SILK CULTURE.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2652, 17 August 1871, Page 3

SILK CULTURE.

[From the Wellington Evening Pouf.] We have had the pleasure of examining the specimens of eggs, cocoons, silk and leaves brought over from Nelson by Mr Batchelor frr inspection by the Government. Our readers will remember that last year Vhe Assembly voted a sum of money for the encouragement of sericulture, and the Government promised to give Mr Hatehclor a bonus if he succeede I in planting a certain number of acres with the trees of the moms multkauHs. He has done this, and has, moreover, proved the ease with which the trees can be grown from cutting, a task that has hitherto been considered difficult, if not impossible. Mr Batchelor has further succeeded in obtaining a quantity of the Lombardy coco ns and eggs, which are of a far greater value than the only kind which previously cou'd be obtained in the Colony. Having thus done much more than was necessary to enable him to claim the Government bonus, be has come lieie with his specimens ns so many proofs of his work, in the hope tha.t the Government' may see (it to give him further aid for a twelvemonth or so, either in the shape of an additional bonus or by guaranteeing the purchase of a certain number of trees. Ho is confident, if he obtains the assistance he asks, of being able to establish a most lucrative industry ip the Colony, He asserts that the olippite of the greater part of Mew Zealand is very favorable to sericulture ; that but a small capital is required to carry it out; and that a very little tuition—which, however, is indispensable —in the management of the eggs and moths, will enable any family to attend to it successfully. A large trade has hitherto been carried on in the south of France, Spain, and Portugal, in the manufacture of gut from the silkworm in a certain stage, for musical instrument strings, fishing lines, and other articles, and we understand that Mr Batchelor is in communication with some eminent English firms for the supply of this material. It thus appears that a new demand, hitherto overlooked here, is likely to spring tip, and to otter still further inducements for the establishment of this industry.