new series.)

To the Secretary of the Agricultural Society of India, —

MY DEAR SIR,

In answer to your call to make a few observations on the cultivation
of silk in India, and with special reference to the Conference on this subject,
as reported in the Journal of the Society of Arts for 9th April, 1869 (No. 855
of Vol. 17), I now do myself the pleasure of sending a few remarks in support
of the many papers I have already published upon this subject ; but as from
former hard work, care, and sickness, I have become a somewhat prematurely
feeble old man, I must beg of the Society to kindly overlook the poverty of
detail, on the plea that " non sum qualis eram" and can no longer so fully enter
into the subject as I might have done some few years since.

Keeping in view the fact, as I believe it to be, that the present movement
in England regarding silk, has for its object the opening up in India of new
localities for the introduction and cultivation of the silkworm, it appears to
me that the first thing to be done is to raise a warning voice, founded on the
failures that have already, in many districts, taken place against rushing
headlong into spectilations which from the very nature and constitutional
condition of the insects could only end in disappointment. The fact that
many such failures have already occurred, furnishes valid evidence of the
truth of my declarations, long since made, that such would assuredly be the
ultimate result. My remarks however only then served to provoke the dis-
pleasure and sneers of sundry individual5?, on the ground that I was only a
meddling naturalist, and not a practical cultivator ; and it was further
hinted that even as a naturalist I was foolishly endeavouring to establish
the existence of several distinct species of Bombyx, while in reality, as they
sapiently insisted, there was but one. On this point, however, events have
fully justified my views. Thus naturalist or no naturalist, since one of my
opponents facetiously and elegantly remarked, " that the proof of the pudding
was in the eating," facts have in both instances declared that " magna est
veritas et prevaiebit ;" while the peculiar pudding that my friend was con-
cocting turned out by some mistake to be— a hash.

I was not, however, the first to point out that the climate of the North-
western Provinces was unsuitable to the constitution of the mulberry silk-
worm, Dr. Royle having come to the same conclusion long previous to the
time when I entered upon the subject.

As the subject of silk cultivation in India is of vast importance, both to
this country and to England, and Mr. P. L. Simmonds not having fully
exhausted the subject, I shall endeavour to add what little information I may
have picked up since the publication of my last papers on the cultivation of
silk.

6

Experience having shown that while the hot lowland plains are wholly
unsuited to the constitution of the annuals, and that the multivoltine species
on the other hand are checked by the want of leaves for a longer time during
the winter season than their period of rest can meet, so that the young
worms again appear before there is a sufficiently abundant supply of food,
it is clear that the efforts of cultivators should be confined only to those parts
of the country in which the worms have thriven well and profitably ; so that
while Bengal should redouble her efforts to increase the stock and quality of
the silk of the multivoltine species that have hitherto, in spite of much mis-
management and want of proper care, manifested their ability to ensure good
returns, the annuals should be altogether confined to suitable elevations in the
hills from Sylhet upwards to the Indus. Experimentalists who know little or
nothing of the constitution and actual condition as to health of the species
they would introduce, and who set common sense and experience at defiance,
are simply acting upon the sic volo sic jubeo principle, and are certain in the
end to throw away their capital. Even in an elevated position there are many
points to be considered before entering upon such a speculation : Imprimis,
plenty of capital ; 2ndly, the nature of the climate of each district, for it
does not follow that the same elevation will be equally suitable to the worm
at Simla in the north, and at Darjiling to the eastward ; the elevation may
be the same, but owing to a difference of latitude the climates cannot be the
same ; Srdly, the species of worm best adapted to each climate ; 4thly, the
prospect of a remunerative return upon the outlay, founded upon sound
logical and inductive reasoning, and not as hitherto upon mere surmise and
guesswork. It must be borne in mind that although good silk may for a time
be produced while the health of the insect is unimpaired, even in a climate
which will eventually prove injurious to the worm, yet the out-turn will never
be what it ought to be in a climate fully adapted to the constitution of the
insect. Good silk was no doubt produced both in Oudh and in the Punjab, but
in neither case was the yield commensurate with the outlay and expectations
of the cultivators.

Therefore, I ask " cui bono" — For if you can only produce good silk by an
outlay of double the value of the crop, what kind of a fortune are you likely
to make ? In short no yield of silk that does not fully cover every item of
expense, leaving the insect in its original strength, and bringing in a really
profitable return, is worth the trouble of cultivation. For the question to be
solved is not so much whether a district will for a time produce good silk, but
whether it will do so permanently, without having recourse to annual impor-
tations of fresh seed ; and also whether from a given number of worms it will
produce a return equal to that from a similar number of worms, and at no
greater outlay, as Bengal or Cashmere. Facts, we all know, are stubborn
things, and they have already solved the question by proving that the Upper
Provinces are wholly unsuitable to either annuals or multivoltines.

A word likewise must be said regarding the quality of the food upon
which the worms are reared. Much has been said on the score that the
facility of rearing mulberry trees proves that India is a country adapted
generally to the successful cultivation of silk ; yet this is entirely a fallacy
supported by very indifferent logic, for the worms are not generally fed upon
indigenous trees, but upon trees from time to time imported from foreign
countries possessing climates often quite at variance with that of India. That
such importations apparently grow well and look healthy, furnishes no proof
whatever that the constitution of the plant is sound, and that the nourishing
properties of the leaf remain unimpaired by the change of climate ; no experi-
ments have been instituted to ascertain this point, but the logic seems to be
that a mulberry leaf is a mulberry leaf, and as the natural food of the worm
is the mulberry leaf, therefore they must thrive equally well upon every
species. Yet when we reflect that multivoltines prove themselves to be the
cieatures of warm climates, while annuals are restricted by nature to the

north, is it not reasonable to inquire whether each individual species may
not originally in its native climate have been furnished with some
particular tree upon which it throve better than upon others ? It must at
least be evident that the annuals of the north could not have been nourished
upon trees that are peculiar to the south, and vice versd. To feed the northern
worm upon the finer leaf of the southern tree would be nothing better than a
silly attempt to destroy its constitution by slow starvation.

That some leaves are preferred to others every cultivator must have seen,
and during my experiments to restore the health of B. mori, I often found
that although sometimes when pinched by hunger some of the multivoltines
would sparingly eat of the leaves of the coarse wild mulberry of the hills,
yet on the supply being intermixed with the leaves of the China mulberry
\Morus Sinensis), the former were at once abandoned for the latter; while as
to B. mori, although a northern species, it would never touch the wild leaf at
all. Nor does the above opinion appear to be wholly unsupported by facts,
for the wild silkworm (B. Huttoni) of the north-western Himalaya must
have been wholly restricted to the coarse leaves of the indigenous trees pre-
vious to the introduction of the cultivated Chinese plants, and indeed in
many parts of the hills they are so still. That they readily eat the leaves
of other mulberry trees is nothing to the purpose, the question being, did
nature restrict them to any particular tree ? The answer being — undoubtedly
she did, until man interfered to upset the arrangement. Another point to
be considered in the rearing of northern worms upon southern leaves is the
fact that, from their thinness, twice or thrice the quantity will be required
to properly nourish the worm, and this increases the outlay ; besides which,
the longer the time consumed in feeding, the less repose does the insect
receive, and this is injurious to its well-being.

But supposing, as is most probably the case, that the leaves of imported
trees in an uncongenial climate are deficient in proper nourishing con-
stituents, the worms and consequently the crop^of silk must likewise be
affected, and the very same thing arises from the injudicious method prac-
tised in Bengal of constantly cutting down the bushes for the nourishment
of the worm ; for in such cases the leaves are wholly immature, watery, and
poor, and therefore do not furnish the worm with the necessary constituents
for producing good silk, while the quantity must likewise be reduced.
Doubtless the natives will tell us that this is the cheapest method and they
can afford no other, and this may be true, but the purchaser of cocoons should
be wiser in his generation and remember that as veal is not beef so in like
manner are young mulberry shoots inferior as an article of food to the
mature leaf. The niggardly policy that would put every shilling into the
pockets of the cultivators and bestow nothing upon the worm and its
produce, is the very worst that could be adopted, and is decidedly one of
those causes which have hitherto led to such lamentable and disastrous
results. A thorough revision and alteration of the prevailing system is
absolutely necessary, and if the purchaser of cocoons does not strenuously
endeavour to repair the mischief which is manifested in the failing constitu-
tion of the multivoltines of Bengal, he will soon have reason to bewail his
negligence.

Now it appears to me that the great number of mulberry feeding silk
worms now known to exist, amply warrants the conclusion that a corres-
ponding variety of trees has been furnished for their nourishment, each
probably being modified to suit the climate and other conditions under which
the worms themselves may have originally existed. Some perhaps may
have been restricted to one species only, while others may have had a wider
range, for had not something of this kind been intended why has such a
variety of mulberry species been created ? If all worms throve equally well
upon the same species of tree in every climate in which indigenous, why
create such a number of other species, many of which probably differ in

8

specific properties ? It would seem to prove only a waste of power and
resources, and be consequently inconsistent with nature's laws and usual
course of procedure, which is never to act redundantly.

Granting then that the variety of trees corresponded with the variety of
the insects, it would appear that we, with our conceited notions of improving
upon nature, have at last so intermixed and deteriorated the quality of
the natural food of each, that our boasted improvements, as Mr. Bashford
called them, have nearly ended in the destruction of the worms.

It may probably be said that there is now no remedy for this state of
things, as so much time has elapsed since the introduction of the insects that
no one now remembers upon what trees they were originally fed, and even
in some instances from whence the worms themselves were procured. The
objection I think is scarcely valid, and if we are really seriously inclined
to repair as much as possible the evils and mismanagement of the past, it
behoves us manfully to push all difficulties aside and commence de novo upon
a sounder system. The French appear to find no difficulty in procuring eggs
from foreign lands, — then why should we ? Practised hands could surely be
despatched to China and its isles, in search of stock, and the indigenous (not
imported) trees of the district. These once obtained would fairly replace the
cultivator upon his legs, and instead of making the supplies over to the
natives, each cultivator of silk should have his own plantations, and all other
necessary requirements in his own hands and under competent European
Superintendents. The present native system should be rooted out, for it is
nothing but a patent method of reducing the yield of silk and gradually
starving the worms. It is of no use crying to Jupiter to give you better
crops, — you might just as well invoke the Saints with a farthing rushlight ;-

destruction of the insects.

I have treated the subject as a naturalist, because he, from his know-
ledge of the habits and requirements of the insects, ought to be the proper
person, in the first instance, to lend a helping and a guiding hand to the
cultivator. More than this I cannot do as I am not sufficiently versed in
commercial politics to enable me to step forward as a practical sericulturist.

Some have imagined that as the annual worms of Cashmere cannot be
successfully cultivated in Bengal, it would be wise to cross them upon the
monthly worms in the hope of thus obtaining more than one crop of cocoons
of a superior size, a method which has always appeared to me to be a patent
way of destroying the good qualities of both. For the blood (so to speak)
of the annual Cashmere worm being as it were prepotent over that of the
multivoltines will speedily reduce the cross to annuals, and so destroy
their good qualities, while at the same time the inferior size of the monthly
worms, as compared with the cocoons of 2?. mori, acts injuriously in reducing
the size of the cocoons of the latter. Mr. Bashford, on whom well merited
praise is bestowed by the Conference, was for a time perfectly unreasonable
on the subject of crossing, and became highly indignant at my declaring,
what eventually proved to be true, that all would sooner or later revert to
their own natural characteristics, or be swallowed up in the stronger annuals.
" Look," said Mr. Bashford, " at our breeding establishments in England, —
horses, fowls, sheep, &c., &c. ; everything is most successfully crossed, and
the improvements are permanent."*

Yet this is after all but idle talk, displaying a decided want of knowledge
of the subject, since no " improvements" either are, or can be, permanent,
unless the crossing is from time to tune renewed, and the animal kept up to
some required standard. If this be not attended to, the animal, be it what

* Note on Button's remarks on the improvement of silkworms.

9

it may, when once left to nature will gradually revert, and all the boasted
improvements become obliterated, — and why ? simply because the standard
is wholly an artificial and not a natural one. Mr. Bashford however ap-
peared to be surprised to see his worms revert, and that nature, abhorring
all crosses, exercised a greater influence over the worms than he did. I will
quote a portion of his concluding remarks, placing those parts which sup-
port my argument, in italics. " On my return from Europe I found a good
supply of healthy looking eggs of the different sorts, and have continued the
experiments this year (185(i) with unabated perseverance; they began
hatching early in January, but just as irregularly as before, a small quantity
only came out daily, and did not cease till May. The early worms were all
good, fed and thrived as well as I could desire, and cocoons from them were
very fine.* I hnd an opportunity of again comparing the pure French cocoons
reared by me, with the different crosses, and the choice was greatly in favour
of the pure ; but the cross cocoons were vastly superior to those of Bengal,
and what I reeled off in the filature gave a most beautiful silk, and a yield in
quantity more than twice as large as the common cocoons of this country,
which we were then reeling in the filatures. Thus much of the intrinsic
value of the French cocoons remained, but none of their original shape. I
supposed now that I had so much reduced the original nature of the frequent
crosses, as to be nearly certain of their now assimilating in habits, &c., &c.,
with our country worms, and I did not reduce them by further crossing, but
allowed the moths to couple with themselves.

Great was my astonishment to find after the eggs had been deposited three
days that most of them turned black, indicating that they still had too much
French nature ; a few remained yellow and hatched after ten days ; how to
account for this freak of nature with regard to the rest, I cannot understand,
but I had still to be more surprised after this. I have to wait of course
until next year to see the result of the black eggs, but those that hatched
gave me ample occupation for the time, and I watched and cared for them
with the gi*eatest interest ; the young worms looked healthy, ate, and throve
well, and in due time gave cocoons ; the white colour alone proved the
China portion, and the superior size of cocoon and fibre, and lighter colour
of some, with less floss than with our common sorts, shewed the French
and Italian cross. I was on the whole satisfied with this crop, and trusted
my labours had met with success, but great was my astonishment, after
the pairing, to see more than half of these egcts again revert to annuals,
though there had been a complete break in their nature by their having
hatched in January, given cocoons in February, eaten out in due time, paired
in themselves, deposited eggs that ten days after hatched, and now to fall
back not to hatch again until the ensuing January of 1857, I fancy is
extraordinary in the extreme. I have many pounds of eggs of the different
crosses still retaining the nature of annuals, but as I have spent three years
in trying ineffectually to engraft a superior nature, and invigorate our
common stock without changing their nature of hatching, I feel discouraged,
and would gladly have the opinion of naturalists as to the probability of
my object ever being attainable, and the proper steps to be taken for reah'zing
it."t

It was in consequence of this pathetic appeal to naturalists that I wrote
to Mr. Bashford a letter which he published in your Journal, and which
ended in obtaining me the honor of a snub because my opinions were not in
accordance with his wishes. Yet subsequently he acknowledged the utter
failure of his endeavours, and that the worms had all reverted to annuals.

* This cress was effected with French, Italian, and China females of Eoro-pooloo, upon
Madrassee and dasee stock.

t A few remarks "On Experiments with Silkworms," by F. Bashford, Esq. Journal
A. and H. Society of India, Vols. IX and X.

10

The parts italicised in the foregoing extract are these : —
First— •" The irregularity of hatching ;" showing that the cross was already
acting injuriously upon the eggs.

Secondly — " The choice between cocoons of pure French stock and those
of the cross was altogether on the side of the former" — Proving the unmixed
to be the best.

Thirdly— Fondly imagining that he had succeeded in amalgamating or
fusing the two natures, he did not reduce them by further crossing, — and what
was the result ? Simply that from the moment when crossing ceased,
nature stepped in and asserted her authority by again casting out the effects
of the cross, and causing the hybrids to revert to annuals. In this like-
wise we perceive the folly of declaring that " everything is most successfully
crossed, and the improvements are permanent." I can only suppose, if
this be the fact, which however it is not, that there were no improvements
in these hybrids to become permanent.

Fourthly— The dark colour of the eggs " indicated that the hybrid had
still too much French nature ;" that is to say, that the influence of the
stronger Boro-pooloo (B. textor) was prepotent over the weaker monthly
worms, and had reverted them to annuals.

Fifthly— The worrns^ became annuals " after there had been a complete
break in their nature." The fact is otherwise : There had been no break
in the nature of either species, but simply dire confusion for a time, succeeded
by reversion to their natural condition, by which the temporary union was
dissolved and again contemptuously cast out.

Sixthly — Mr. Bashford thought it a very extraordinary thing that rever-
sion should have succeeded to what he considered the accomplishment of
his wishes ; yet there was nothing extraordinary throughout these changes ;
they were simply indications of a struggle between nature and Mr. Bashford
for the mastery, the^one being determined if possible to preserve her species
pure, and the other if possible to destroy them by the application of what
he termed " the arts and sciences." However the long and the short of the
matter is, that all these experiments signally failed, as fail they always
will, and I therefore advise the cultivator, if he wishes to possess good silk,
to eschew all crossing, and to busy himself with a more careful management
of the pure races. Such experiments are well enough in the hands of a
naturalist who wishes to learn what can possibly be effected by such crosses,
but for a practical sericulturist to enter into them will ever prove but time
and labour thrown away.

Let us now consider the subject of silk cultivation in India from another
point of view. The first thing that appears to arrest attention is the ardent
wish in England to extend the cultivation of the worms generally over
districts where at present none exist. I have however already shown that
this desirable object cannot be obtained ; all efforts, and they have been
zealously pursued, having failed with considerable loss. Let not the some-
times over-earnest advocate for such extension run away with the very
erroneous impression that all parts of India enjoy the same climate and are
equally favourable for the growth of silk, for nothing can be farther from the
truth. The very geological features of the land will at once point out that
from the coast line upwards, for more than 1,200 miles, the climates must
necessarily be modified by outlying hills and mountain ranges of consider-
able elevation. These mountains are often densely clothed with forests and
other vegetation ; at other times are bare and rocky ; and while well adapted
in many parts for the larger wild species, such as the Tussar (Anthercea
paphid) and its congeners are, totally unsuited to the growth of the finer
silks. Yet these wild species are by no means to be despised, and excellent
silk is even now turned out at Beerbhoom, Palamow, Bhagulpore, and lately
at a place near Sasseram. Tlje cocoons of Palamow, especially, are sometimes
of very large size, and in all these, and such like localities, careful manage-
ment in reeling appears to be all that is necessary to insure a very profitable

11

return. The worms are wild, and are fed upon the forest trees at no expense
to the cultivator, who consequently does not experience the same temptation
to turn rogue and starve the worm, as is the custom among the Bengal
cultivators of the monthly Bombyces.

The group of silk spinners of which I now propose to speak differs widely
in form, in hahits, food, and silk from the Bombyces proper ; they are all
wild species, and what is a great advantage, are all indigenous to this
country and widely diffused wherever there are hills. The type of the
group is the well-known Tussar Moth (Antheroea paphia) which occurs not
only at the places already mentioned, but likewise along the coast line from
Bombay through Pondicherry, and eastward to Bengal, and thence through
Cachar, Assam, Darjiling onwards through the Dehra Doon, and even to the
Punjab. The insect therefore has already indicated to us the various
localities in which it may be expected to thrive ; there is no need of
experimental trials, for nature has declared that wherever her species are
indigenously placed, that is the locality in which they are certain to thrive
best, so that knowing this, all that the sericulturist has to do, after the
selection of the district in which he proposes to reside, is careful attention
in the selection of cocoons, and the finest manipulation in the reeling. At
present this silk as an article of commerce is altogether in its infancy.

All the species of this group (and there are several) are wild, and, as a
rule, when left entirely in a state of nature, appear to be only annual, or
single-brooded, yet such is the curious effect even of a semi-domestication
that no sooner do they become subject to man's control than this habit is
completely changed, and from two to five broods a year may be obtained.
The occurrence of a strong sharp-pointed horny spine at the shoulder of the
wing in Actias Selene and others of that genus, and its presence likewise in
Antheroea, sometime ago suggested the propriety of ranging these in a
separate family, under the name of Plectropteronidoe and genus Pleciropteron,
but as the suggestion appeared to meet with little favour I did not venture
to make the alteration. The mere fact of Actias possessing long narrow
tails to the lower pair of wings, while there are none in Antheroea, would
not, I conceive, have sufficient weight to prevent the amalgamation of the
two genera which, in other respects, present but few if any generic differ-
ences ; for the very same thing occurs in the Papilionidce or butterflies of
the genus Papilio, between which no difference is made on that account. As
we are not, however, here concerned with the tails but with the produce of
the insects, and their capability of being turned to good account as silk
producers, we may for the present let the scientific question rest.

In all the members of this group the cocoon is firmly closed all round,
and the fibres, especially in Antheroea, are strongly and compactly glued
together so as to render the action of the wing- spur necessary for the
separation of the threads. The head of the cocoon therefore being first
moistened as in Bombyx by a liquid secretion from the mouth of the insect,
the wing spines are then alternately brought into play in making a cross cut,
or it may be perhaps in separating the threads without cutting, a sharp
grating sound being plainly heard the while, until the moth effects its exit.
The silk, when reeled, although from the great size of the insects, coarser
in the fibre than that of Bombyx, is nevertheless a valuable product, and
with good reeling would soon command a very profitable price.

In Actias the cocoons are by no means so full of silk as those of Anthercea,
but what there is has been well spoken of as " strong, tenacious, elastic, and
brilliant." At Mussooree the worm of Actias Selene is found in a wild
state upon the Andromeda ovalifolia, Coriaria Nipalensis, Xanthoxylon hostile,
Bradleia ovata, Carpinus bimana, Cerasus puddum (the wild cherry), Pyrus
Jtythul (wild pear), the walnut and others, so that there should be no difficulty
in rearing it on the cherry, pear, and walnut either in France or England,
and as it will yield three or four crops in the year an abundant supply of
silk might be obtained, the worm being as easily reared in the house as on

12

the trees. In India it has wide range, occurring along the coast line from
Pondicherry, eastward, along the base of the Himalaya, even to the Sutlej
in the North-west, and it has been found also in Central India, so that there
can be no question of its being rendered otherwise than productive in this
country.

Of the Tussar I have already spoken, and shall only now remark that in
the whole family of the Lepidoptera there is perhaps no insect so variable in
the imago stage in point of colouring as this ; so much is this the case that
a novice would scarcely believe the varieties to be all of one species. I have
a cabinet now before me of silk spinning moths, in the drawers of which there
are no fewer than a dozen variations chiefly from Palamow. There is like-
wise a species (for I am much inclined to regard it as such) from the Sonthal
jungles, some miles to the westward of Colgong, and procured through the
kindness of Mr. Barnes. I have received it from no other part of the countiy,
and have provisionally named it Anthercea nebulosa from the cloudy bands on
the wings. The cocoon is in all respects like that of the common Tussar.
I have also some which, if not crosses between Anth. paphia and Antk.
Frithii, must be new also.

Anthercea Assama, of Assam, occurs also sparingly in the Dehra Boon,
and could a brood be once procured would doubtless soon become a very
profitable speculation. The great difficulty however is to find persons capable
of discriminating and willing to assist the experimentalist in procuring eggs
and cocoons from various districts. If we had but a Mr. C. Brownlow,
a Mr. Barnes, and a few other equally liberally-minded men in every district,
what a glorious harvest might be made.

In parts of the Himalaya, and more especially in the north-west about
Mussooree and Simla, there occurs a fine species known as Anthercea Royhi
feeding on the oak, the silk of which is also excellent and could easily be
reared in considerable quantities by tying the females out at night, or placed
in coarse gauze tents or cages, the wild males being almost certain to visit
them before the morning.

In 1867 I received from Dr. Wallace, of Colchester, a few eggs of Anthercea
Yama-mai of Japan ; very few hatched, and although they gnawed at the oak
leaves (Q. incana) for two or three days, the worms then shrivelled up and
died. I have now a small batch of the same, received from M. Guerin Mene-
ville, but none have yet hatched, and from their appearance at present I fear
tint none will do so ; — Mais nous verrons.

Of the Eria group (Attacus) little need be said save that the Ailanthus
worm, Attacus Cynthia, is abundant at Mussooree, and occurs along the Terai
region through Kuinaon, eastward to Cachar; it is the species which I
formerly named A. Canningi, and which the French persist in calling by that
name, although it is nothing more than Attacus Cynthia. This might be
reared in any quantities either on the Ailanthus glandulosus, or on our native
plants such as Coriaria Nipalensis, Xanihoxylon hostile, the woodbine, and
other species, but some difficulty would probably be experienced in the reeling.
As to Attacus Atlas, I scarcely think now that anything can be done with it
on account of the difficulty in procuring eggs ; the worms thrive well when
found and taken from the jungle, but I never could induce the moths to
breed. At Mussooree however we appear to be on the confines of its range,
but it is abundant in Kumaon and extends eastward to Cachar. Here it is
found chiefly, if not as I suspect altogether, upon the long milky leaves of
Falconeria insignia, while in Kumaon the barberry appears to be its favourite
food. As with A. Cynthia, the difficulty of reeling will be somewhat trouble-
some, but the silk is decidedly good.

Here surely is range enough for the cultivation of silk, for it literally
carries us throughout the country ; there is no need to institute experimental
trials as was done with the Chinese Bombyces ; the sericulturist has but to
select the locality in which he finds the worms abundant and labourers at
hand, and then by strict attention to the proper rules of feeding and reeling

18

he can scarcely fail to realize good profits. But beside this, how many as yet
wholly untried species are there to be brought under cultivation for the first
time ; some even whose existence is only as yet suspected, and which will
have to be carefully sought for by an experienced eye. Some years ago,
when I asked permission to start upon such an errand, the Government
answered that " the subject was far too scientific to be entertained," and
my application was consequently refused.

Now I am somewhat too old and shaky to carry out the wishes of those
days to their full extent, and yet if those worms are to be sought after and
cultivated, somebody will have to do the work, or half the resources of the
country in this branch will be cast away. There is no reason however why
the question should be " too scientific" for a practical sericulturist, because it
was so for the government officials of those days. If the cultivation of silk
in India is to be extended in earnest, it is with these wild worms that the
game must be played, for we already know that nothing can be gained by
introducing the Bombyces of China into localities where experience has shown
us that they cannot thrive.

As when the trumpet sounds the old war-horse is said to sniff the battle
from afar, so the trumpet you have sounded in my ears has in some measure
reawakened a wish, if possible, to be of use in this important matter ; and
temporarily shutting my eyes to the disgust engendered by the treatment I
have hitherto received from various Governments as the reward of my long
continued endeavours to assist the sericulturist, a disgust which tempted me
to cast to the winds the experiments of several years, I shall still be happy
if by my advice and the little assistance I may be able to give, I can in
anywise promote the views and wishes of those who are now bestirring them-
selves in the matter of silk cultivation in India. In saying this however, I
must frankly confess that I am now but " the miserable remains of an ill
spent life," and have no longer either the health or the strength to enter into
much field work, and yet if I could procure good living samples either of the
eggs or cocoons of the various species of Anther oca, such as A. paphia, of
Palamow, and of the district round Colgong, of A. Frithii, A. Helferi, and
A. Assama, I should be very much tempted to begin my experiments again ;
with Bombyx I will have no more to do, for I am convinced that if anything
worthy of the name of silk extension is to be effected it must and can be done
only with the aid of the hitherto too much despised and neglected wild species.
Old friends, however, who some years since most liberally assisted me in
procuring what I wanted, have either left the districts from which my
best specimens were procured, or, as in several instances, have departed as I
hope to happier hunting grounds.

Anth ronT. Assama in particular is a worm in which I have always had
great faith, and still think that it might become of the greatest value, yet I
have never been able to procure its eggs or cocoons in sufficient quantities to
enable me to judge from actual experiment what might eventually be effected.
As to Mr. Moore's imaginary species, which he has named Anthercca mezan-
koria, its existence as a species distinct from A. Assama is in my opinion
altogether apocryphal, the w^ord " mazankooree" being applied by the Assa-
mese not to a worm distinct from A. Assama, as he has been led to suppose,
but to a particular quality of the cocoon and silk of the latter, precisely as in
Beerbhoom the assorted cocoons and silk of A. papkia bear different distin-
guishing names, though all are procured from the same species.

A parting word now with respect to the cultivated Mulberry Bombyces.
1. The common mulberry silkworm or type of the northern worms is the
well known B. mori, the largest of the genus known in India, and generally
called in this country the Cashmere worm, although equally well known
throughout Afghanistan, Bokhara, Persia, Syria, and all Europe. If this be
one of the species which it may be thought advisable, in spite of experience,
to introduce into the Plains, I say again beware, for the result of such an
attempt will only prove the truth of the old adage that "a fool and his money

14

are soon parted.'* In the hills of the North-west no doubt suitable localities
and elevation may be found, but T confess I do not consider Mussooree either
sufficiently elevated or far enough north to enable anyone to work the worm
with full success, or extract from it all that it is capable of yielding. The
district of Kunawur, I should imagine, would be as fine a field for the
cultivation of this species as any locality in India, or throughout the Hima-
laya. The lower part of the valley experiences far lighter rains during the
monsoon than are experienced in the lower hills near Simla, while the upper
part, towards the Tartar frontier, is altogether out of the reach of the monsoon.
It is precisely because this is the case that the district yields such good
grapes, while in the Sub-Himalaya they are acid and watery, and of little
woi'th. Hops doubtless would there thrive equally well ; they grow luxuri-
antly even at Mussooree, but there the heavy rains act injuriously in prevent-
ing the formation of the seed ; the plants flower well, but as the bitter
principle resides most strongly in the seed the value of the hops is almost
nil. Like the grape, however, the plant might in Kunawur arrive at full
perfection, and be rendered serviceable to the brewers in the lower hills.
Why then should not such a district be equally favourable to the growth of
silk ? The elevation and the temperature might be selected according to
the requirements of the insects, for the valley is a wide deep trough, through
which the Sutlej flows, and with shelving sides and fields cut out in steps ;
here too the worm would be actually on the confines, as to latitude, of its
native land — the Chinese districts from which it originally came, lying, as
does this Himalayan tract, between 32° and 34° of north latitude. Cashmere
might likewise receive a helping hand.

2. B. textor (Hutton), the Boropoolloo of Bengal, and which is apparently
fast fading away, being likewise an annual, would no doubt thrive equally
well in the same district. The cultivator however might be surprised to find
that the crop of silk derivable from these, although at first of a silvery white,
had now all turned to a golden yellow, the effect as I maintain of returning
health and strength.

3. No monthly species could of course be expected to thrive in such a
land, and consequently would not be introduced. These must be left entirely
to the climates of Bengal and the western coast line.

The object to be gained by the cultivation of all these species should not
be their extension into other districts where they have never yet been found
to yield a successful crop, but to rouse the sericultnrist from his present
sleepy state of apathy, and teach him that silk can only be increased in
quantity and improved in quality by a proper attention to the condition of
the food upon which the worms are fed ; if he is too idle and supine to do
this, and positively insist upon an improved system among the natives from
whom he obtains cocoons, then farewell for ever the expectation of ever
profitably introducing the cultivation of silk in India, — change the name of
Bengal into that of " Sleepy Hollotv," and let thoss valuable insects go
dwindling downwards step by step until the whole are either lost or worth-
less. The present system is' altogether wrong ; in saying this I feel that I
am again travelling along a road that formerly was productive only of sneers
and ill-will, but that I little heed ; my wish is, if possible, to benefit
those who are now or who may hereafter be engaged in the cultivation of
silk, and therefore I am determined to speak only that which I believe to be
the honest truth. Improvement in the method of producing food — improve-
ment in the quality of the food itself — the improvement in the actual quantity
of food furnished to the worms, and which a native will always stint —
improvement in the smoky, dark, ill ventilated huts in which the worms
are reared, and which like Irish cabins appear to contain a regular Noah's
Ark. These are at least some of the improvements to be effected before any
increase in the quantity of silk can be expected. There is in truth no
difficulty in this beyond that which the pig-headed native obstinacy of the
rearers opposes to all improvement. What then ? Is your silk to stand ever

15

at the same low standard, because an avaricious grasping ignoramus is deter-
mined to pursue that course alone, which an equally ignorant " Papa, pur-
sued before him?" Go to; you must entirely " changez tout cela," and
take every branch of the system into your own hands — the trees, the mode
of cultivating them, and the rearing houses ; in short from first to last
everything pertaining to the growth of the finest silk must be taken over in
toto by the sericulturist, whose money, whose common sense, and energy of
mind and body, must all be invested in the speculation. It is the " Master's
eye that makes the horse fat," and the very same principle applies equally
well to the cultivation of silk. Pursue this system if you wish to thrive ;
if otherwise, then you must be content to remain, as the drill sergeant says —
" as you was"

4. The wild mountain species known as Bombyx Huttoni is in some
seasons found in thousands; every mulberry tree, whether wild or cultivated,
being literally covered with them. The worm is double brooded, and the
eggs remain exposed to the inclemency of «i mountain winter, securely glued
to the bark of the tree. The silk is decidedly first-rate and of an ashy white
colour, but the insect is so intractable that it will not submit to domestication,
and must therefore be reared upon the trees, a method which must always
render the crop precarious. I have repeatedly tried to introduce this species
into France and England, but always unsuccessfully, the reason being that
while our worm hatches in early March, when the young mulberry leaves
appear, in England there is not a leaf procurable until May. I therefore
propose (D.V.) if alive this coming autumn, to convey a bundle or two of
cuttings to my friend Dr. Wallace, of Colchester, of the wild mulberry tree,
in the hope that they may find a congenial climate somewhat resembling our
own in this " Ultima Thule," and so continue to put forth their leaves at the
season when the worms are hatching; it may be considered as a wild attempt
and forlorn hope, but nevertheless the value of the ultimate results in case
of success proclaim it a venture well worth trying.

I have lately read, although I cannot at this moment remember where,
that what are termed the perforated cocoons of the Bombyces, that is of
cocoons from which the moths have effected their escape, are contrary to
received opinions, quite capable of being reeled off like the others, the silk
not having been cut but only pushed aside. If such be the case the
cocoons of other species may likewise be turned to profitable account, and a
large additional quantity of silk be saved.

In the Supplement to the Oudh Government Gazette for May 29th,
1869, appeared a communication from " The Silk Supply Association of
London," upon some portions of which I propose to make a few observations
for the benefit of those who are far more prone to be led astray by the
sophistry extant in high quarters, than to be guided by hard facts and the
experience of the past. Gentlemen in England are very apt to take a purely
English view of silk cultivation in India, and appear to think the natives of
this country are such a docile and teachable people that they will readily lay
aside " the superstitions of ages," as uphelid by their ancestors, and adopt
the suggestions of foreign speculators, who in many instances are as far from
pointing out the proper course to be pursued as the natives are slow in
adopting it. Thus Messrs. Chadwick and Dickins at a meeting in London,
convened by themselves, propose first " to stimulate the production of silk
by cottage cultivation and otherwise, in every country where the mulberry
tree is capable of giving food to silk-worms." In this first clause, as stated
by the Association, there are two points to be considered, which appear to me
more likely to prove injurious to the worms than to extend the growth of
silk. These are, first — "The production of silk by cottage cultivation,"
and secondly— " the introduction of silkworms wherever the mulberry is
capable of giving food to the insects."

Now if by " cottage cultivation" is meant the rearing of silkworms by
cottagers in Europe, the thing may probably be feasible enough, because

16

the people, being of cleaner habits and more alive to the absolute necessity
of attending strictly to the welfare of the insects in the matter of food and
ventilation, than are the obstinate and caste-enchained ryots of India, would
at once adopt those modes of treatment which were pointed out and insisted
upon by competent instructors. But on the other hand when we come to
urge " the mild Hindoo" to adopt a better system than he has hitherto pur-
sued, we shall at once be met by the declaration that his poverty and dislike
of innovation will prevent his making any alteration ; he cannot afford to
cultivate the mulberry in any other manner than that which his respected
forefathers pursued ; giving the worms more food and of a better quality
would increase his expenses so much that he would be compelled to raise the
price of the cocoons. To this the purchaser would object, and a system of
" pull devil, pull baker," be introduced which would effectually keep all real
improvement at a stand still. The native cultivator however must not only
alter the quality and quantity of the food, but he must be compelled to erect
more suitable rearing-sheds, free alike from the dirt, smoke, and malarious
influences arising from neglect of free ventilation and the non-adoption of
common sense sanitary principles. Dirt to a poverty-stricken native is
second nature, and you cannot wean him from it, nor from his determination
to squeeze as much profit out of the worms as he can, at the very least
expense to himself,— not considering in his blindness that the more he
saves in the feeding and rearing, the less he gains on his cocoons ? The
cottage system therefore (that is to say what is so considered in Europe)
is the one of all others when applied to India the best calculated to insure a
bad supply of cocoons ; in short it is the present Bengal system, and ought
to be extinguished. If the quantity of silk cultivated in Bengal is to be
increased, and the quality improved, it can only be done by restoring the
worm, through a better system of feeding, to renewed health and vigour ;
this the ryots will never effect, and the sericulturist in Bengal must con-
sequently do it for himself. But how, he may ask, am I to do so it the
natives persist in thwarting me ? Simply, I reply, by sending the native
to Jericho until he comes to his senses ; and in the meantime, as I have
repeatedly pointed out, the European sericulturist must take the entire system
of cultivation into his own hands; he must in short become in truth a practical
cultivator himself, instead of remaining, as now, a mere purchaser of bad
cocoons, or being compelled to shut up his filature ; at present he has none
other than " Hobson's choice"— bad cocoons or none at all. He will probably
tell me that he can reel an excellent silk from these cheap cocoons, and
doubtless this is true enough, but the real question is whether he gets as much
silk and of as good a quality from these cocoons as he would have done had
they been more judiciously attended to, and here I answer for him that he
certainly does not. Then why not have the best cocoons by putting his
own shoulder to the wheel, and forming a plantation from which he may
derive ripe leaves containing in perfection in their juices the best material
from which the purest silk gum can alone be secreted by the worm ? The
lands now occupied by the mulberry bushes in which the natives put such
faith should be thoroughly ploughed, manured, and then replanted with young
healthy trees or cuttings of the very bast description procurable, taking due
care that such trees are, if possible, indigenous in those districts of China,
Japan, or elsewhere, in which the monthly worms are themselves either
indigenous or extensively cultivated, for by so doing you may fortunately
apportion to the insects the very trees, or some of them, upon which they
in the first instance existed. Then as to the rearing- houses; they too should
be solely under the control and supervision of the capitalist himself, with an
intelligent European superintendent under him, the ryots being employed
tinder his eye in picking and bringing in the leaves as frequently and in
such quantities as the case requires ; let there be no stinting, but see that
the work is properly attended to, for a saving in the feeding will be a loss on
the cocoon. By this method the health of the worms would be improved

17

and the cocoons become well stuffed with silk of a superior quality ; ventila-
tion, cleanliness, temperature, all being properly attended to, the yield oi silk
in the hands of the sericulturist would in all probability be double what
it now is. The greatest difficulty to contend against would no doubt arise
from the dislike to introduce a new system. Yet this I am confident will be
the only means of putting the present vicious system on a better and more
remunerative footing. It may be said that it is advisable to " let well alone,"
but unfortunately the present hue and cry and stir at Home for the extension
and improvement of Bengal silk at once proclaims that there is very little
that is good enough to be let alone. A radical change must be effected, for
after all it simply comes to this, that if you wish to increase the quantity of
silk you will never be able to do so under the present faulty system of feeding
and rearing ; consequently you must either change it for a better, or be con-
tent to remain as you are at present. Let your efforts, however, be confined
to Bengal and Southern India, for if you attempt to introduce the monthly
worms into the Upper Provinces, nothing but failure and loss of capital will
b« the result, and as you cannot with all your skill " make a silken purse out
of a sow's ear," so neither can you force these worms to thrive in localities
and climates where nature has decreed that they shall not thrive.

By the term " extension of silk cultivation in India" I apprehend is meant
a more general diffusion of the worms, a greater quantity of silk from a
given number of worms, and greater attention in the reeling; if such be
the case I warn the sericulturist against the diffusion of the monthly worms
beyond Bengal, for the reasons already given, — while with respect to the
Boropooloo, or B. textor, it should be at once removed from Bengal, where it
is said to be fast dying out, to a colder climate in some parts of the Sub-
himalaya, where it could be profitably cultivated side by side with Bombyx
mori from Cashmere.

It is an utter fallacy to suppose that the silkworm requires a climate free
from moisture ; it is the want of humidity in the climate of the Upper
Provinces that enfeebles the worm and makes it languid and limp, thus
rendering it incapable of yielding a full crop of silk. This has been well
proved this season (1869) at Mussooree, among the wild silkworms (B.
Huttoni), for while last year this species was found in hundreds on every
tree, there is now, from the great heat and want of rain and humidity, not
one to be seen. The eggs of last autumn still remain upon the trees ; a
few have hatched and the worms have been literally shrivelled up by want
of rain and by the prevalence of scorching heat, while other eggs are still
unhatched in June and are waiting for the setting in of the periodical
monsoon. If then the heat thus injuriously operates upon the indigenous
worms in our climate, what must be its effect in those scorching districts
which are subject to the furnace-like blast of the hot winds ? ^ Where the
speculator possesses " more money than brains" the best possible way of
equalising the two will be to attempt silk cultivation with Chinese worms
in the North-western Provinces of India, Taking it for granted, however,

nothing but the doctrine of chances to guu ..

safely predict a rapidly approaching time when prejudice and red tape will
be cast aside, and a new era be ushered in. The time for mere^experiments
has passed away; the mulberry worms have been introduced into districts
where they had previously had no fair trial, and in every instance sigral
failure has been the result ; we have now hard facts and experience before
us as a guide, and if we do not profit by what we have thus learnt there will
be nothing but failure in the future.

Secondly, with regard to " the introduction of silkworms wherever the
mulberry is capable of giving food to the worms," — I view the doctrine
simply as a piece of claptrap, calculated only to spin out a speech and lure

18

the sericulturist to destruction. Wherever the mulberry is found it is no
doubt " capable of giving food to the silkworms"; this is a mere truism, —
but does it follow as a natural consequence that where the mulberry is
capable of growing there the worms must necessarily thrive upon its leaves ?
The logic of the argument runs somewhat thus, — " John Bull is fond of
beef, and in a climate suited to his constitution will thrive upon it," but it
does not therefore follow that he will thrive upon it in a climate injurious
to his constitution ? It is a well known fact that the food of mankind
varies in every climate of the world ; the coldest regions require the most
nourishing and stimulating food, but in tropical climes that same nourish-
ment would be productive only of disease. Man can exist in every climate,
but as a species he does not thrive equally well in all ; and so is it with the
mulberry tree ; it will grow, but it does not therefore follow that in every
clime it will yield the same quantity and quality of aliment ; to grow is one
thing but to thrive is quite another ; the leaves will everywhere be " capable
of giving food," because that consists of the fibrous portion of the leaf, but
if those substances which go to the production of silk be wanting either
wholly or in part, little or none will be furnished for the fabrication of the
cocoon. I have already stated above that where the leaves are deficient in
silk producing properties the worms will require more frequent supplies, and
that the rest of the insect being thus interrupted, and greater labour imposed
upon it, the effect must eventually be deterioration. To support my argument
I invite the practical sericulturist to look round on nature that he may see
with his own eyes how, after feeding, every animal seeks repose. Why is
this ? Simply because it is ordained that continued exercise after feeding
impedes digestion. This was many years ago well proved by an experiment
tried upon a brace of greyhounds ; both were well fed ; then one was chained
up and left at home, while the other was taken to the field and coursed.
When the coursing ceased both dogs were killed, and it was then found
that the sleeping dog had nearly digested his food, while that of the other
remained in statu quo.

Again, we know that every part of India will nourish mulberry trees, but
at the same time we at present know positively nothing in regard to the
quality of the leaves, except that from the repeated failure of the worms
wherever they have been introduced we are entitled to infer that the quality
of the nourishment afforded, together with the heat, are alike unsuited to
the worms. Even with respect to the indigenous trees, their existence does
not prove the districts in which they grow to be suitable to the imported
worms ; on the contrary, nature herself, by having placed no indigenous
species upon such trees, at once gives warning that she never intended them
to exist there. In the Himalaya she has acted on another principle, having
furnished the indigenous trees with a species peculiar to them and the
climate in which they grow, by which means she has proclaimed these
districts to be adapted to the production of silk, and backs the assertion
by the further evidence derivable from the existence of eleven other species of
the Bombycidse, nourished upon various indigenous trees. What plainer
speaking man can desire I am at a loss to conceive. If then nature has
placed indigenous species upon the indigenous trees of the Himalaya, while
she has placed none upon those of the lowland mulberry, are we not fully
justified in declaring that as the book of nature was intended to be man's
earliest guide and primer in appropriating to himself the wisdom of his
Maker, so it must be mere wilful folly to attempt by artificial means to
obtain results which nature plainly tells us are contrary to her plans and the
wisdom displayed around us. At the same time, however, although she
refuses to introduce the mulberry worms of other climes, she does not leave
the lowland provinces a blank, but on the other hand points out that perfect
suitableness for the cultivation of those other wild species which she has
everywhere bountifully scattered over the length and breadth of this vast
and generally neglected Empire.

19

These are points which probably none but a naturalist would take into
serious consideration in the treatment of this important subject, and yet it
is absolutely essential for the sericulturist to know how nature acts and
what she wills should be, for it is only by the rational study of her works
that he can ascertain how far she may leel inclined to assist him, and if he
wilfully shuts his eyes to facts, and determines to pursue an unnatural
system of his own by acting in opposition to her dictum, he will only have
himself to thank should his efforts eventually end in total failure. " Go to
the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise." In the present
instance let us go for wisdom to the mulberry feeding Bombyces, and we
shall find them answering to our inquiries that "Nature, by not placing any
of them upon the indigenous trees of the lowland provinces, proclaims aloud
that she does not consider their climates suitable to their constitution, and
therefore located them in different latitudes and climates, upon trees there
previously provided for their nourishment ; therefore be wise and profit by
the warning and advice thus given by a Master Mind, rejecting the illogical
doctrine that wherever the mulberry grows there too ought silkworms to
exist and thrive ; or if you will not be guided by such evidence as their
non-existence in those provinces affords, at least let the frequent failures in
the attempt to introduce them arrest your steps in time to save you from
an otherwise inevitable loss."

I have no expectation that my croaking views will be more readily attended
to now than formerly, while yet I believe it to be my duty to my fellow men
to speak out boldly what I consider to be the honest truth. " Hinc illw
lachrymce."

I may be asked what species of mulberry tree I would recommend for the
rearing of the worms, and I would certainly reply that this must be regulated
by the nature of the species under cultivation, and the climate in which
they are situated. In Bengal where alone in India the monthly worms are
capable of being cultivated with any prospect of success, the trees selected
should come from the districts from whence the worms themselves were
originally procured, while the annuals of the north should be reared on the
leaves of northern trees. I have tried at Mussooree the Phillipine mulberry
(M. multicaulis), the large leafed Morus cucullata, the Chinese Morvs Sinenais,
and several other species, and invariably found that the silk was both more
abundant and of better quality when the worms were reared upon the leaves
of Morus Sinensis and Morus nigra than upon any others ; while worms fed
upon the leaves of M. multicaulis and M. cucullata produced nothing but a
thin flimsy web, through which the pupa was distinctly visible. It is to be
remarked however that this experiment was tried upon northern worms, and
with the trees growing in a northern climate, so that the advantages were all
on the side of the northern species, and against the southern trees. In Oudh,
however, where the southern M. cucullata might be supposed to possess an
advantage over the M. Sinensis, the very same results were observed, as my
son, Mr. A. K. Hutton, of the Oudh Commission, who conducted an experi-
ment under the orders of that Government, informs me that when he first
entered upon the experiment with Bombyx Mori, B. textor, and B. Sinensis, it
was found with respect to the latter worm that it was in such a weakly
condition as to be unable to gnaw the epidermis of even so thin a leaf as
that of Morus cucullata, and it was found necessary to chop the leaves very
finely for them during the first stage, when, instead of eating the fibrous
portions, they contented themselves with the sap exuding from^the edges.
Placed upon the unchopped leaf, they wandered about and died, being unable
to pierce it ; in the following year he changed the leaf for that of Morus
Sinensis, and found that his worms had improved, and that in the third year
they had improved still more. From this it was somewhat hastily inferred
that if the experiment had been continued the worms would have^annually
improved until they had reached the Bengal standard, when nothing more
would be needed, and the experiment would have been successful. Unfor-

20

tunately, however, when we look further into details, we find that this
inference was entirely a false one, there "being in point of fact no real
improvement in the worm at all, except that it was healthier when fed upon
the more solid leaf of M. Sinensis than upon those of the thin watery leaf
of M. cucullata ; moreover, there was no improvement upon the worms of
the first year, for these died off in such vast numbers as to render a fresh
importation from Calcutta necessary, so that it was only annually com-
mencing the same experiment de novo. To establish an improvement in
the worm required that the worms of the first year should have perpetuated
themselves, and then gone on annually improving, and this they did not do ;
in short, the experiment never advanced at all, but annually recommenced
with the importation of fresh ones from Calcutta. The fact that the worms
annually imported throve better on M. Sinensis than the first batch had done
on M. cucullata is a propos to nothing, as it only shows that the worms
thrive better upon good than upon bad food. Besides which it appears that
the alleged improvement was entirely the exception, the majority of worms
dying off, and leaving a few good ones to prove the rule that the climate was
inimical to the species. As to B. mori and B. textor, they are acknowledged
to have been a failure.

In conclusion then, permit me to say one more word on the crossing of
species. Darwin has stated that if a plant's own pollen be brought on a
brush it will invariably prove prepotent over that of a foreign species, that
is to say, that nature rejects all crossing so long as a plant's own pollen is
available.

Now if we apply this natural law to the silkworm, it will at once show
why the progeny of two different species when crossed invariably, sooner
or later, revert to their original state, or more commonly to that of the
strongest species. "We cross ±t.fortunatus upon B, mori; the moths produced
have, so to speak, the blood of both species ; but when they couple there is
a straggle for the mastery between the two, each striving to cast out the
other, and the blood of the stronger species will prove prepotent over that of
the weaker, and consequently, unless the latter be recrossed by its own
species, it must by the law of nature revert to an annual. Here the stronger
blood of B. mori in the male moth meeting with an equal portion of the
same blood in the female proves prepotent over the two parts of the blcod
of the weaker B. fortunatus, and casts it out by reverting to annuals.

These two species at Musaooree, when the crossing is judiciously kept up,
produce a very excellent silk of a golden colour, the cocoon being much
larger than that of B. fortunatus of Bengal, — but when once the crossing
ceases B mori invariably reappears. But it is time to stop, for methinks I
hear you cry — " Ohe,jam satis."

THE HON. SECBETAEY OP THE ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY OP
NEW SOUTH WALES to His EXCELLENCY THE VICEBOY OP
INDIA, SIMLA.

Acclimatisation Society of New South Wales,

Sydney, 24 February, 1870.
MY LOBD,

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of despatches
from your Excellency, No. 3749, dated 13 August, No. 555,
22 September, and 4771, 20 October, and to express the warm
thanks of the Council of this Society for the pains taken in virtue
of your Excellency's instructions to comply with our desire for
silkworms' eggs and seeds.

21

The valuable paper of Captain Hutton and the other enclosures
have been very carefully read, and have furnished this Society
with important information, for which we feel greatly indebted to
the gentlemen who have furnished the same.

I have also to acknowledge receipt of the package of eggs and
seeds from Dr. De Yecchy, of Mysore, and have the great satis-
faction of saying that they arrived in most excellent condition ;
they were immediately placed under the care of Mr. Charles
Brady, F.L.S., of Manly, our most experienced silk grower. I
enclose copy of Mr. Brady's report, and am happy to add that I
am assured of the continued well-doing of the silkworms which
have turned out quite healthy, and prove a most valuable acqui-
sition to this Colony.

The Council of this Society is gratified by the promise of silk-
worms' eggs and seeds from Mr. Henry Cope, of Umriteur; these
though announced as having been forwarded, have not yet
arrived, but will be most thankfully received.

In that part of my letter, dated 16 June last, referring to
wild species of silkworms, I solicited your Excellency's aid to
obtain certain specified sorts, indigenous more particularly to
Bengal and Assam ; we are greatly impressed with the opinion
expressed by Captain Hutton as to the value of these neglected
races. Captain Hutton's views are so much in accord with the
opinions of our most expert and well informed men here, that
fortified by his judgment this Society is very anxious to pursue
the experiment in this Colony, of growing silk out of doors ; our
range of climate seems admirably adapted and inviting to make
the essay, and the Council earnestly hopes your Excellency will
continue us your powerful assistance, and cause a few hundred
cocoons to be forwarded of the species named in my letter, and
of any others procurable ; for the Eria, the Tusseh, and the
Joree, we are well provided with food, and the moment appears
most opportune.

Should your Excellency, upon consideration of the great present
importance of applying the aids of science to the efforts of indus-
trial enterprise in such a widely diffused and financially important
a matter as the production of silk, determine that your G-overn-
ment should undertake experiments, or sanction assistance being
rendered towards improving or enlarging the sources of silk pro-
duction in India, as urged by the Silk Supply Association of
London, this Council will most gladly and freely place at your
Excellency's disposal any assistance this Society can render.
Situated as we are in a new country, under circumstances entirely
different to those of any and every other country, our enterprises
not infrequently (rejecting the shackles of old habits) achieves
results unlocked for elsewhere ; hence science giving her instruc-
tions and aids to industry in this very matter of silk growth pro-
duces many crops of silk instead of one in a year, to an immense

22

economy of labour and capital as well as risk. We feel diffident
in saying much more to your Excellency, as your desire to improve
the condition of the people under your rule, as well as to benefit
your countrymen elsewhere, is so well understood, but it may
not be impertinent for me to say that in many ways parts of the
empire may act and react on each other with mutual advantage,
and it is very evident that with judicious encouragement England
and her possessions may enjoy a very large share of the most
profitable trade in silk.

The Council of this Society trusts your Excellency may be
pleased to direct that Captain Hutton to be made aware of the
sense of obligation the Society feels to him for his paper, and
also to Dr. De Vecchy for his valuable packet.

I have, &c.,
GEOBGE BENNETT, M.D.,

Hon. Secretary, Acclimatisation
Society of N. S. "Wales.

\EnclosureJ]

Charles Brady, Esq., to Dr. G. Bennett, Hon. Secretary, Acclimatisation
Society of New South Wales.

Dear Sir,

I have carefully examined the parcel of silkworms' eggs just arrived
from India, and have the pleasure to say that although the varieties are in
part similar to some of my own, they form a very desirable and valuable
addition to the useful sorts which Australia is now acquiring. The society
may be congratulated on the success which has in this instance attended the
Viceroy's efforts to assist the difficult enterprise of introducing the silk
industry into Australia ; the eggs were admirably packed, and arrived in
perfect condition.

A portion of the eggs was already hatched so that a further short delay
would have been fatal, but there is every probability of saving enough of
each breed for reproduction in the Colony.

There appear to be two, if not three, separate varieties — one a high class
race from Italy, by way of India ; a second unnamed ; the third Japanese
green (apparently different to that already imported by the Society) partly
acclimatised in India by Dr. De Vecchy, from whose estate also the Italian
eggs were obtained.

At present the young worms appear healthy though small and pinched — it
will probably take two or three generations to bring them up to our standard ;
indeed pretty well all my experience goes to convince me more and more that
the fresh food and new climate both operate powerfully towards restoring the
natural vigour which, for now so many years, appears to have deserted the
finest stocks of silkworms in Europe— and there are not wanting symptoms
that even the pure and clean races of Japanese varieties may shortly become
more or less desolated by the same scourge which has deprived several mil-
lions of people in France and Italy of their most alluring and profitable
occupation.

What I mean by our standard, is simply that degree of health and
physical vigour in the silkworm, which, for three consecufive years, gives it
power to commence, under ordinary circumstances, its natural course in due
season, and not before, and passing through all its changes without dispro-
portionate casualty (its management without unusual difficulty or special

23

pains), to consummate its progress in forming a firm, stout, and clean cocoon
of moderate size, and whose moth neither too bulky nor too attenuate, is
perfect in its form, development, and covering of down. This standard is
attained by continued and assiduous attention, first to cleanliness, second to
rigid selection, and thirdly to judicious use of various kinds of mulberry as
food plants, according to season — one kind being used from first to last (or
at any rate during the last two stages at least) with the males, and a different
mulberry with the females. Pure races bred in and in in this way soon
acquire additional vigour, and are afterwards much more manageable than I
have found them on their first introduction.

I remain, &c.,

CHAKLES BEADY.
January 8, 1870.

From LIEUTENANT- COLONEL WILLIAM AGNEW, Officiating Com-
missioner of Assam, to the Secretary to the Government of
Bengal— (No. 331, dated Oowhatty, the 7th December,
1869.)

SIE,

In compliance with the instructions conveyed in your letter
No. 3086, of the 2nd September last, I have the honor to submit
a memorandum, drawn up from the reports of the district officers
of this division on the silkworms of Assam, and embodying the
information asked for by the Acclimatisation Society of Australia.

2. With regard to the question of despatching cocoons to Aus-
tralia, I would beg leave to point out that of the three species
cultivated, viz., — the Moogah, the Pat, and the Erie, the two latter
are found in Bengal, and I therefore think it would be better to
send their cocoons thence than from this more distant province.

3. I have great doubt as to whether it will be possible to
ensure the safe arrival of specimens of the moogah insect. From
the enclosed memorandum it will be seen that the chrysalis does
not remain dormant for any length of time as is the case with
some species ; but after the cocoon is formed, the moth soon
emerges and lays its eggs, which again are hatched in a few days.
The difficulty, however, may be overcome if the method of packing
described in the 5th paragraph of Dr. Bennett's memorandum
operates to retard the hatching of the eggs. The best time for
sending the cocoons would be the winter season, as heat accele-
rates all the stages of development. The month of December is
perhaps to be preferred for all reasons.

4. I shall be able to collect and despatch as many cocoons as
may be required if I am furnished with perforated zinc cylinders
(which I cannot procure here) of the description recommended by
Dr. Bennett, and should I be desired to procure cocoons I request
I may be informed by what route and to what; address I should
send them, so that by despatching them direct loss of time may
be prevented.

24

5. I shall despatch by Bhanghy post specimens of the various
kinds of silk, raw and manufactured, as requested in your 2nd
paragraph ; and eggs of all the varieties shall also be sent packed
in the manner described by Dr. Bennett, and also in bottles, as
suggested by Mr. William Becher, who at one time cultivated silk
extensively here. I have desired the district officers to collect
seeds of as many of the trees mentioned by Dr. Bennett as
possible, and these I shall also forward to you on receipt.

Memorandum on the Silkworms of Assam.

Mooga. — (Otherwise ' Moogah-, Moonaa, or Mungati) Antheroea
Assama or Saturnin Assanunsis. This is the commonest silkworm
in Assam, and its produce is second in estimation, that of the
"pat" worm being superior. It is bred and treated in the fol-
lowing manner : — On the third day after the cocoons have been
completed the cultivator sets apart a certain number for breed-
ing, choosing those which were commenced on the day when the
greatest number of worms began to spin. These are kept in
open-work bamboo baskets in a dark, secure place in the house ;
and in a certain number of days, varying from ten to twenty,
according to the state of the weather — heat accelerating and
cold retarding the development — the moths emerge. The males,
known in the cocoon by the sharpness and length of the " tail" of
the cocoon, and in the moth stage as being smaller than the
females, are left with the females for a day, and all are then
placed on bunches of grass, generally the " ooloo" grass, in pieces
of 18 inches in length and 3 in circumference, or on strips of
bamboo fastened to a rope and suspended from the roof, and the
females are tied to the grass or bamboo by their wings with pieces
of thread. In about three days the eggs are laid and remain
attached to the bundles of grass. The cultivator only keeps those
laid in the first three or four days, the rest are supposed to be
useless. In about ten days — the period varies with the weather
as above-mentioned — the young worms appear, and in some places
are fed for a day or two in the house with tender leaves, and
then — or in places where this practice is not resorted to, imme-
diately on the worms being hatched — the bundles of grass are
taken out and tied on the trunks of sooaloo or soom trees. Great
care is taken previous to this to clear the soom groves of ants and
other insects inimical to the rnooga, for which purpose all under-
growth is destroyed, and the ants, &c., having been collected
by baits of molasses, plantains, decomposed fish, &c., &c., are
burnt wholesale. The worms, crawling up the trees, feed first
on the smaller and afterwards on the larger leaves, and are
prevented from coming down by a band of plantain or other
smooth leaf, over which they are unab]e to move, fastened round

25

the trunks of the trees. They remain on the trees about twenty-
six or twenty-seven days more if the weather is not favourable,
and then leave off eating and descend, and are gathered in the
evening, and taken to the cultivator's house, where they are
placed in parcels of clean dry leaves, mango or plantain, and
commence their cocoons, which they finish in about five or six
days ; and the same series of changes then commences anew.

From the time the young worm is placed on the sooni tree till
it commences spinning, the greatest care and attention are
required to preserve it from its numerous enemies. Birds of
all kinds, crows especially, devour it by day ; and bats, owls, and
rats are equally destructive by night. Men are always, day and
night, on the alert with bows and arrows, pellet bows, and slings,
and with the aid of these and constant shouting manage to
prevent the birds, &c., from doing much harm, but the worms
are still destroyed in numbers by wasps, ichneumon flies, and
other insects. Hot, dry weather, is the most favourable to the
mooga worm, but excessive heat is often fatal to those which are
moulting. Rain, unless it fall in very heavy showers, does not
injure them as they find shelter under the leaves. If the rain,
however, be very heavy it washes them off; and in this way
sometimes a large proportion is destroyed.

The mooga is generally spoken of as yielding five crops of silk
in the year, which are designated as follows from the season or
month in which they are yielded : —

The Jarooah crop (cold weather) January, February.
„ Jettooah „ (Jeyt) May, June.
„ Aharooah „ (Ahar) June, July.
„ Bhodia „ (Bhadro) August', September.
„ Kotia „ (Kartik) October, November.

Of these the first two and the last are considered superior
to the others. Sometimes a larger number of crops is obtained
if the weather is more than ordinarily favourable.

The duration of the existence of the worm under ordinary
circumstances may be taken to be —

From the laying to the hatching of the egg ... 10 days
From that time till the fourth moulting ... 20 „
From the fourth moulting to the commencement

of the cocoon ... ... ... ... ... 10 „

In the chrysalis state ... ... ... ... 20 „

As a moth ... ... ... ... ... 6 „

Total 66

In the hot weather it is sometimes as short as six weeks ; in
the coldest as long as twelve weeks.

26

It is difficult to obtain reliable statistics as to the amount of
silk produced by each worm. The commonly accepted idea is,
however, that from 4,000 to 5,000 worms produce 1 seer (2 Ibs.)
of silk, the value of which varies from 6 rupees to 15 rupees. A
" dhoti," 18 feet long by 3 feet broad, is worth from rupees 12 to
rupees 20, the price varying with the excellence of the silk and of
the manufacture. Breeding cocoons are generally sold at rupees 2
per 1,000. The silk is of a yellowish colour.

Pat, or Pat Pooloo (Bomtyx mart). This is identical with the
mulberry worm of Bengal. It is never found wild in Assam,
and is cultivated entirely indoors. Its produce is white and
highly esteemed ; formerly indeed its use was restricted to royalty,
and now only the "Jogi" caste raise it. Its culture is as
follows : — The cocoons selected for breeding are kept in a loosely
tied cloth so that air can reach them, and put in a quiet, clean
place. In some twenty or twenty-five days (more or less, according
to the weather) the moths emerge and are left together a short
time, and are then removed either to slender sticks of bamboo,
or to pieces of cloth, where the females are tied by the wings
with thread. In a short time they lay, and the eggs, if laid on
cloth, are carefully packed up as they are ; and if on pieces of
bamboo are not touched for some days, and then are removed to
earthen pots or bamboo baskets, and kept with care till the
hatching season, which in Upper Assam is generally the end of
December, and in Lower Assam the end of January. The eggs
are then taken out and exposed to the air ; and as soon as the
young worms appear they are placed on round shallow bamboo
trays, which are sometimes lined with cloth, and fed with tender
mulberry leaves (the "rioonee" tree). The cultivators are
particularly careful that the place where the worms are kept is
very clean and free from all obnoxious smells. Dirt of any kind
is supposed to be fatal to them. The worms are sorted after six
or seven days, the larger being separated from the smaller ; and
the size of the leaves given to them is gradually increased as the
worms grow. When the worms evince disinclination to eat they
are removed either to bundles of clean, dry leaves, or to bamboo
trays with matting divisions about 2 inches apart, where they
spin their cocoons, which they complete in five or six days.

The duration of the breed may be taken roughly as follows : —

From the hatching of the egg to commencing

the cocoon ... ... ... ... ... 30 or 40 days.

In the chrysalis state 10 to 20 „

As a moth 3 or 4 „

From the laying to the hatching of the egg, about ten months,
or altogether one year. The cocoons required for use are put
in the sun three or four days, and then boiled in a solution of
potash obtained from the stalks of rice plants. The silk is worth

27

20 or 25 rupees a seer and is more valuable than any other,
partly on account of its whiteness, partly its fineness, and also
from the fact that but one crop is obtainable in the year, which
makes it scarce. The fabric woven from it niucli resembles the
"tusseh" silk of Bengal, and the worm is, I believe, identical
with that from the silk of which " tusseh" is made.

There is another description of pat called the chota, or small
pat, the culture of which is the same, but the silk is not quite so
good. It is but little reared.

Eria, Erie, JUrie, HJree, Arrea, or Arindee (PJial&ua cynfhin).
The treatment of this worm is similar to that of the pat pooloo,
except that it is fed on the castor-oil plant instead of on the
mulberry. It yields a coarser silk than either the pat or
moogah, and is cultivated generally by lower-caste Hindoos,
Cacharies, and Meekirs. It is reared entirely in the house, and
the duration of its existence is from six to eight weeks, less in
the hot than in the cold weather, and its produce is better in
quality and quantity in the former than in the latter season.
Cocoons for breeding are selected in the same manner as are
moogah cocoons, and for the rest they are treated much as are
pat pooloos, except that so much care and attention to cleanli-
ness are not necessary. When the worms are rather old (after
the second moulting) they are generally induced to crawl into
bundles of leaves suspended from the roof, which saves the
trouble of feeding in trays. They are allowed to form cocoons
in bundles of dry leaves. There are said to be seven breeds in
the year. The thread of the " erie" silk is worth from 2 to 3
rupees per seer, and the fabric made from it, which is warm,
thick, and durable, fetches about 14 or 15 rupees for a piece 15
feet by 4| feet. This worm is found in Bengal.

KootJcoori or Kootlcoori Moogah is a wild species of silkworm
found in the jungles of Upper Assam ; no use is made of its silk,
and the natives say that it is in fact worthless.

MeganJcoori is the name given by the Assamese to the produce
of the moogah when fed on the adakoori-tree instead of the
soom. The silk of the adakoori fed worm is lighter in colour
and therefore more highly valued. Among worms fed entirely
on the soom, however, some will always produce lighter coloured
silk than others, and this, being set apart, is generally called
" niegankoori." There is no distinct insect known by that name.
Thejoree is not known to any of the district officers.

28

Prom H. A. COCKEEELL, Esq., Officiating Commissioner of the
Presidency Division, to the Secretary to the Government of
Bengal, General Department — (No. 77, dated Fort William,
30th October, 1869.)

SIB,

The only district in this division in which silk is grown is
Kishnaghur, and there only to a very limited extent. Mr. Scott
Moncrieff, of Salgamoodia factory, has, however, been good
enough to favor me, through the collector, with a very complete
report on the subject, copy of which I submit for the informa-
tion of G-overnment, with reference to your letter No. 3086, dated
2nd September. I also forward the two specimens of silk sent
by that gentleman.

From E. SCOTT MONCEIEFF, Esq., to H. LATTMAN JOHNSON,
Esq., C.S., Joint- Magistrate, Kooshtea — (Dated Salgamoodia
Factory, the 4th October, 1869.)

SIB,

As requested in your note of 25th ultimo, I have carefully
perused the copies which accompanied it of letter of 2nd ultimo,
to the Commissioner of the Presidency division, from the Govern-
ment of Bengal, and of the memorandum by Dr. Bennett, referred
to therein, on the subject of the supply of silk-worm eggs for the
Acclimatisation Society of South Australia, and I have much
pleasure in submitting the following observations on the subject,
premising that my chief authority for them is Mr. P. Veyrin,
who superintends my small silk filature here, — a gentleman con-
versant from his youth with the rearing of silk-worms and manu-
facture of silk, and who was employed for some years by a few of
the leading firms in Lyons in the purchase of silk-worm eggs in
the Caucasus and Persia, and in transporting these to France.

2. Wild Cocoons. — "We have very few in this district, and do
not manufacture silk out of them. Mr. Veyrin has personally
superintended experiments with them, and has watched the
manufacture of silk from them in the districts of Bancoorah and
Beerbhoom, and in the province of Assam, in which as well as in
many other jungle districts of Bengal they are very abundant.
A large quantity of silk is made from them, but entirely for
native consumption and of very inferior quality. The value ranges
from rs. 2 to perhaps (but very rarely) 5 per seers (2s. to 5s. per Ib).
The well known tusser silk cloth of Bhaugulpore is made from
silk of the wild cocoons, and is generally in demand for export to
Europe. Mr. Veyrin is of opinion that the silk of some kinds of
the wild cocoons is of such very desirable quality for certain
classes of silk manufactures, that if it could be produced of a
quality suitable for the purpose by the same simple and inexpensive
process as that followed in spinning ordinary Bengal silk, the

29

produce would prove a very valuable commodity for export, but
the cost of manufacturing the silk of the required quality proves
prohibitive at present. This remark especially applies to silk of
the Moongah cocoons of Assam, made by the ordinary native
process ; it is wholly unsuitable for the European market, but it
could not be manufactured to suit the latter at a cost which
buyers for that market could afford to pay. There is such a
quantity of gummy matter in the wild cocoon that the thread of
it cannot be unwound without much more difficulty than is met
with in spinning the thread of the yellow cocoon from which
Bengal raw silk is made ; and as yet no experiments for
unwinding the former by any other than the native methods have
proved successful.

3. The eggs of the wild silkworm could easily be procured for
export ; but Mr. Veyrin fears that unless the worms from them
can be fed on leaves of the trees on which they feed in this
country, they would perish. In Assam the Moongha cocoon is
fed solely on the tree known to botanists as the Jetrantena
quadrifolia, called by the natives the soom tree. Erom this cocoon
is made the bulk of the silk used by the natives of that province.
Their priests use cloth made of silk of the Mezan koonee cocoon,
of a quality much better than that of the Moongha. Another
kind of silk is made by them from the Erea cocoon, fed on the
castor-oil tree. This cocoon is of a very large size when full-
grown ; the silk is not unwound from it, but is taken much as
cotton is taken — from the pod — of very short fibre. The wild
cocoons of Bancoorah and Beerbhoom are fed entirely on the sal
tree, which abounds throughout the jungles.

4. The breed of silkworm from which the silk known as Bengal
raw silk is made is the Hoinbyx Mari, and is reared very exten-
sively throughout the cultivated districts of Lower Bengal. There
are two distinct families of this worm ; one of these propagates
its species only once in a year, but of the other six or seven gene-
rations successively are produced in one year from one pair of
moths. The former is the kind from which silk is produced in
Europe, Japan, and China ; the latter seems peculiar to Bengal,
and is the only kind of worm from which Bengal silk is made, as
a rule, though the other is not unknown in the province, but is
so much less productive that the natives find little inducement to
rear it. Though much more silk is produced from the worm
which propagates the more frequently of the two, its cocoons are
in every way inferior to those of the other family, and the silk
made from them is never equal in point of quality to that of
Europe, Japan, and China.

5. From natives intimately acquainted with the process I have
the following particulars descriptive of the method followed in
producing cocoons:— A native considers one pound weight of
eggs sufficient to commence with, for which he pays two or three

30

shillings, if he requires to buy them. The eggs are made over to
the women of the family, who alone are permitted to attend to
them. These women while thus employed are required to exercise
the strictest personal cleanliness (and to confine themselves to
certain kinds of food even in some families). The eggs are ranged
on shelves in dark rooms during the first week after they are
hatched. The worms are fed with very young mulberry leaf. At
the end of the second and third weeks they receive older and
stronger leaf ; in the fourth week they are considered full-grown,
and are supplied with abundance of full grown leaf. During the
first three weeks a light is kept in the room, but for one night
only in each week. During the fourth week a light is burned
every night and a fire is kept up if the weather is cold. Towards
the end of the fourth week the worms become gorged and refuse
food, a sign that they are ready to spin. They are then put out
in the sunshine for a few hours, or near a fire, if the weather be
cold and cloudy, and soon commence work. In about two days
the worm has* finished his cocoon, and in about seven days he
commences cutting his way out at one end of it. If he succeeds,
he emerges as a small white moth, but the cocoon is rendered
useless by being cut. In order therefore to prevent this the
cocoons are baked before the worms commence to liberate them-
selves, and this kills them in the cocoons ; the latter are then
placed in hot water and the silk is reeled from them very easily.
The best cocoons are generally reserved for breeding purposes.
!From these the moths are allowed to escape, and they breed
almost immediately ; then eggs are laid and hatched within two
days, and from these a new supply of cocoons is obtained within
five weeks. Under ordinary circumstances, from one pound weight
of cocoons reserved for breeding 100 pounds of cocoons are
produced, and very frequently 200 and even 300 pounds are the
result of one breeding.

6. The worms are fed exclusively on mulberry leaves gathered,
not from trees as in Europe, but from plants very carefully
cultivated in fields set apart for them ; the leaves are plucked
five or six times in one year from each plant, and the owner so
arranges as to have always ready leaf of different growths suited
for the worms of various growths which are reared in his house.

7. In Mr. Veyrin's opinion, an insuperable difficulty is presented
to the transport to Australia of eggs of the family referred to in
paragraph No. 5, in this, — that even if the hatching of the eggs
could be delayed by keeping them very carefully from the air in
transit, as they would hatch immediately on exposure to it ; after
arrival, the worms would perish without a supply of food of the
tender leaves of the mulberry, and in Australia it would be
impossible probably to command a supply of such food for every
new generation of worms. He states that eggs of the species
breeding annually have been conveyed to Europe very successfully

31

from Cashmere, where they are abundant, by his agents, Messrs.
Wattenbach, Heilgers, and Company, of Calcutta, who will be
happy to procure a supply for Government if requested to do so.

8. I have the pleasure to forward herewith a skein of silk made
here from the Moongha cocoon of Assam as an experiment. It
is of a light brown color and glossy appearance, and silk of this
description would fetch ten shillings per pound in the Calcutta
market probably. I also enclose a skein of fine Bengal silk equal
in quality to the finest made at this season of the year, and
worth twenty-two shillings per pound in Calcutta.

The annexures received with your note are returned herewith.

Prom J. P. GRANT, Esq., Collector of Bancoorah, to the Com-
missioner of the Burdwan Division — (No. 124, dated Camp,
Sonamookhy, the 16th November, 1869.)

SIB,

I have the honor to reply to your memorandum No. 134,
dated 25th September, 1869, on the subject of silkworms.

2. The private rearing of silkworms is not practised in this
district ; but as it is practised in a tract only just over the
border, i.e., in the Bograh (Midnapore) pergunnah of the Gur-
bettah sub-division, and as the raw silk thus spun is largely
manufactured into fabrics in the district, I have considered it
useful to lay before you the information received by me from
Baboo E-uttun Lall Ghose, the deputy collector of Gurbettah,
although you have in all probability already received it through
the collector of Midnapore.

3. The deputy collector has evidently, from the terms of his
report, understood the inquiry of Government to extend only
to the domesticated silkworm. As, however, the Australian
memorandum appears to refer exclusively to wild silkworms,
I have added such remarks as I have been able to collect on the
culture of the tusser silk moth, which is to a limited extent carried
on in the jungles of this district, and to a very much greater
extent in the jungles of the neighbouring district of Maunbhoom.
I may here remark that the second name in the list given in the
Australian memorandum of worms sought for from India is
evidently that of the Indian tusser moth, disguised in atrocious
typography.

4. Of the silkworms proper, i.e., of the domesticated breed,
the Baboo describes two species, one very much larger than the
other, but both reared in houses, on trays and macJians, and fed
upon cut mulberry leaves. There is however a vast difference
between the two species in point of prolificness ; the smaller
kind being reproduced in constant succession every six weeks or
two months, while the larger kind breed only once a year. I

32

have been unable to secure any specimens of the silk of the large?
kind, but I forward specimens of the smaller kind, both in cocoons
and in skein. It seems that both species give a produce of a
varying colour, from a flaxen white to a golden yellow.

5. The tusser moth can hardly be looked upon as a domesti-
cated silk moth, inasmuch as it is never privately reared. It
does, however, undergo a rough kind of culture in the following
way. A number of wild cocoons are collected by the speculator,
generally a Sontal, who has already fixed upon a patch in the
jungle containing a number of young sal or assun trees, but not
more than his family can watch. As soon as the moths are
hatched they are turned loose in quantities on these trees, where
they lay their eggs, which are hatched in due course, the young
caterpillars being reared upon the growing leaves. No kind of
interference is practised with them, and all that the cultivator and
his family have to do is to take care that the worms are not
carried off by the birds, which do not fail to find out the cultivated
trees from the vast number of moths which they bear. "When the
cocoons are sufficiently formed to be handled, they are detached,
packed in baskets, and are taken to the nearest bazaar for sale.
The cocoon is of a dirty brown colour, and larger than a hen's
egg. I have been unable to obtain specimens either of the
cocoons or of the skeined silk.

6. The cocoons of all these species appear to be in the months
of Magh and Falgoon, or February and March. Being now
encamped at Sonamookhy, the centre of the silk and tusser
manufacture of the district, I have made arrangements for the
procuring of a number of cocoons, as well as of the eggs, of all
the species employed in the district.

Prom BABOO R-UTTU^ LALL G-HOSE, Deputy Collector of Gurbet-
tah, to the Collector of Bancoorah — (No. 98, dated Gurbet-
tah, the 8th November, 1869.)
SIR,

"With reference to your memorandum No. 189, of the 29th
September, 1869, received immediately before the last Dusarah
vacation from Bood-Bood, I have the honor to report on the
following points connected with silkworms and cocoons men-
tioned in the Government order No. 3086 of the 2nd September
last, on a copy of which your memorandum was endorsed : —
1st. "What varieties of worms are obtainable ?
2nd. "What is the mode of supporting and treating them, and
the quality of silk produced therefrom? (Specimens
to be sent if possible.)

3rd. Is there any difficulty in procuring silkworms for des-
patch to Australia ?

4th. At what time should cocoons and eggs respectively be
sent?

33

2. What varieties, &c. ? There are two sorts of worms which
people in this part of the country breed ; one large and two
smaller, or those of the ordinary size. The large worms' cocoons
are larger in size ; they are thrice as large as the cocoons of the
smaller or ordinary size. All worms and cocoons are of two
colours, white and yellow.

3. What is the mode, &c.? In the intensity of the cold of
the months of Aughran and Pous, i.e., about December and
January, the worms here die. People therefore go to the villages
in the vicinity of Tumlook, in the district of Midnapore, and to
villages near Moorshedabad, for the purchase of worms
(within cocoons) in the latter end of Magh and beginning
of Falgoon. The worms, confined in cocoons of the smaller
or ordinary size, are kept in Jiandis (earthen vessels) made
air-tight by some means or other for eight days. On the ninth
day, generally, butterflies come out from the cocoons. These
butterflies are preserved in large drawers of bamboo, kept
on bamboo shelves, in a hut closed up in such a manner aa
would protect the worms, &c., from ordinary flies, which are
their great enemies. Butterflies then give eggs in the course of
one day. The eggs are innumerable of the white colour and
very small in size. One butterfly gives upwards of 250 eggs ;
and they all die no sooner the eggs are given. On the eighth
day young caterpillars come out from the eggs. They are then
distributed into the numberless small compartments of the
bamboo drawers, each containing about 3, 4, or 5, moths, as
they chance to fall in the distribution. Of these moths some have
yellow and others white colour. Toot leaves cut into very small
particles are given to them every second or third day for their
eating. They grow in one month sufficiently developed to spin
cocoons. In three days the cocoons are made of the size sent
herewith as specimen. Some of these cocoons are kept, from
which again the butterflies and eggs are produced. The process
described above is repeated ; and at the end of every month
and half or so a fresh set of cocoons are produced by the smaller
worms. The huts where they are kept are made almost air-
proof in the rainy season, and are so closed in all other seasons
that no flies can enter therein and destroy the moths. Next,
I observe, that the treatment and breeding of the other sort of
worms are a little different from what have been described above.
The butterflies which come out from the larger cocoons are
preserved on a few yards of cloth laid over the bamboo drawers.
On the cloth the eggs are given ; and these wrapped in the said
cloth, are carefully kept in an air-tight Jiandi (earthen vessel).
The handi is not opened, not even touched by anybody, till the
fifth day of the month of Maugh next year. By that day the eggs
give birth to the moths ; and if they are not hatched by that time
the Tiandi is again left closed for a few days more. The time

34

the eggs take in giving birth to the worms is generally one year.
These moths are kept for thirty-two to thirty-six days in the
manner described above. They then become sufficiently old to
prepare their cocoons in three days. The quality of silk pro-
duced by both sorts of insects is nearly the same. These gene-
rally produce silk in the month of Chaitra ; and Chaitra silk of
the smaller worms of white color is whiter than the silk of other
months. Large cocoons could not be procured by me ; a few of
the smaller ones, together with two skeins of silk produced there-
from, are herewith submitted as specimens.

4. Is there any difficulty, &c. ? Cocoons can be easily sent
from the places mentioned above, from which people of this part
of the country procure them in Magh and Falgoon, to Australia
or other distant places in the manner indicated in the memo-
randum annexed to the Government letter.

5. Cocoons and eggs should be sent in Magh and Falgoon, i. e.,
part of January, the whole of February, and part of March every
year.

6. Price of the silk sent herewith is rupees 14 per seer of 80
tolahs.

7. The annexures to your memorandum are herewith sent back.

Prom J. H. HENDEESON, Esq., Deputy Collector, for Collector
of Burdwan, to the Commissioner of the Burdwan Division — •
(No. 548, dated Burdwan, the 15th December, 1869.)

SIB,

In answer to your letter No. 134, dated 25th September,
1869, calling for a report on the mode of treating silkworms and
cocoons, I beg to lay before you the following statements : —

1. No silkworms are obtainable in the E-aneegunge sub-division.
Silkworms are imported from Maunbhoom into Bood-Bood and
Ausgram, and from the silk produced by them tusser cloth is
manufactured. In Cutwa the trade in silkworms is carried on
on a limited scale, the domesticated polloo being introduced there.
In Katoogram the varieties are the domesticated chukkan, the
neto, and the madrassie. In Cu]na the burra and chota polloo are
imported.

2. The cocoons of the domesticated, otherwise called the chota
polloo, are imported from Beerbhoom. They are placed in open
baskets in a warm dry room. In cold weather the moths emerge
on the eleventh or twelfth day, in hot weather on the eighth or
ninth day. The males and females at once copulate ; and after
the lapse of three or six hours the males are taken away and die.
The females are put on flat baskets, and the eggs are laid during
the night. The eggs are hatched on the eleventh or twelfth day
in cold weather, and the eighth or ninth in hot weather, and the
caterpillars are fed on the leaves of the mulberry-tree, On the

35

eighth, fifteenth, and twenty-first day after leaving the egg the
caterpillars are dormant and require no food, but after the
twenty-first day they have an adundant supply of leaves for fifteen
days, at the end of which period they are placed on bamboo
shelves with divisions. The caterpillars form cocoons which must
be placed in the sun for three mornings successively. In hot
weather the chrysalises are killed by the sun, in cold by boiling
water. It is most essential that the room in which the cater-
pillars are placed should be clean, warm, and free from insects.

3. The chukkan breeds in December, and the eggs must be
kept in a warm room for eight days. After the eggs are hatched
small bits of leaves should be sprinkled over the young cater-
pillars for seven days, and after that whole leaves should be
given three times a day for eleven days. The caterpillars then
form cocoons, which must be put in the sun four days for three,
six, nine, and twelve hours respectively, after which they are
placed in a warm room and are ready for use.

4. The eggs of the burra polloo are kept suspended in an
earthen pot in a closed room for twelve months, after which they
are treated like the eggs of the chota polloo.

5. The value of the silk produced by these silkworms is as
follows : —

Chota polloo Es. 16 to 20 per seer

Madrassie ... ... ... ,,25 „

Chunkkan ,,14 „

Neto „ 9 „

Burra polloo ,, 25 to 26 „

The breeding time of the madrassie is in January, and that of the

neto in July.

6. The Deputy Collector of Cutwa is of opinion that the
silkworms cannot be exported; but the Deputy Collector of
Culna thinks that the eggs and cocoons of the burra polloo might
be exported successfully.

7. There would probably be little difficulty in procuring a
supply of silkworms for exportation.

From C. S. TUBNBULL, Esq., to E. V. COCKEEELL, Esq., Magis-
trate and Collector of Hooghly— (Dated Grhattal, the 7th
October, 1869.)

SIB,

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your office
memorandum No. 440, dated 30th ultimo, enclosing copy of a
letter from the Government of Bengal, with memorandum
received from Dr. Bennett, descriptive of the mode of treating
silkworms and cocoons in the exportation to Australia, and calling
for any information I can give on the subject.

36

1. The varieties of cocoons obtainable in this district are burra
polloo (annual) , madrassie, and dasee and China (monthly).

2. They are fed on mulberry leaves, and the quantity of silk
produced from a maund of cocoons of passable quality is 2 seers
12 ehittacks to 2 seers 4 chittacks, 2i to 2, 2i to 2£, 2£ to 2£,
respectively. Specimens of silk and cocoons will be forwarded in
due course when the cocoons come to maturity, except the burra
polloo, which is an annual, and the cocoons won't be in before
the middle of March. I may as well also add that eggs of the
burra polloo were sent to Captain Hutton, Mussoorie, and he got
two crops of cocoons, whilst in Bengal such a thing is unknown.

3. I think it will be impossible to send eggs from the monthly
cocoons to New South Wales, as they will hatch on the voyage,
and will die for want of food.

MEMOBAISDITM regarding certain kinds of Indian silk-yielders,
domesticated and wild, for introduction into Australia, by
Captain Thomas Hutton, corresponding Member of the Agri-
cultural and Horticultural Society of India.

WITH regard to Dr. Bennett's inquiries, I begin by noticing
the confusion among the names of the species of silkworms
required for Australia.

1. The name of Bombyx Arracanensis (Nobis) was given only
provisionally (not Arracauniris) to the Arracan worm, which may
probably prove to be either B. posi or B.fortunatus.

2. The wild silkworms. — The eria or arindy worm, which feeds
on the castor oil plants at Dinapore (? Dinagepore) and Rung-
pore, is the domesticated Attacus ricini. The wild Attacus cynihia
is a distinct species, found at Mussooree and eastward to Cachar,
feeding on various trees and shrubs, and now largely cultivated
both in France and in England, where it is reared upon the
Chinese tree ailantJius glandulosiis, which grows well in any soil ;
this worm, or Attacus ricini, has already been introduced into
some parts of Australia ; at Mussooree A. cynthia is common upon
several trees and is an annual. Cocoons would only be safe in
the cold weather.

3. The tusseh (not Jusseh) : The Bughy of Beerbhoom, and the
Rolisurra of the Deecan, are one and the same species, or
antheroea paphia (not pappia).

4. The Kootkooree Mooga of Assam : The mooga of Assam,
feeding on the Soom (not Loom) , and the Mezankooree of Assam,
are all the same, or Antheroea Assama. These different names
bsing applied by the natives to different qualities of cocoons and
silk; in Beerbhoom the same distinction is made with the silk
and cocoons of the tusseh.

37

5. The Joree worm, called by Dr. Heifer Bomlyx religiosus (not
religiora) is suspected to be no Bombyx but an Ocinara, a very
small species, whose cocoon is not worth the trouble of cultivation.

Then, with regard to Dr. Bennett's second paragraph, cocoons
and eggs can only be sent off with due regard to the time of eating
out and of hatching. I do not consider it safe to despatch any
species until the winter or cold season, as all then take their
longest rest. The eggs of all the Bombyce.s, if sent off earlier,
would assuredly hatch en route, and until the cocoons of the last
brood of all the Antherace and Attace are procurable ; the moths
would also certainly break out and be lost. If packed in perfo-
rated metal cylinders, as Dr. Bennett recommends, the ends of
such cylinders should be simply covered with a strong piece of
gauze, and all the cylinders packed in a strong wooden box with
perforated sides ; these may be placed close to each other to keep
them steady in the box, but no cotton or any other packing
stuff likely to promote heat and prevent a free circulation of
air should be used. No shaking of the slightest consequence
would occur, because the cocoons in the cylinders would steady
each other, and the cylinders in the box would act in the same
manner to each other. As to leaving room for the moths to come
out, the great and most desirable object in my opinion is to
prevent all hatching, for, without a very large and inconvenient
space, no moths would couple in the box, nor would have space
to do so. If it could be managed. I would recommend an outer
cylinder containing ice, in order to retard hatching; but care
must be taken to prevent any moisture reaching either eggs or
cocoons. I do not see, however, how this can be done without
excluding air, and that must be admitted. Again, on no account
ought the boxes to be placed in the hold of the ship, or they will
certainly ferment and rot ; they must be kept between decks,
where air can freely circulate without exposure to sun or rain.
I have always packed cocoons in perforated boxes without sus-
pending them at all ; and indeed as the boxes are almost certain
to be turned bottom upwards, or on their sides during transit,
suspension with room to move becomes perfectly useless. The
chief thing is not to squeeze them into the cylinders, but simply
lightly touching each other.

The eggs of the Bomlyces usually hatch from eight to ten days
after being deposited, so that all would certainly hatch en route,
unless the eggs of the last brood were selected ; for as yet, I
believe, we have discovered no method of transmitting packets by
the telegraph wire, and even if we had there is no wire between
India and Australia, so that Dr. Bennett's plan of despatching
eggs, as soon as laid, would never answer, while even annuals,
whether in cocoon or the eggs, will often hatch at improper
seasons whenever they experience a suitable temperature ; and as

38

there would probably be many such changes during so long a
journey, the changes are greatly in favour of many worms and
moths hatching en route.

As regards the fifth paragraph, the eggs may be made into
packets without fear of injury, but I would certainly not advise
their being wrapped in cotton, tow, or anything of the kind, as
all are heating and liable either to batch the eggs, or to rot them
by the steam engendered.

Let each packet of eggs be placed in a perforated tin box, and
these boxes be enclosed in a perforated wooden box ; there could
then be no undue pressure upon the eggs, unless the packets
were smashed. A better way, however, is to place each kind of
eggs, whether on cloth or loose, in a separate unperforated
cylinder, with the ends merely closed with fine open gauze for the
sake of ventilation ; and these cylinders being duly labelled could
then be placed in a perforated wooden box. A little shaking
rather does good than harm, as it prevents the eggs from sticking
together should sweating occur.

In recommending what species should be selected, one requires
first to know what kind of nourishment has been provided, for
there is no use in sending the insects until an ample provision
has been made for feeding them ; mulberry trees, for the JBom-
byces ; Bicinus communis for Attacus ricin i ; Ailanthus glandulosus
for Attacus cynthia ; species of Tetr anther a for Antheroea Assama;
of ZyzipTius and other trees for Antheroea paphia, and so on.
Supposing, however, that such provision has been made, the best
species of Bomlyx to import would probably be _B. croesi, B.for-
tunatus, and jB. arracanensis, while as an experiment £. Huttoni
might be added with strict injunctions to leave it entirely on the
trees, for it cannot be cultivated in the house, — like a true High-
lander preferring coarse fare and liberty to the daintiest treat-
ment in captivity.

Of the wild species, I should recommend Attacus ricini, Attacus
cynthia, Antheroea paphia, A. Assama, and, if the oak has been
introduced, A. Roylei, of Mussooree ; whether or not the last-
named would thrive in such a climate as Australia remains to be
proved ; I should have little hope of Bombyx mori and JB. textor,
unless a tolerably cool climate can be found.
Mussooree, September, 1869.

From G-. E. MAKGILL, Esq., Officiating Collector of Howrah,
to the Commissioner of the Burdwan Division — (No. 840,
dated Howrah, the 6th January, 1870.)
SIR,

In compliance with your circular No. 134, dated 25th
September last, I had the honor to forward, on the 31st Decem-
ber and 4th instant, two cases — one case containing forty cocoona

39

of the yellow variety (lal poka), and another containing the same
number of the white variety (shiti) ; and I now forward two
samples of the silk produced by the former (one finer quality
and one coarser), and one of that produced by the latter, reeled
in the native manner. Of the cocoons twenty of each sort have
been procured from Shampore in the south of the district, and
an equal number from Ampta in the west. As the species of
worms appear the same in both places, I thought it needless to
multiply packages by sending them separately. The samples of
silk sent from Ampta have also alone been sent for the same
reason.

2. The culture of the worms is carried on solely in the native
manner ; no artificial means for incubating the eggs are used.
They are laid on the same bamboo trays where the rearing
process takes place, and thus placed, they are hatched in two
days, or three at the most. The rearing house is a common,
hut without windows, the door darkened with a curtain, and the
uprights on which the stages are supported are placed in basins
of water to prevent ants reaching the worms. The trays are
plastered with dried cowdung.

3. From the time when they commence feeding to the comple-
tion of their growth, they feed without anv intervals of rest, until
the twentieth or twenty-seventh day, according to the heat of
the season, when, having attained their full growth, they are
dormant for three days. They are then placed on trays of mat-
ting, on which strips of bamboo are fastened in concentric circles
about an inch apart, and these mats are placed at an oblique
angle to the sun along the sides of a shed, so as to give plenty
of air and light, without exposing them to the direct rays of the
sun. The completion of the cocoons occupies about three days.
The chrysalides, not intended for propagation, are destroyed
simply by being exposed to the full heat of the sun. The others
are stored in the darkened chamber in an airy situation.

4. The period during which they are dormant varies in this
climate from twenty days in the hot weather to one month in
the cold. The total period of evolution thus takes from six and
a half weeks to nine weeks, according to season, and there are six
or seven such periods in most years. Eight is unusual. I am
told that the silk produced in February, J une, and November, is
usually considered the best, that at other times being inferior.
The two specimens of yellow silk sent are both of the November
produce ; the difference in class being due to preparation from
inferior cocoons.

5. The packets of eggs are expected to be ready in a fortnight
at furthest.

40

A. H. BLECHYNDEN, ESQ., to DR. G-. BENNETT, HON. SECKETAEY
or ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY OF NEW houra WALES.

[Per Steamer " Hindostan."]

Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India,

Metcalfe Hill, Calcutta, 11 April, 1870.
DEAE SIB,

In continuation of my letter of the lltli February last, I
I have the pleasure to advise despatch, by this opportunity, per
pattern post, registered and paid, of a small perforated tin box,
containing eggs of the "Boro Poloo" (Bombyx textor), or annual
silkworms, and trust they will reach safely and in good order.

Other silkworms' eggs from Assam, the plants the worms feed
on, together with seeds of such plants, are in course of collection,
and will have despatch immediately they are procured.

Tours faithfully,

A. H. BLECHYNDEN,

Secretary.

CHAELES BEADY, ESQ., to THE HONOEABLE THE COLONIAL
SECEETAEY, SYDNEY.

Curl-Curl, Manly,

17 March, 1870.

SIE,

I desire to call your attention to a subject which, under
present circumstances, may become of large and immediate im-
portance to the interests of the Colony.

I believe that some time last year a despatch from Lord G-ran-
ville made this Government acquainted with the representations
of the Silk Supply Association of London, and thereby, both
with the urgent necessity in England for a larger import of silk
to make up the actual deficiency of raw material for manufacture,
and also with the excellent opportunity for Colonial producers
to enter the market at the present time, when not only England
but every Continental country suffers from the extreme scarcity
and high price of this article. The scarcity, owing to the con-
tinued devastations by disease of silkworms all over Europe, in
all probability may last for years, and it appears opportune for
me to request your particular consideration of Lord Granville's
despatch, and the contents of this present letter, which may
largely conduce to the future welfare of the Colony.

My own personal knowledge and experience in the treatment
of silkworms in New South "Wales and Queensland for several
years justify me in expressing my conviction that this part of
Australia at any rate is peculiarly well adapted for the production
of cocoons. I began the study of the subject in 1862, and have
since devoted myself exclusively to this pursuit in all its

41

relations, particularly to experiments and efforts to take advantage
of our brilliant atmosphere, and of various food grown in this
climate, to introduce and breed superior races of silkworms, and
especially to free them from the dire disease which now for so
many years has all but destroyed an industry yielding annually
more than thirty millions of pounds sterling to the present culti-
vators of Southern Europe.

My experiences have been most conclusive and satisfactory,
and it is proved that the importance of our proceedings here is
not unappreciated in England by persons capable of forming an
estimate of their value.

1 am well aware that the public mind is prepossessed with the
idea that the growth of silk in Australia must prove unremune-
rative on account of the high relative price of labour in the
Colonies, but I have never met with even one person who had
investigated the subject, or qualified himself in any way to form
an opinion, who held this idea ; in fact, there not only is nothing
to prevent silk being raised as cheaply in Australia as in France
or Italy, but there is very good reason to believe that, favoured
as we are by climate and cheap land, we may be in a position to
undersell any country in Europe.

When I first engaged in this enterprise I own I myself enter-
tained some misgiving about the cost of labour. It was this very
circumstance which set me to work to contrive means to obviate
what might prove a serious obstacle to a commercial success in
silk growing in these Colonies, and I devised the plan of multi-
plying the number of crops obtainable in a single season. In
every country besides this the most valuable worms (being annual
only) give but one brood or crop a year, and this occurring at
the most unsettled and precarious period is attended with great
risk, and frequently with serious expenses and casualties, it
occurred to me to profit by our long season of clear weather,
repeatedly to take advantage of our opportunities for providing
sustenance during many months continuously for the worms, and
by managing to have worms to consume the food at such times as
the many different varieties of mulberry are severally in per-
fection. This is done by employing cold and moisture as well as
warmth in the preservation of the grain, and also by having many
varieties of mulberry silkworms adapted by their nature to thrive
on the different varieties of food plant.

To thoroughly carry out my plan I imported at great expense
mulberry plants of every country, the quality of which at all gave
hopes of obtaining useful sorts ; and I also, at even much greater
cost, and after many and repeated failures, succeeded in intro-
ducing and rearing in this Colony and in Queensland, all the
most celebrated and choicest breeds of silkworms from every silk-
growing country. A large number of these have, after years
of severe labour and close attention, become thoroughly accli-

42

matised, and many important races, under the influence of careful
as well as special treatment, prolonged through several gene-
rations, have become freed from the taint of disease, and are now
healthy.

I believe the Government has long entertained a wish to
afford our settlers in the interior — and more particularly the
younger portion — instruction, and the means to profit by the
same wonderful source of wealth which renders the rural popu-
lation in silk-growing countries so prosperous ; but there have
been available neither the special knowledge nor the food plants,
and not even one single species or variety of profitable silkworm
has been established in the Colony until I had the good fortune
to succeed in introducing and naturalising them. Now the case
is different to what it was some years ago, and I submit for your
consideration the expediency of the Government at once adopt-
ing measures to impart information, and spread the industry,
in such districts of the Colony as may offer a fair prospect of
doing well.

I would urge upon your attention the financial importance of
silk. First, the eggs (grain), small as they are, and prolific as is
the animal, it is a well-known fact that Europe in one year paid
to Japan alone cash to the amount of £1,250,000 ; the next year
nearly one million and a-half. The last season in Japan was a
failure ; and, notwithstanding the money was there to pay,
enough eggs are only found to take the foreigner's money to the
extent of half the quantity demanded. In Europe this spring
(April and May) ; it is estimated that, to supply the demand in
Trance and Italy alone, not less than 7,000,000 ounces of eggs
are required, the present money value (an exorbitant one) is
nearly £8,000,000 ; and of these seven million ounces required
but six millions are forthcoming, so that in this one item there
would be a very large opening for a new export from Australia.
I ought, however, to say that it would be preposterous for any-
one to entertain the idea of supplying such a market without
adequate knowledge and the right sort of stock. I may add, as
matter of information, that in every country the production of
eggs is distinct from the production of silk ; and that the pro-
ducers of silk, as a rule, do not use eggs from their own stock,
but purchase every season grain grown by others than themselves.
The production of good seed is a special craft.

Cocoons are silk, and in this primitive condition should form
a new staple in our exports. It is usually thought necessary to
wind or reel the cocoons to render the produce marketable, but
such is not the case ; the cocoons thoroughly dried (or, more
correctly speaking, desiccated) in a proper manner may be packed
and pressed with hydraulic pressure. If properly desiccated (the
grub inside being pressed into dust), upon unpacking and immer-
sion in water the cocoons resume their original shape uninjured.

43

Cocoons thus treated may be sold to the merchants or to the
mills in bulk for proper reeling accordiug to the purpose for
which the raw silk is required, but wound or reeled silk, unless
so handled or prepared to meet the requirements of the throwster,
is merely of value as " waste" and of no value as " raw silk." The
markets of Europe are open for illimitable quantities, and the
nature of silk being unlike that of any other material there is no
danger of a substitute coming iuto competition but rather that as
civilization and trade extend so will the demand for silk increase.
It is to the production of cocoons that the attention of growers in
this Colony should be directed.

There are many districts in the Colony suited to the rearing of
out-door silkworms. Among others not yet satisfactorily estab-
lished I have introduced three different species, the most valuable
of their class, now domesticated in the Colony, producing severally
one brood, two broods, and three broods in one season — first
the " Tama," feeding on common English oak (quercus of several
varieties) furnishes light green silk of the most superior kind ; it is
the most valuable of all but the most difficult to rear; the two
latter, the " Perny," also feeding on the same kinds of oak as
the Tama, and the " Ailant " feeding on ailautus glandulosa, find
the climate and food singularly congenial, and thrive to perfection.
The natural increase of such prolific creatures multiplying two
and three times in one Australian season must necessarily yield
under proper conditions and intelligent management a prodigious
amount of cocoons.

It is manifest that silk growing in these Colonies once estab-
lished or fairly set going would give lucrative employment to
large numbers of persons of both sexes, and tend greatly to
elevate as well as to enrich them ; time was when the peasants
of Europe were at least as unimpressionable and as difficult to
receive new ideas as our own wide and thinly spread popula-
tion is now supposed to be. Such as our colonists are, we may
at least consider that if worthy of being entrusted with political
power they are not unworthy, by reason of their want of intelli-
gence, of having such attention bestowed on their welfare as may
in some degree make up to them for the disadvantages under
which people who live in the bush necessarily labour ; in truth
our distant settlers have but few benefits conferred upon them,
and any new export raised in any part of the Colony enriches
not only the producers but is capital gained to the community.

.Nor is the production of silk in these Colonies without interest
in regard to immigration. I have stated in another quarter my
conviction that the exhibition of Colonial grown silk and healthy
silkworm grain of good quality by authority of our Government
at some of the chief seats of this industry in Europe, would have
a powerful effect in directing the thoughts of enterprising and
energetic people towards these shores. I am sure that authentic

44

information as to our capabilities and reasonable facilities would
induce families skilled in many arts and employments, which have
yet found no footing here, to come amongst us ; not a few would
come at their own expense, or at any rate pay part, bringing with
them (for silk growers are generally well to do) besides their
experience and labour, their tools and appliances, and some
capital. We should implant at very small cost amongst us new
industries suited to our soil and climate, while the immigrants
from whatever country they might come would enjoy the advan-
tages of our liberal institutions and land policy. The first step
is to let people know that they may find here fair scope for the
particular occupations in which they have been brought up. Silk
growers in all countries are generally the most temperate and
intelligent of their class. Manufacturers and capitalists are eager
for new sources of supply, and would require no other inducement
to turn their attention to this country than the demonstration
that certain results are obtained. That we can do as well in a
general sense as any country cannot be doubted, and in what has
actually been done in eradicating disease and in multiplying
the power of production it is plain we are in advance of every
other ; the reputation of Australia is already such as to favourably
prepossess enquiring minds.

My operations and experiments have all been carried on by
myself, unsupported by any extraneous aid ; what I have effected
alone and single-handed is work that in every other country,
where any parallel success has been accomplished, has been done
by Governments, with the resources and at the cost of the State.
I take no reproach to myself for not having before communicated
with you on this subject ; and I think that the very fact of my
having effected what I have done without assistance is valid
argument why Governments should be very reticient in taking
up every likely scheme for promoting new industries ; but now
that success is a demonstrated fact, and the opportunity so good,
I venture to suggest to you that it may be sound policy not to
ignore the experience and knowledge gained. There is no secret
nor patent in my proceedings or methods. I have been ever
ready, and always have shown living stock in every stage of
growth at whatever period of the year information has been
sought of me ; and I have made the mode of operation clear to
every inquirer ; what I have found out with much labour and
difficulty, and by suffering many failures, is plain now, and the
way is easy for anyone to follow. It is true I have special
qualities, education, training, and opportunities peculiar to myself
for the work, but is it social or political wisdom to wait until the
masses of untutored minds become spontaneously imbued with
craving for knowledge and instruction, and undertake the toil,
and incur the anxiety of doing over and over again, each one
for himself, that which now once done is done for all ?

45

I therefore shall be happy, should you determine to pursue
the matter, to afford you, without reserve, any information you
may be in need of, and any personal assistance I can render.
The Government already possesses several useful varieties of
mulberry and other silk-producing plants at the Botanic Gardens,
and I would willingly supply other varieties in my possession in
which they are deficient. In regard to the silkworms themselves,
the case is difficult ; besides myself, there is no one in the Colony,
as far as I am aware, qualified to judge of their value. It by no
means follows that what succeeds with me will do equally well
with inexperienced, and perhaps careless or clumsy hands ; hence,
I am not disposed to risk the liability to reproach, or to be held
responsible for the possible failures of others. Should you
therefore approve of my suggestion, and accept as afree gift from
me such stock as may be required, I will, on timely notice, furnish
any quantity of acclimatised silkworms or silkworms' eggs of any
varieties, races, or species I possess, that may be needful to
spread the culture throughout the Colony. I say as a free gift,
as this would relieve me to some extent from discomfort in case
of an unsatisfactory result. If the worms perished, or did not
turn out well, the loss would be mine ; and if, as I think we may
reasonably hope, they take a fair hold on the country, I enter-
tain no doubt that a liberal Legislature in due time would mark
its sense of service rendered by a private individual, and requite
my endowment by a grant of land, or in such way as it may deem
appropriate.

I have, &c.,

CHAELES BEADY.

CHABLES BEADY, ESQ., to DE. G-. BENNETT, HON. SECEETAEY,
ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

Curl-Curl, Manly,

1 August, 1870.
MY DEAE SIE,

It is much easier to ask for the information you desire
than to give it in a few words. "What I have always considered,
and which is now demonstrated to constitute a special advantage
to silkworm grain producers in this climate and hemisphere for
the supply of European markets, is the faculty we possess of
obtaining here, grain of the best annual mulberry silkworms,
laid several weeks before the great heats of our summer, in fit
state for transport to the northern hemisphere, so as to arrive in.
cool and cold northern latitudes at a season admitting a thorough
natural hybernation there before the eggs are again subjected to
conditions of spring.

46

This matter of hibernation is very important, and particularly
with regard to the most valuable annual mulberry silkworms ;
annual worms, strictly so called, are beyond all question the
largest givers, individually, of silk, and in quality also they are
at the same time much superior to any of the double, treble, or
many brooded varieties. "With the exception of one single wild
or out-door worm, feeding in the open on mulberry trees, every
known variety and race is absolutely a creature of domestication,
produced by long ages of artificial rearing and treatment, more or
less strange to natural conditions. The one wild mulberry silk-
worm yet extant is understood to be incapable of domestication.
I do not vouch for that fact, but from what I have been able to
learn of the history and habit of this solitary species which has
escaped the influence of man, it seemed to me to indicate most
forcibly the necessity of a proper hybernation with all silkworms.
I think the double and many brooded varieties may, in some sort,
be considered abnormal and in a certain sense impaired. (See
my communication, June, 1868.) It is true, generally, that they
are vigorous and prolific, and show indications of health now but
seldom (in Europe) seen in the annuals; but the annuals in
countries untouched by the disease are much inferior to the
annuals of Italy and France, and by no means so highly superior as
are both these latter to the double and many brooded. Hence, the
great importance of endeavouring to save some of the fine races of
Europe before they all become, as many are already, utterly extinct.

I consider it a very proper subject of speculation, whether
indeed the stand-point of excellence reached in Europe is the
ultimate degree of perfection attainable. Centuries ago mulberry
silkworms were introduced into Europe from Asia. In progress
of time, by change of food and climate, or treatment and manage-
ment, or by a concurrence of causes, they became greatly superior
to Asiatic descendants from the same origin which we are well
informed are treated now in precisely the same way as were their
ancestors of many hundreds or thousands of years ago. Many
high class races were gradually produced, and so to speak,
ennobled, by the skill and care lavished on them by the French
and Italians. It is possible that the disease which has so suddenly
swept away the best European silkworms may have been a resent-
ment of nature, not of improvement having been pushed too far,
but of conditions of further improvement not having been main-
tained or continued, and fresh elements of vigour supplied. It
was this idea that led me to urge others to do as I am myself
doing, namely, to endeavour to take the highest stand point
reached in Europe as our Australian starting point — to obtain the
finest silkworm grain obtainable, and treat it systematically for
improvement, rather than merely reiterate here the self same
treatment to which the worms were before accustomed. If fivo
and twenty years ago (before the disease revealed itself in Europe)

47

good grain of the best kinds had been introduced on to this conti-
nent, and treated with judgment and discrimination, how good
long ere now would have been the position of Australian silk-
growers ; how thoroughly we should now be able to command the
markets of the world for grain, as well as of Europe for silk. In
all probability the disease would never have made its presence
known in this country, for the silkworms reared here would have
escaped the causes, whatever they may be, which have been so
disastrous in Europe, and these Colonies, would now be enjoying
the profits of a production, greatly exceeding the aggregate value
of all the gold, wool, and other commodities now raised here.
The policy, however, of introducing such a wealthy industry was
not then, and still is not felt ; the statesman is yet to appear,
who will take up the subject and deal with it effectively.

"VVe are familiar enough with the phenomena of hybernation,
both in the vegetable and animal worlds. In a true sense all
nature requires a rest ; and yet, during the period of sleep,
wintering, or hybernation, very influential causes and processes
are at work, which give tone and character to the future course
of the organs which determine the greater or less development of
every animal or plant. To Englishmen, accustomed in their
notions of high culture, whether of animal or vegetable life, to
endeavour by selection and well-considered nurture to produce
and perpetuate the qualities most desired, and in which all
experienced persons are very careful not to overstep or overstrain
the limits of time or season, it is remarkable that no other people
should have paid due attention to this simple but most important
matter of hybernation. It is only quite recently (last September,
and long after the publication of our doings in Australia) that a
French gentleman, highly distinguished by his talents and acquire-
ments in science, in some experiments with which he was charged
by his Government, bethought him of the same notion which
had occurred to us, that of artificial hybernation, and his success
is announced to the world as a " singular discovery" (une
decouverte singuliere). (See the French papers, December, 1869,
and January, 1870). The Italians appear to have tried artificial
hybernation previously, some ten or twelve years or even longer
before this " singular discovery" (as experiment only) ; while
here, in Australia, as you are well aware, we have acted for years
habitually throughout whole seasons working by cold and
moisture to produce and maintain hybernation. This artificial
wintering is the principle with which I started to obtain when
required a succession of rearings hatched out at will, day by day
through the season, of the annual mulberry silkworm. Perhaps
it was my procedure in this respect, so strongly commented on,
and the knowledge of it circulated by the Silk Supply Association
of London last year, which directed the attention of the French
authorities to the subject.

48

As to the probability of a continued demand for foreign raised
silkworm grain in Europe I wish to be very careful in answering
such an enquiry. It is generally believed that the entire mass of
all the silkworms in all the great silk growing countries of Europe
is more or less aifected or predisposed to disease, and I therefore
think that even under the most favourable circumstances, whether
in Europe or elsewhere, a considerable time must elapse before
the worms regain their old standard of health ; the disease has to
be worn out and time or science to reinstate the elements of
health and prosperity ; but all this while what is to become of
the stock now dwindling away ? Many years ago in a certain
district in England sheep fed for a lengthened period on the same
pasture gradually lessened year by year their yield of wool and
otherwise deteriorated, until suddenly one season they had no
fleece at all. Science was called in and investigation made, when
it appeared that for a long period the wool had been exported or
deported from the locality year after year, and no representative
matter placed in its stead ; in short the soil had parted with all
its wool, so the sheep had no wool to gather, and dame nature
was too hard pressed to be allowed time to collect and replace
unaided in the soil the deficient elements ; it was recommended
to manure the pasture ground with refuse wool from the factories ;
this was done and in due time the sheep reappeared clothed in
fleece. Now I have never heard of refuse silk, I mean silk rags
(whatever becomes of the rags is a mystery, for the annual
quantity must be enormous), being used as manure for mulberry
trees, nor of its chemical constituents being used to make good
the drain which for many centuries the land has undergone. We
use up cloth and rags of every kind, except silk, again and again
in one form or another, but old silk what becomes of it? Is it
waste pure and simple? I do not pretend to say that the
European silkworm will not recover in its old homes its old vigour
and excellence, but I do opine " not yet."

I hope these replies will satisfy you. I am very tired and can
write no more at present ; but I remain

My dear Dr. Bennett,

Yours very faithfully,

CHAELES BEADY.

P.S. — "When I speak of the disease in this letter, I mean that
extraordinary visitation which has destroyed and still ravages
what is left of the most valuable stocks in Europe ; this disease
is of quite a different character to any of the many ordinary and
often very severe maladies to which the silkworm has been liable
for many years. The cause or causes of the disease are yet found
inscrutable — there is something not yet revealed or at any rate
not comprehended, for the plague seems to be heedless of any
influences for good, except fine weather and the best food or change

of climate, and at best these are by no means effective at once ;
with bad weather and inferior leaf the process of dissolution is
marvellously rapid and the worms perish by millions; this is
•especially the case when the caterpillars are near maturity.

EXTRACT from the Sydney Mail of the 23rd July, 1870.

Ds. BENNETT has obliged us with a letter written to him in his
capacity of President of the Acclimatisation Society, by Mr. Brady,
from which we make a few extracts. Mr. Brady gives an account
of his twelve months' transactions at Curl Curl, where he is
nursing what he supposes to be the germ from which the silk
industry of New South "Wales is to spring. He says : —

" I hare now closed up active operations for the season with all living silk-
worms (except the moths, a few of which remain) ; and, as you desire to know
the result, as far as concerns the importations of the Acclimatisation Society,
I have the pleasure of confirming my first report, and informing you that the
mulberry worms from India continued to the last to do well. Of course the
yield of silk is much inferior in quantity to that from the principal European
races, but the quality and lustre are excellent. For my own part I think
the outturn of these small yielding worms, double, treble, or many brooded
in the season — taking into account the cost of labour, food, and management,
&c., as well as the safety of a profitable result if worked in a proper manner —
bears a very favourable comparison with the outturn from the more valuable
but much more difficult to rear and precarious-lived single-brooded womis
(annuals) of Europe or Japan. In the first case, operations continue for mouths
.at any time — spring, summer, or autumn, or for as long or for as short a time
as mulberry leaf is available ; in the latter only for a few weeks in spring,
subject to all the vicissitudes and chances of the most uncertain period of the
year, unless indeed the grower adopts my system of bringing the annuals into
period by cold and moisture, as well as warmth, whenever they are wanted.
If there was any attention given to this subject in the Colony, or it could be
made worth while, E could easily manage to supply not eggs unhatched or
uncertain, but young living silkworms, of fiae kinds, which other persons
,growing or possessing the food could at any time procure from me, and rear
through the rest of their natural course, and thus avoiding expensive pre-
parations, requiring a good deal of skill and management, reap a certain profit
from a very small outlay."

Private letters contain information relative to the reception of
a packet of silkworm eggs, by the highest silk authorities in
Europe, from Mr, Brady's stock raised at Manly. In Italy they
were received with great favour. " They were everywhere pro-
nounced to be splendid fertile eggs, which is a point of great
importance in France and Italy, as their own native races are so
diseased as to be useless for mercantile purposes," says one
correspondent. Cocoons of the same race (Milanese) possessed
by Mr. Brady pleased them exceedingly, and the writer informs
his correspondent that " eggs of that species would find a good
market in France and Italy." One of the best authorities in
France on silkworms pronounced the samples in fine condition,
and greatly admired the system adopted in transporting them.

50

Other distinguished and practical men expressed the same opinion,
and stated that " you may at once calculate on my being able to
place for you a, large amount of eggs." Another letter says,
" the eggs were found in excellent order — not a single egg was
hatched and not one was crushed."

This, then, is the information we get concerning Australian
"grain " (the technical term by which eggs are now known).
Mr. Brady's observations on these facts, in the letter alluded to,
is this : — " The result of the first shipment also bears out what I
have so often told you and others of the practicability of supplying
from here the markets of Europe with better and more reliable
grain than can be obtained in any other part of the world."

It thus appears that Mr. Brady's experiments have put us in
possession of knowledge with relation to our advantages over the
rest of the world as silkworm egg producers, for which we have
reason to be very thankful. Our advantages are twofold. In
the first place, in our climate the Italian, French, and Japan
worms have been produced without any trace of the disease which
ravages them at Home ; and in the second, we are in a position to
supply newer seed to the European sericulturists than can be
done from any other part, seeing that the " grain " season here is
December, January, February, which allows of the seed or grain
arriving in the cold season, and having no tendency to hatch
before the food is ready for it. In Japan and California the
grain season is the same as in Europe, and consequently time
is lost, and the seed is comparatively old when hatched.

Something should be done in this matter. We can produce
cocoons with the assurance of obtaining an active market for
them, which never has been the case before ; and should Mr.
Brady's expectations be confirmed, the climate of New South
"Wales will enable several crops to be produced in the year.
And then, further, for the more skilful we have accorded to us,
apparently by geographical position, the speciality of producing
eggs for exportation of great superiority.

.LI B H A li

Sydney : Thomas Richards, Government Printer.— 1870,

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