PAPERS RESPECTING SERICULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1870 Session I, D-03

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PAPERS RESPECTING SERICULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY COMMAND OE HIS EXCELLENCY. WELLINGTON. 1870.

SCHEDULE OF PAPERS.

Date. Subject. Pag< 8 Jan., 1870 20 Jan., 1870 1 Feb., 1870 8 Feb., 1870 14 Mar., 1870 13 April, 1870 10 Feb., 1870 16 Feb., 1870 8 Mar., 1870 21 Mar., 1870 29 Mar., 1870 12 Mar., 1870 26 Mar., 1870 29 Mar., 1870 Mr. Batchelor to Hon. W. Gisborne, respecting Sericulture; with enclosure of 3rd January, 1870 Reference to Dr. Hector Remarks by Dr. Hector Hon. W. Gisborne to Mr. T. C. Batchelor, in reply Mr. T. C. Batchelor to Hon. W. Gisborne, further with reference to Sericulture; with enclosure Mr. Macdonald to Mr. Batchelor : correspondence will be printed ... Mr. Batchelor to Hon. W. Gisborne: has received new publications on Sericulture Circular from Colonial Secretary to Acclimatization Societies Reply from Hon. Secretary, Wanganui Acclimatization Society Reply from Secretary, Auckland Acclimatization Society; with enclosure Reference to Dr. Hector Memorandum by Dr. Hector Reply to Circular from Mr. Fred. Huddleston, Nelson Reply to Circular from Hon. Secretary, Canterbury Acclimatization Society ... Mr. Macdonald to Hon. Secretary, Canterbury Acclimatization Society 3 3 4 4 5 8 8 9 9 9 12 12 13 13 14

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No. 1. Mr. T. C. Batcheloe to the Hon. "W. Gisborne. Sic, — Nelson, Bth January, 1870. I beg to enclose a circular I have just published on the cultivation of the silkworm in Nelson, and I am persuaded that it is an industry eminently calculated to succeed in New Zealand if properly brought under the notice of the colonists, and steps taken by which a supply of mulberry trees and eggs of the best kind of silkworm are placed within the reach of persons who may wish to engage in silk-growing. I obtained from Sydney, seven years ago, a few trees of the Tuscan mulberry, tho tree on which the silkworm is fed in Europe, and I have propagated those so that I have now about 1,800 trees of different ages, or about sufficient to plant out four acres of ground. The worms raised by me hitherto have been of an inferior kind, which, with the small quantity of silk obtained (limited by the food I had for the same), has given me as yet no returns ; but I have gained experience, which I hope hereafter to be able to turn to account. I have a promise from Mr. J. Morrison, of London, given through His Honor the Superintendent, that by next season I shall have an ounce of eggs of the Japanese silkworm, the very best procurable, and I have sufficient food to rear the whole hatching, and be in a position at the end of the season to supply any number of eggs which may be required in the Colony. Having given up a great deal of time and incurred considerable expense in laying what I believe will be the foundation of one of our most valuable industries, I fear I shall be scarcely able to carry it through to complete success for the want of the necessary funds, and I would respectfully submit whether the Government would not be justified in affording me a small meed of assistance, as two or three years must yet expire before I can expect to obtain a return for my time and outlay of money. An answer at your earliest convenience will greatly oblige. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. T. C. Batcheloe.

Enclosure in No. 1. C-Ltcfee OP Silk. Sir, — Wakapuaka, 3rd January, 1870. I will thank you to bring under the notice of the Acclimatization Society this my second paper on the production of raw silk in New Zealand as an article of export. In my former paper I stated that I had good reasons for believing a succession of hatchings from the silkworm could be got in a season, thereby considerably increasing the number of cocoons to be obtained from a given number of trees, and I have the satisfaction of being able to state that I have succeeded in producing three hatchings of worms during the present summer. The partial failure of the silk crop for several years in those countries in Europe which until lately had furnished for many ages the chief supply, is viewed with great alarm by all persons interested in the manufacture of silk, and has led to the formation, in London, of a " Silk Supply Association," composed chiefly of gentlemen interested in the trade. The object of this Association is to diffuse information concerning the treatment of the silkworm in countries where the climate is adapted to the growth of the mulberry tree. It was stated by a gentleman, at the first meeting of this Association, held in London on the 18th of February last, that one acre of land planted with mulberry trees would produce silk of the value of £100 sterling; and my experience, gained in the four years I have followed sericulture, assures me this calculation will fall greatly short of what may be got from one acre of mulberry trees in this Colony, when the trees attain a few years' growth, and the hatching of the eggs is spread over the full time that the mulberry tree will furnish food for the worms. My eft'orts to promote sericulture have been on a limited scale, and I regret it has not been undertaken by some person with means adequate to its importance, so as to have given it a more extended trial. It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the value of sericulture to this Colony, which possesses a climate in every way adapted for its success. If the Government were to assist in planting out five acres of mulberry trees, so that the farm might be made a nursery both of trees and the eggs of silkworms for distribution at a low charge, the outlay incurred would soon be reimbursed, and the focus would be established of an industry which could not fail to spread among cottagers, and be taken up by capitalists, and the growth of silk become one of the greatest sources of wealth and prosperity New Zealand can possess. To E. Huddleston, Esq., I have, &c, Secretary of the Nelson Acclimatization Society. T. C. Batcheloe.

Beeerred to Dr. Hector for his remarks. I should like very much to encourage the cultivation of the silkworm in the Colony if likely to succeed ; but of course funds cannot be expended without sanction of law, and on settled principles. —"W. Gisborne, 20th January, 1870.

PAPERS RESPECTING SERICULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

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No. 2. Remarks by De. Hectoe. The climate of many parts of New Zealand is very favourable to the growth of the mulberry tree, but except in a few localities tho rearing of the silkworms would require to be conducted under cover, as in France and Switzerland. The chief difficulty experienced in those countries in sericulture, and the only cause of it being impracticable in England, arises from the influence of short uncertain seasons and east winds, which blight the mulberry plants and destroy the leaves just at the time they are required for the caterpillars. In New Zealand this drawback would not exist, and if due attention be paid to planting the mulberry groves in situations sheltered from the summer gales, it is possible, from the evergreen character of the vegetation, that the period during which leaves might be gathered would be greatly prolonged, and admit of a larger supply of silk being reared each season from the same extent of groves than can be done in other countries. On the other hand, too succulent a growth of the leaves is considered to have the effect of enabling the worms to produce a larger quantity but inferior quality of silk. Mr. Batchelor does not over-estimate the importance to the country of sericulture if once established ; and the history of the introduction of this productive industry into Europe shows that it was only after many attempts, and with the aid of the State, that it became permanent. Mulberry trees could bo obtained from Sydney of the proper age for planting out, and in about two years would begin to afford a supply of leaves. Planting out groves of these trees is certainly the first thing to be done, and I think the attention of the various Acclimatization Societies should be directed to this subject as offering a field for their utility. If Government desired to undertake the rearing or distribution of mulberry trees, I have no doubt that a part of the Wellington Botanic Garden Reserve might be planted out as a nursery ground for the purpose; or means might be placed at Mr. Batchelor's disposal to enable him to employ his mulberry grove as a centre from which plants might be distributed. Tho trees must be planted in quantity wherever the experiment is to be tried, as otherwise no important results will be obtained. The culture of the mulberry tree is in some countries a separate branch of industry from the rearing of the worms, and affords a very remunerative crop per acre, as it employs simple rural labour at a season when not required for other farm operations. In France a young mulberry tree is valued at 6d. to 10d., and is planted out when four years old, and yields leaves from its fifth to twentieth year, at the rate of 1 cwt. to 30 cwt., worth 2s. 6d. per cwt. With regard to the profit of rearing the silkworms, which forms the other branch of the industry, one ounce of eggs of the worms, which cost 25., requires 15 cwt. of leaves for development, and will produce about £4 to £6 worth of cocoons of raw silk, which represents therefore the gross return from a mulberry tree of average yield, thus : — Eggs £0 2 6 Leaves, 15 cwt., at 2s. 6d. ... 1 17 6 Cost of rearing and profit, say ... 2 0 0 Value of cocoons ... ... £1 0 0 £4 0 0 It thus appears probable that no other crop yields so large and speedy a return to unskilled labour, and the experience necessary can readily be acquired. The third stage of silk-producing is the " reeling off" the silk from the cocoons; but so many delicate and expensive improvements have lately been contrived to effect this, and the process requires so much skilled labour, that it will only now pay to carry it on as a business on a large scale, and it is therefore better in the meantime to export the cocoons to the countries where mills are already established. With regard to the variety of silkworm that should be introduced, this subject will require some consideration, as there is a great difference in the value of ascertained varieties. As Mr. Batchelor has given some attention to the subject, he might be invited to furnish any information he posseses, and also to suggest some practical plan on which Government assistance could be rendered towards establishing sericulture in the Colony. Ist February, 1870. James Hectoe.

No. 3. The Hon. W. Gisboene to Mr. T. C. Batcheloe. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sic— "Wellington, Bth February, 1870. In reply to your letter of the Bth ultimo, requesting the assistance of Government towards carrying out your experiments for the introduction of the culture of silk to this Colony, I have the honor to state that Government are anxious to encourage this important branch of industry, but they have no power to expend funds on this subject without the sanction of law. In order that I may be placed in possession of the fullest information, I shall feel obliged by your forwarding me copies of any papers that have been published in the Colony on the subject, previously to those which you enclose in your letter, and especially if they give an account of the experiments you have already made ; and as you have given much attention to the subject, I shall be glad if you will suggest some practical plan on which Government assistance could be rendered towards establishing sericulture in the Colony. I have, &c, T. C. Batchelor, Esq., Nelson. W. Gisboene.

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No. 4s. Mr. T. C. Batcheloe to the Hon. W. Gisbobne. Sic,— Nelson, 14th March, 1870. Shortly after receiving your letter of the Bth February, I was requested by the Nelson Association for the Promotion of Science and Industry, to read a paper on Sericulture at its next monthly meeting, and as this paper would contain some of the information the Government wished to acquire, I delayed replying to your letter until my paper should be published, a few copies of which I now beg to enclose. I was gratified to learn tho Government is anxious to encourage sericulture in New Zealand, and as we possess a climate which is particularly suitable for the growth of the mulberry tree and the health of the silkworm, I am satisfied it only needs the assistance afforded to it in other countries where it has become a great and permanent industry, to ensure for it the like success in this Colony. I do not know whether sericulture has been written upon in Mew Zealand, except in two articles which appeared in the Nelson Examiner in May 1864, in which the editor pointed out the advantages that would accrue to small cultivators by planting mulberry trees on spare pieces of their land, and the profitable employment which attending on silkworms would afford to cottier families. Since then the press in Nelson has occasionally called attention to sericulture by short notices, and many persons have taken a passing interest in the subject; but the expense of forming a mulberry plantation, and the time necessary to wait for returns, deters them from engaging in the enterprise. A short time previous to the appearance of the articles referred to, I had obtained from Sydney twenty white mulberry trees, which I believe to have been the first introduced into New Zealand for the purpose of silk growing, and I have since at different times obtained a further supply. I early devoted my attention to propagating the tree, and endeavoured first to do so by leyers, in which I was not very successful; but on trying cuttings, after some partial failures, I succeeded better, more particularly during the last season, and I have now about 1,200 promising young trees ready for planting. The readiness with which the mulberry can be propagated is of considerable importance, as it needs only a few trees for a start, and a person possessed of land can afterwards, ivith small labour, extend his plantation to the extent of his wishes. In the raising of silkworms, my first efforts were not very successful. The eggs I obtained were of a very inferior kind, and I had no previons experience in the method of treating the worms. The cocoons were light, and of comparatively little value. I last season got a better class of eggs, but I question whether these aro of the best kind. His Honor the Superintendent has kindly interested himself to procure me eggs of the Japanese worm, reported to be the very best, and furnishing the largest quantity of silk, and I am promised these eggs in time for next season, when I have no doubt of being able to raise silk of the best quality. The impediments to sericulture becoming a popular branch of industry in New Zealand are threefold : The want of knowledge on the part of our rural population of the great remunerative value of a plantation of mulberry trees; the difficulty in obtaining trees by those who wish to make the experiment; and the length of time that must elapse before returns can be obtained for the outlay incurred. In no country has silk culture made such rapid progress as in California, where in a few years from seven million to eight million mulberry trees have been planted, it is a moot question whether in a few years silk-growing there will acquire as great importance as growing grain. An article in tho Sydney Morning Herald of the 9th February last, on the best method of promoting silk culture in New South Wales, notices the success which has attended sericulture in California,'and some of the remarks are so applicable to New Zealand, that I will venture to quote them. " If we are guided by the example of California, we shall certainly look to the Government to take the initiative. Sericulture in that land had its beginning in a Government grant. Money was sent to Europe, China, and Japan, for the best varieties of worms and mulberry: skilled sericulturists were imported. Tho affair was fairly set going, confidence was imparted to the public, and the means of commencing were handed free of cost to the pioneers. If we are to succeed as silk producers, it will be through the adoption of similar means. So long as wre are without a Minister of Agriculture to take charge of such industries, the safest way would be for the Government to lodge grants of money with the Acclimatization or Agricultural Societies, to be spent in such a manner as might be indicated. Each of these bodies would readily give the Government the advantage of its staff and be willing to account for what what was expended. These societies have both been at the trouble of importing eggs and varieties of mulberry from various parts of the world, and are expecting more arrivals, but the expense of establishing a mulberry plantation under the management of one or more persons fully competent to undertake it, is beyond the present ability of either of them. They are supported merely by voluntary contributions, and have undertaken almost more in other directions than their funds warrant." For my own part I have devoted considerable attention to sericulture for the last four years, taking my instructions from Count Dandolo's " Art of Bearing Silk Worms," admitted to be the best work on the subject published. While acquiring practical knowledge in silk-raising, and in propagating the mulberry tree, I have obtained no returns, and although I can dispose in small lots of the trees I have raised, I shall see with regret the opportunity lost of forming a plantation of the mulberry, which might be made a nursery for raising trees sufficient to distribute throughout the Colony. As I cannot afford, after all the time I have given to the subject, to plant out these trees, and to wait three or four years for returns, I respectfully submit the Government should undertake the task of forming a plantation of the mulberry, as the best means to bring sericulture into general notice. To raise mulberry trees is the first grand object, a supply of silkworm eggs being procurable at any time, whilst several years must elapse before sufficient food can be grown to render the export of silk of real importance to the Colony. Should tho Government consider my suggestions worthy of attention, I shall be willing to place my services at its disposal in any way it may desire. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Gisborne. T. C. Batcheloe. 2

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Enclosure in No. 4. Sericulture. Paper read at the Monthly Meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Science and Industry, Nelson, New Zealand (Sir D. Monro in the Chair), on Wednesday, 2nd March, 1870, by Mr. T. C. Batchelor. Mr. President, — At your request I have undertaken to read this evening a short paper on sericulture, and to give the particulars of my limited experience in the culture of the mulberry tree and treatment of the silkworm in this Province. I should be glad to have seen the subject in hands more capable of doing it justice, and for the shortcomings of my present paper I must claim your indulgence, and that of the members of the Society now present. The task I have set myself is, —1. To briefly consider sericulture economically, as affecting the material wealth of the people who follow the pursuit; 2. The peculiar adaptability of the climate and soil of New Zealand, and particularly of this Province, to the growth of the mulberry tree and the health of the silkworm; 3. The process by which so important a branch of industry might be most readily introduced here, and silk made become one of our most valuable productions; and, lastly, to state my own personal experience during the short time I have given attention to sericulture. Every person at all conversant with the statistics of commerce, or who may have travelled in southern Franco or Italy, cannot fail to be aware that in these countries silk-growing has for centuries been the staple industry of many thousand families. The produce of France, in 1853, was about 530,000 lbs. of raw silk, of the value of one million British money. Owing to a destructive disease, called " pebrine," which has since prevailed both in France and Italy, the production of silk in these countries has of late years diminished—in France to the extent of four-fifths, and the price of raw silk in consequence has advanced at least 80 per cent. The effect of this diminished supply in these two great silk-producing countries has been most disastrous to the manufactures both of England and France. At the end of 1861 there were 711 silk factories at work in Great Britain, giving employment to 52,429 hands, whereas at the close of 1868 there were only 591 factories at work, employing 41.617 hands. In France the manufacture of silk is suffering a like depression, the trade being sustained by importations from distant countries, instead of depending upon supplies grown at home. The disease which now destroys the silkworm in countries where it had flourished for many centuries appears to baffle scientific inquiry. Whether proceeding from the atmosphere or the soil, it clearly points to the necessity of cultivating the worm in countries untainted with the blight which appears to have settled on this industry in the countries spoken of. Something of the same kind has occurred in parts of Europe to the vine, as in the spots where the manufacture of wine once flourished, the produce of the grape has diminished to an alarming extent. Scientific investigation may in time find remedies for these evils, but meanwhile it is the duty, as it is the interest, of countries unaffected with disease, to make efforts to furnish the required supply of both silk and wine. The short supply of raw silk in England has led to the formation of a Silk Supply Association, and a report of the proceedings of the first meeting of this body, held in London on the 18th February, 1869, was sent by Lord Granville to every British Colony having a climate suitable for the growth of the mulberry tree, and was published in the New Zealand Gazette of the 14th of August last. The object of this Association was thus stated: — 1. To stimulate the production of silk, by cottage cultivation and otherwise, in every country where the mulberry tree is capable of giving food to silkworms. 2. To encourage the introduction and exchange of the eggs of the best kind of silkworm in silk-producing countries. 3. To offer practical suggestions and encouragement to the producers of silk, for improving the quality and securing a better classification, and ensuring greater care in reeling of the silk. 4. To promote the cultivation of silk in the various silk-producing countries in India where the production of silk has not recently increased, and in other districts of India wdiere the cultivation of the silkworm has almost ceased, but which are known to possess special advantages, by the growth of the mulberry tree, and the habits of tho people for its propagation. 5. To promote the exportation of cocoons from countries not wrell able to reel them. 6. To communicate with the Foreign, Colonial, and Indian Departments of Her Majesty's Government, and to obtain the aid of the English Bepresentatives in the British colonies, and Consular Agents in all foreign countries, to promote and extend the cultivation of silk. Amongst other important facts, it was stated at this meeting, that " whilst the imports of raw silk have decreased 40 per cent., the price has increased in some cases more than 100 per cent. ;" and, " that one acre of ground planted with a good mulberry tree, if the land is in a suitable situation, will provide £100 worth of silk." An article for which the demand is practically unlimited, which can be produced with labour that need not, as I shall presently show, seriously interfere with the ordinary avocations of our rural population, and which would bring such profitable returns, is surely worthy the attention of all who desire the welfare of our country. The primary consideration which governs the production of silk, is suitability of climate and soil for the white mulberry tree, as, wherever this tree will flourish, there the growth of silk can be made productive. Although the mulberry tree grows in a wide range of country, it thrives best in temperate climates, and prefers a dry and light soil, sheltered from cold winds. It would be difficult to imagine a climate better calculated for the mulberry than the Province of Nelson ; and of my own personal knowledge I can say, the tree may be propagated here with great readiness, and, if properly attended to, will grow very luxuriantly. Unlike some countries otherwise well suited for the growth of silk, there would be no danger in New Zealand of the food of the worm being scorched up in the middle of the season by blighting winds, and the whole crop of silk if not destroyed, be seriously injured. While humidity of the atmosphere is unfavourable to the silkworm, and a somewhat dry climate is most favourable to

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its health, it is absolutely necessary, in order that it may produce silk of the best quality, that the worm should never be stinted for food, as, whenever this happens, the quality of the silk invariably suffers deterioration. Had New Zealand been colonized by the French, as nearly happened to be the case, the growth of silk would long before this have obtained importance here, for in the south of France the rearing and treatment of silkworms is followed by so many families, that few of the residents in that part of the country are unacquainted with the process. The case is different with our own nation, and practically it may be said nothing is known of sericulture in England, while the general unwillingness of our countrymen and women to take up an industry with which they have no previous acquaintance, makes the introduction of sericulture into a British Colony a matter of no small difficulty. Of the many —I may say hundreds —of persons who have paid me a visit in order to learn something of sericulture, or who have conversed with me respecting it, I have found comparatively few who were not wholly ignorant on the subject. However great the benefit which it is calculated to confer on a population such as we have in Nelson, it is hopeless to expect they will give it attention unless brought under their notice by actual operations carried on at their doors. Two or three plantations of the mulberry, if only an acre each in different districts, and the use of an empty room in the neighbourhood for a few weeks during the summer, would bring under the notice of our rural population a pursuit which they could readily take up, and which would pay them much better than the crops they now cultivate. The first step to promote sericulture in this Province, must be to raise a sufficient number of mulberry trees to give the industry a start, and to supply the demand which must certainly arise for these trees when the success of the enterprise is seen. Five acres of ground planted wdth the mulberry would require about 2,000 trees, and although a smaller area might suffice for a commencement, it should be undertaken on a scale likely to fairly test its success. It would perhaps be impossible to procure for next season the number of trees I have mentioned, and it would therefore be necessary to begin with such trees as could be obtained, with an arrangement for an additional supply in the following year. This preliminary step might properly, I think, be undertaken by our local Government, either by planting trees on some public reserve, or by affording such assistance as might be needful to ensure their planting being undertaken by one or more private individuals. The rearing of trees for future planting might be left to private enterprise, as were it once seen that a large demand would spring up for the mulberry tree, the supply would not long be wanting. It is the introduction of sericulture to the notice of our cottier population, and showing them its profits and advantages, that is attended with difficulty. Once brought before them, and instruction afforded where necessary, there could be no doubt of future success. As the growth of the mulberry and the rearing of the worms are two different branches of sericulture, and are often followed apart, there is no reason why this should not be done here, and there are many reasons why it would be the more preferable course in the early stage of the industry. It would leave to the cottager the simple task of rearing the trees, which would largely recompense him for his labour, while the successful treatment of the worms would be better ensured in a single building, under the direction of a competent person, than if left to inexperienced hands. A few statistics will not be out of place here, to show what returns may be expected from sericulture. Assuming that an acre of land is planted with 400 mulberry trees a year old, it will be two years before these trees should be stripped of any number of leaves, when each tree may have five pounds of leaves taken from it. Supposing the trees to be properly cultivated, the crop of leaves will, after the third year, rapidly increase, and each tree will yield in time from 100 to 200 lbs. of food for the silkworm, which, commencing at the low estimate of £3 an acre, would go on increasing until an acre of well-grown trees would yield above £100 worth of leaves. Cocoons range in value from 2s. a pound (the price of floss) up to 10s. a pound (the highest price given) ; but the mean price, produced by a good kind of worm, may be taken at Bs. a pound. An ounce of eggs of the largest breed of silkworms should give 37,400 cocoons, weighing 373 lbs., 100 cocoons weighing one pound; an ounce of eggs of the ordinary silkworm, if of a good kind, should give 39,168 cocoons, weighing 162 lbs., 240 cocoons weighing one pound ; and of eggs of an inferior kind, it will require 42,000 to weigh an ounce, which when hatched will produce only 105 lbs. of cocoons. Taking the best class of worms as a data, 400 trees, when of moderate growth, will feed worms sufficient to produce 740 lbs. of cocoons, which, at 10s. a pound, would yield £270 for a single hatching. This, of course, is an outside calculation, but it will serve to show the promise which the industry holds out. Now, considering thellorw r returns which growing corn affords in New Zealand, and that the average gross returns do not exceed £5 an acre in the most favourable of seasons, while in some seasons and some localities they fall very short of this, the advantage in favour of sericulture is apparent. But it would be a mistake to suppose the mulberry tree can be raised and made profitable without cost or labour. At the present moment the cost of planting an acre of ground would be considerable, because the trees are scarce, and cannot be obtained in the Colony in sufficient numbers ; but the cost of the trees will diminish yearly, as they can be grown from seed or propagated from cuttings, so that, commencing with a few trees, the number might readily be increased at little expense. The cultivation of the tree requires constant attention. To grow luxuriantly, and stand the waste it is made subject to by being stripped of its leaves, the mulberry tree must be heavily manured ; but the cost of this would not equal cultivating crops of grain, while, after the first three years, the returns from ordinary farming would bear no proportion to those to be obtained from growing mulberry trees as a branch of sericulture. The first step to promote sericulture is necessarily the planting of trees that will afford food for the worms which give the silk; and starting with seedlings, or newly-raised cuttings, three years must elapse before any returns worth considering can be looked for. In a country like this where land is cheap, and where, from the scarcity of labour, so little is made of it, the sacrifice would be nominal were every small holder of land to set aside a few acres, and plant it with the mulberry. On the sides of the hills, and on many spot s where land is suffered to lie uncultivated, the mulberry tree would thrive well, and interfere but little with the ordinary cultivation of the farm. The planting of these trees on the scale I suggest, woul d, in this Province at least, have another benefit, which in a little

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time must prove of great and general importance. It is a well-known fact that trees have a sensible effect on climate. Where there are woods there is moisture, and a dry climate almost necessarily follows absence of timber. As the absence of fertilizing showers is a serious drawback in this part of New Zealand, it can scarcely be doubted this might in a measure be remedied by extensive planting ; and I hope the day is not distant when the mulberry tree will bo seen growing on our hill-sides, and standing in clusters in our valleys, and there will then be better crops of grain grown on the Waimea and neighbouring plains, and the whole character of the country bo improved. It may appear lam drawing a somewhat fanciful picture, not based on sound reasoning. But where is the reasoning unsound ? "We know the mulberry tree will thrive in New Zealand ; the climate is just what best suits the worm which spins the silk, and is untainted with the disease which destroys the insect in old silk-producing countries. Making the very largest deductions, sericulture can be made far more profitable than any industry our rural population can engage in ; and there is an immediate market for all the silk we could produce, with no chance of its ever becoming glutted. Trees will not grow and yield returns in a single season ; but surely the increased ultimate profit will compensate for the delayed returns ; and it must bo from ignorance more than from any other cause that an industry so calculated to benefit all who engage in it, and enrich the country at large, has for so many years been wholly neglected by us. I now come to the next branch of sericulture —the rearing of the worm which gives the silk. It will not be necessary, in a paper like the present, to speak in detail of the different kinds of worms which produce silk, their habits, or the best mode of treating them ; to do this at length would occupy considerable time, and my present object is only to deal generally with my subject, and excite interest towards it. Y/hile the growing of food for the silkworm is a rude business, which any person can follow who is capable of putting a spade into the ground, the rearing of the worm is a more delicate matter, but intelligence and attention is all that is necessary to ensure success. Wherever sericulture is carried on upon any scale, " magnanaries," or houses for the silkworms, must be erected. The insect is exceedingly sensitive to surrounding objects and influences, and unless some regard is paid to its instincts, it is vain to expect silk of the best quality. A regulated temperature, good ventilation, and abundance of proper food, are the primary requisites of success. There are minor points also, such as a subdued light, the absence of foul smells, and others which need not now be stated. Any spare room might be made to serve the purpose of a magnanary, but a wooden building specially erected for the purpose, and constructed on a proper principle, would be preferable. The labour of women and children is found preferable to that of men for attending on the worms, and this would equally apply here. I shall conclude with a few remarks on the experience I have gained in sericulture during the four years I have given it attention, but it is necessarily only limited. By importing from Sydney a number of trees of the white mulberry, I have satisfied myself that the tree will thrive here remarkably well. The eggs which I originally procured were not of a good kind of worm, and partly through this, and partly from neglected feeding, the cocoons I first raised were light and of little value. From a better class of eggs which I obtained last year, and possibly also from giving the worms more attention, the cocoons this season are much heavier, for the difference in silk is more a question of quantity, than quality of fineness. By bestowing a good deal of attention on the worms, I have acquired improved knowledge as to the method of treating them, and I have supplemented my personal experience by studying the writings of the best authorities on sericulture, the most complete of which I fortunately possess. I have satisfied myself, bj experiments, that three crops of cocoons may be raised here in a year. From the hatching of the worm to its commencement to spin occupies about forty-three days, which multiplied by three, will give, say, nineteen weeks. Now the hatching might commence with the month of November, and there would be no failure of food until nearly the end of March, the supply being maintained for nearly twenty-one weeks. To regulate hatchings in this manner would require attention, but it is done when the most is attempted to be made of sericulture. I have little to add, beyond expressing a firm conviction that sericulture may be made the most valuable industry this Colony can possess ; and if I succeed in making converts to this conviction, and in however humble a manner am instrumental in bringing it into such notice as shall induce its general adoption, I shall secure the object for which I have laboured.

No. 5. Mr. Macdohald to Mr. T. C. Batcheloe. Sir, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 13!h April, 1870. I have the honor, by the direction of Mr. Gisborne, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th ultimo, and to inform you that the correspondence respecting sericulture will be printed for both Houses of the General Assembly, and a Joint Committee asked to consider the subject, and recommend steps to be taken to encourage this industry. I have, &c, Alex. C. P. Macdonald T. C. Batchelor, Esq., Nelson. (for the Under Secretary).

No. 6. Mr. T. C. Batcheloe to the Hon. W. Gisbobjte. Sir,— Nelson, 29th April, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, and beg to inform you that I have received per last mail new publications on Sericulture from the English Silk Supply Association, thereby rendering valuable information towards carrying out sericulture. I have, &c, • The Hon. W. Gisborne, Colonial Secretary. T. C. Batcheloe.

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No. 7. [CIECULAE.] Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 10th February, 1870. The attention of Government having been drawn to the importance of the culture of silk as an industry suitable to the climate of some parts of New Zealand, I have the honor to request that you will be good enough to bring the subject under the notice of the Acclimatization Society, for the purpose of ascertaining whether tho Society can offer any practical suggestions on the subject, and especially whether they would be able to assist in the rearing and distribution of mulberry trees, or other trees suitable as food for the different varieties of silk worms, if the Government obtain the support of the Assembly for the purpose of assisting the establishment of such plantations. I have, &c, The Secretary of the Acclimatization Society. W. Gisboene.

No. 8. Mr. W. Bullee to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey. Acclimatization Society's Booms, Sir, — Wanganui, 16th February, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 10th instant (No. 70-256), on the subject of the culture of silk as an industry suitable to the climate of Now Zealand, and to inform you that I shall convene a special meeting of committee to consider the proposal conveyed therein. I have, Ac, Walter Buller, Hon. Sec, The Hon. W. Gisborne, Colonial Secretary. Wanganui Acclimatization Society.

No. 9. Mr. Thos. Kirk to the Hon. W. Gisboene. Auckland Acclimatization Society, Sir,— Auckland, Bth March, 1870. I am instructed by the Council to acknowledge the receipt of your circular relative to the culture of the mulberry and other trees for the purposes of sericulture, and to inform you that this Society will be happy to co-operate with, the Government towards the furtherance of this object which has already attracted the attention of the Council, as you will see by the enclosed pamphlet, copies of which were wddely distributed by the Society fully two years ago. May I remark personally that it appears desirable that full and particular information should be procured with regard, Ist, to packing and preparing the cocoons for transit, and 2nd, as to reeling. The remarks in the capital manual issued by the Silk Supply Association, under the first head, are scarcely sufficient. Major Caldicott (of tho firm of Gulson and Caldicott, silkbrokers, Coventry) informed mo five years ago, by letter, that his firm had lost several thousand pounds by importing cocoons. At that time he did not consider the importation practicable, but we have not chanced to touch upon the subject in our later correspondence. I have, &c, Thos. Kick, Secretary, Tho Hon. W. Gisborne. Auckland Acclimatisation Society.

Enclosure in No. 9. The Ailanthus Tree and its Silkwoem. [Reprinted from tho Daily Southern Cross, and circulated by the Auckland Acclimatization Society.] This silkworm has long been esteemed in France, where the produce of ailanthus silk has become an important branch of industry. The ailanthus silkworm has likewise been acclimated in England, by Lady Dorothy Neville, of Dangstein, Petersfield, Hants. This lady took so deep an interest in promoting the culture of silk amongst her countrymen in all parts of the world, that she exhibited cocoons of the ailanthus silkworm at tho Dunedin Exhibition in 1865. But she did not rest content with acclimatizing the ailanthus silkworm in her owrn neighbourhood. She made a translation from the French, of a most valuable paper on " The Ailanthus Silkworm and the Ailanthus Tree," from the pen of M. F. E. Guerin-Meneville, Secretary to the Council of the Imperial Society of Acclimatization, which she published as a handbook of tho culture of the ailanthus and management of the silkworm. With the view of giving wider effect to the intentions of this noble lady, we reprint the pamphlet in full, exclusive of the preface, in which we find the following valuable remark : —" One circumstance which renders the cultivation of the ailanthus and its silkworm so easy is the facility with which it can be reared in parts of the country which are lightly peopled,-and where labour is scarce and costly." Our space does not enable us to make further comments to-day, but we shall return to this subject. We annex a reprint of Lady Dorothy Neville's pamphlet:— Ailanthus Teee and its Silkworm. Europe is indebted for this species of silkworm to the Abbe Fantoni, a Piedmontese missionary in the Province of Hang Tung, who sent some living cocoons to friends in Turin in 1856, immediately after the first gathering. These cocoons began to yield moths towards the middle of June in 1857, and eggs were hatched a few days after. 3

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As Father Fantoni had told his friends that the Chinese fed them with the leaf of a tree something like an acacia, they tried the worms with the Ailanthus glandulosa leaves, which they discovered were eaten greedily. These worms multiplied, and some eggs were transmitted to France, where they are now becoming a great source of profit. op the eggs. The eggs of the Bombyx cynthia are twice as large as those of the common silkworm, and the females lay about half as many. They are oval, equally large at both ends, white, and marked with black, caused by the particles of gum inside them. One gramme of eggs of the Bombyx cynthia contains about 100 eggs. The quantity of eggs laid by the females is very variable, and is according to the size of tho moths. If they are in strong health, one will give from 200 to 400 eggs; but the right proportion would be about 250 to each. When the eggs are near hatching they flatten a little, and lose their weight, and assume a grayish tint, which is produced by the caterpillar inside. The caterpillars are hatched about eight or twelve days after the eggs are laid, according to the temperature. The most characteristic colour at this age is to appear black, but seen through a microscope they are yellow underneath. They have a transverse black mark all along their body. Like many other caterpillars, they change their skins four times, or go through four changes before they make their cocoons. Before each change they remain inactive from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, according to the temperature. Before this crisis arrives, they cover the under part of the leaf on which they are with an invisible gummy substance of threads of silk, and they fix so solidly their membraneous feet that the old skin remains adhering whilst they pass on. OP THE CATERPILLARS. The existence of these caterpillars, like those of tho mulberry silkworm, is divided into five stages. The first is the interval between their birth and the first change ; the second is that between the first and second change; the third is between the second and third ; the fourth, that from the third to the fourth; the fifth, that of the fourth change till the formation of the cocoon. The caterpillars have a different colour and shape in each of their stages. Thus, during the first, as I before said, they are yellow-coloured with a black spot down the belly, independently of black tubercles. During the second change their body is about 4to 5 tenths of an inch long. They are still yellow, with head tubercles and segments quite black. At the third crisis the caterpillar is from 6to 8 tenths long, and soon becomes quite white. At this stage there comes all over their body a waxy secretion, forming a sort of white flour, destined to protect the worm against rain and dew, as water cannot fix on it. At the fourth stage it attains the length of fto 1 inch. Its body is first white; then it becomes gradually green, with tubercles of the same colour; and soon the head, the feet, and the last segment become of a golden yellow. There are always black points upon the segments or rings of the body and tho floury secretion. At the fifth stage the emerald green colouring is the same, but more intense, and extremities of the tubercles become of a marine blue. The caterpillar is then from 1\ to 1^- inch long, but it grows rapidly, and, according to the abundance and quantity of the food, it attains the length of from 2f to 3 inches long. Arrived at this stage, it begins to eat less, and gradually becomes of a yellowish green. It begins the cocoon by fixing two or three leaflets firmly to the main stem with its silk, so that it may be secure at the fall of the leaf in the beginning of the winter. OF THE COCOON. In weaving its cocoon this wrorm does not proceed, like the mulberry silkworm, because it makes an elastic opening for the exit of the moth. In working, the caterpillar takes from time to time a little repose, but this only lasts a few seconds. From time to time also, after having placed a number of zigzags of thread, it stops and puffs itself out, as if to push out the sides and make the necessary room. When it works from the side of the opening it makes much longer movements, and places the thread in a longitudinal way, advancing it to the extremity of the opening, cementing one thread to another, and returning parallel to the first thread. During all this while its antenna? are at work, as well as its mandibles. These seem to serve as polishers, for they neither bite nor cut any part of the work. Tho threads that form the opening of these cocoons are not cut, but simply turned and laid one over another. The cocoons of the ailanthus worm are of an elongated form, of more or less pale and gray colour, of very close tissue, 1_- to If inch long, and about f broad. They vary much in size and weight, according to the conditions in which they were obtained. OE THE SILK. These cocoons naturally open like those of the mulberry silkworm after the exit of the moth, but up to the present time they cannot be spun off in a continuous thread; therefore, they have as yet only yielded floss, and, consequently, the fibre is more or less short, so that they have only been spun like wool or cotton. The difficulty does not arise because the thread is cut at the opening made for the exit of the moth, as some people have imagined, because the threads are not cut, but only laid one over another. It results only from the circumstance that the cocoon, being open at one end, fills with water (when placed in the basin), and being so heavy breaks the thread; but we have no doubt a remedy for this will soon be found. There certainly does seem some manner of manufacturing the silk in skeins, because amongst the many fabrics made from the ailanthus silk and sent over by Father Fantoni from China, there were some made with silk in one continuous thread, and which had preserved the gray colour of the ailanthus cocoons. In the meantime, whilst this is being discovered, these cocoons are treated like the mulberry cocoons. They are carded, and then the material is obtained, analogous to what is obtained from the mulberry silkworm. This material, of a brownish-gray colour, carded,

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yields filoselle or floss silk, " only more glossy," which is manufactured in France under the name of galette or fantaisie, and of which there is an immense consumption. Mixing it with thread and wool, it is largely employed in manufacturing fancy stuffs. This is manufactured in great quantities at Boubaix, Nismes, and Lyons, and such an immense quantity of this substance is consumed in France that every year 1,200,000 kilogrammes are imported from abroad. The qualities of this new textile fabric have been studied and appreciated by people wrell calculated to know its worth. Among others, by Messrs. Henry Schlumberger and Charles de Jongh, great manufacturers, A. Guebuiller, and Dr. Sacc, the eminent Professor of Chemistry at Wesserling. As there have not yet been enough ailanthus cocoons to permit an industrial trial, these gentlemen tried their machines with the cocoons of the castor-oil worm ; but they admit that, if there is any difference between the two, it is all in favour of the ailanthus silk, because they have ascertained it will bleach well. Thus Dr. Sacc, inspeaking of tho castor-oil silk says : —" One fact which diminishes the value of this silk is its brownish colour, which prevents its being used for clear colours. Tho fact disappears completely with the silk of the ailanthus worm, with which I will engage myself to produce white silk. That clever chemist and weaver, Monsieur de Jongh, finds that the gloss of the ailanthus silk far surpasses any of the other known kinds of bourre de soie." Monsieur Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire, President of the Imperial Society of Acclimatization, when lecturing at the Academy of Sciences in 1857, said —" Here is the report from the weavers at Alsace, who have made use of Monsieur Schlumbcrger's experiments on the ailanthus silk. Monsieur H. Schlumberger has found the cocoons very easy to card and spin. The thread obtained is less brilliant, strong, and rough ; it left no residue, not more than in combing the thread. It is a most excellent stuff for use in all manufactures where bourre is required. The cocoons are easily cleaned, and they will take a good dye. This culture made on a great scale will furnish in abundance a stronger and finer floss than the mulberry silkworm." The strength of this silk is immense, and to this is attributable the great durability of the Indian foulards, which are composed exclusively of this silk. In speaking of this silk, Father Incarville said —" Tho silk produced by the ailanthus lasts double the time of tho mulberry worm, and does not spot so easily, and washes like linen." These remarks will be enough to prove the immense utility of this cultivation in France and England. MANAGEMENT OF THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM. The ailanthus silkworm may have in the South and in Algeria three generations ; but with us in England it is better to be content with tw To. Unlike the mulberry silkworm, the eggs do not keep during the winter, but some of the cocoons remain with their live chrysalis inactive during the dull months, ready to become butterflies in the spring. The moths ought to appear between the sth and 10th of Juno at latest, and as about from forty to forty-five days must elapse between the laying of the eggs, their becoming moths, and the formation of the cocoons, the first gathering ought to be from the 25th to the 30th July. The cocoons will remain inactive about twenty-six days, at the temperature of 70° to 80° Fahrenheit, not becoming moths till 26th August at latest. The eggs will be laid immediately, and these worms will have finished their cocoons at latest by 30th September or sth October. The cocoons ought to be kept during tho winter strung up like beads in a place where the temperature ranges from 60° to 70° Fahrenheit. The moths will begin to appear about the sth or 10th June. Every evening the moths must be placed on a tray with a cloth over it, and air must be admitted. The females will lay against tho sides of these trays, and the eggs must be detached either by a wooden knife or by the nail, and put either in a room heated 70° or 80° Fahrenheit, or else in sunshine, where they will hatch. About ten or twelve days after their having been laid you had better put ailanthus leaves on the eggs, when the young worms will immediately climb on them and commence feeding. These leaves ought then to be placed in a bottle of water, the ends well stuffed into the bottles, as the young worms might descend the stems and then into the neck of the bottle, where they would get drowned immediately. If unforeseen circumstances —bad weather for instance —prevented you putting the young worms on the trees in the open air, you must place fresh bunches in bottles close to faded leaves, w rhen the worms will go on to them. To save the few that may possibly fall clown, you would do well to place a few leaves where the bottles stand, upon which the worms will creep immediately. You must guard against giving these worms old leaves gathered from a large tree, because they could not be so easily devoured by them, and they would kill a great many. This inconvenience would not arise where the plantations are made expressly for the worms, because the frequent cutting of the trees makes them put forth new shoots and tender leaves. In placing the young worms on the ailanthus trees, they must be strewed as it were on the plants. You must bring them on the old leaves in large baskets lined with paper, and you must fix these leaves on the trees. They might be fixed with pins, or tied on till the worms have hold of the new leaves. Experience can alone teach the number of worms required on each tree. When once the worms are securely fixed on the leaves, there is no further trouble, except to see that ants and wasps do not carry them off. The best manner of doing this would be to destroy the wasps in the spring-time, before the nests are made. When the worms have come to their fourth change, they begin to spin their cocoons on the leaves of the ailanthus (or even on any other ones in the vicinity), and the cocoons may be gathered eight or ten days after the beginning of the spinning. About a month after the cocoons are finished the moths will appear. They will lay as in the springtime, and soon after the eggs wall be hatched. The same process must be gone through as I have described, if you are able to hatch the eggs about the 30th August. This second cultivation would end the first days of October —that is, if it were a tolerable season. The best manner of preserving the reproductive cocoons during the winter has not been fully ascertained ;

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but every day brings forth new methods of doing so. Meanwhile, we advise our readers to thread the cocoons in rows of one hundred each, and hang them up in different temperatures, so that we may find out which suits them best. They must not be kept together in baskets or boxes, as they will, more or less, ferment; and then, if the moth does not come forth prematurely, they may contract maladies, which will be transmitted to the eggs, and most probably to forthcoming generations. The fear of birds seems to strike people who hear of this open-air cultivation, and I have given great attention to this subject. This fear has almost totally disappeared under the experiences of Messrs. Hebert and Lamottc-Barace, especially since they have begun on a larger scale the cultivation of this worm; and if ants, wasps, or birds do carry off a small quantity, it is not missed in a large plantation where these worms feed. The same reason applies to fields where cereals are grown, and which birds and insects attack, and of which one does not count the ravages because of the enormous quantity of the crop. culture op ailanthus geandulosa. This is not the place to enter into the etymology of the name of this tree; suffice it to say that its name of Vernis dv Japon, or Japan varnish-tree, was given to it by the Abbe Incarville, who introduced it into Europe in 1751, thinking it wras really the tree which produces that precious varnish which is so much employed in Japan and China. A few years ago the true tree was introduced, so that the ailanthus has since that period borne the name of the false varnish-tree. We all know that the ailanthus is one of the easiest shrubs to grow, and there is no soil, however, bad, in which it will not thrive. Calcareous, ferruginous, sandy, clay, arid, and strong soils all suit it equally. In towns, or by the seaside, it does admirably. Like the Sumac, to which it is allied, it throws out suckers from its roots. It is by these means that it is multiplied, but, since it has seeded in France, they propagate it in this manner at present. The seeds, which are numerous, ripen in autumn ; they may be gathered from the month of November till January. They must be carefully dried for fear of fermentation. The seeds may be sown from the months of February till May, broadcast or in rows, and ought to be covered with from one to two centimetres of earth, and they will appear from three weeks to a month after they aro sown. With the exception of a few cereal grains, there are hardly any other shrubs where the seed germinates so quickly, and it is not uncommon to see some of the shoots from these seeds thirty to fifty inches high the first year. Quantities of ailanthus trees have been planted on the Apennines, because they resist the bite of animals, and no ground game will touch them on account of the smell they exude when a leaf is gathered, or a branch broken off. Those trees destined for the reception of the worms ought to be planted about a yard from each other ; the chief stem cut down every year, so that the young shoots spring up and afford young tender leaves for the worms ; and by planting them not too great a distance one from another, the shoots join each other, and thus enable the worms to go from one plant to another. As I mentioned before, this tree may be multiplied by its roots, which can be cut off and planted as we do potatoes. Where the plants are yearly cut down, they naturally will not flower or seed. Experience has taught me that, if trees are planted from twelve to fifteen feet high, they may be cut down immediately to within two or three feet of the soil, so that they will immediately throw out fresh shoots. This tree is so hardy and so easy to propagate, that in a plantation of 15,000 to 20,000 plants made in France, not one died. In England it is equally hardy. I planted three dozen standard plants on a sloping bank exposed to the sun; the heads were cut off, and the leaves began to sprout about the middle of May. My worms were hatched (according to the method laid down in this book) and put on the trees the 17th of June. They were then left without further care, except for a few days to watch the ants, which seemed inclined to carry off a few, till the 21st July, when they began their cocoons. Having had no previous experience, too many worms were placed on the trees ; consequently they ate up all the leaves and descended the trees in search of more, so many perished in this way. The rest made their cocoons in the Ailanthus, and some in cabbage plants planted near these shrubs. These cocoons have been pronounced by Monsieur Marchand, of Paris, quite magnificent for size and colour; and I have no doubt that another year I shall be able to carry on this cultivation with the greatest success. The worms did not appear to mind tho great wind or rain they had to experience during the time they were on the trees. I hatched the second crop the 31st August, and they did well till the second week in September, when three fine days brought out wasps to a great extent; and the fruit having been all gathered they seized upon the worms, and, as it were, sucked them till nothing was left but the skin. As I had not been troubled with these pests during the first cultivation, I did not take precautions this time. Another year this might be remedied, but my worms were hatched too late, as the nights were often of the temperature of 42°, and I doubt the worms being able to stand this degree of the cold. Another year I should propose hatching the eggs about the 20th of May. They would have finished their cocoons about the end of June, allowing the trees a month to rest and push forth fresh leaves. And here I beg to remark that, although every vestige of a sprout or leaf was eaten off my trees by the worms, no sooner were they removed than the trees burst forth twice as strong as before. The second cultivation of worms might commence the beginning of August, and ending the middle of September, which would avoid the colder part of the autumn. If any person wish for further information than this book affords, I shall be happy to render it; and if by publishing this little account of my own experience I may have helped towards establishing a new source of employment and profit for both poor and rich, my object will be gained.

Referred to Dr. Hector.—W. Gisborne, 21st March, 1870.

No. 10. Memo, for the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey by De. Hector. Mr. Batcheloe does not make any definite proposition as to the steps he recommends Government to take. After carefully perusing all the papers, I feel convinced that sericulture will only succeed in New Zealand if taken up by the settlers with small means, but who have spare labour that they cannot find employment for at certain seasons of the year.

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As such persons cannot be expected to go to great expense for the purpose of importing trees and eggs, this is work that might be fairly undertaken by Government or by a company. If Government attempt to do this, it should be by contract, and tenders might be asked for tho lowest subsidy required for establishing a grove, and for rearing not less than young mulberry or ailanthus trees per annum, commencing the distribution at Is. each plant, within months, the plants to be so packed that they will bear carriage for at least days. A further step would be to offer a bonus for the production of a certain amount of silk, cocoons, or eggs, within a given period, so as to encourage attention to the industnr. That the eggs alone arc valuable as an export may be inferred from the enclosed extract from the Sydney Morning Herald. 29th March, 1870. ' James Hectoe. A correspondent to the Sydney Morning Herald, 25th February, 1870, gives the following account of the importation of silk worm eggs to Europe which now goes on: —■ " Our cargo in the ' Mooltan ' was silk, in packages of 100 lbs. each, and about 600 cases or boxes of silkworm eggs from Japan. A few words about these eggs, from information which I received from the Italian gentlemen who were our fellow passengers, and had collected them in Japan. Your readers may be surprised to hear that the sum paid last year to the Japanese for silkworm eggs imported into Italy and France amounted to ten millions of francs, or £800,000 sterling, and that one million sterling has been this year expended. The P. and 0. Co.'s steamer ' China' conveyed to Suez, a few weeks since, 1,800 boxes of eggs, containing 360,000 cards, equal in value to a quarter of a million sterling. "This remarkable export from Japan, which commenced about six years ago, was suggested by the disease, which has existed from some unknown cause among the silkworms since 1850 in Italy, France, and Spain. " I have alluded to a card or cardboard, 200 of which are packed in each case, in separate partitions, and each card contains, on an average, 10,000 eggs ; cost, $3 50e. Again, each card will produce on an average, about 40 lbs. weight of cocoons ; 28 lbs. or 30 lbs. of cocoons will yield 1 lb. w roight (English) of silk, or a silk dress. In one of the cases our Italian fellow-passenger kindly unpacked on board the ' Mooltan,' the cards were in perfect preservation. The eggs, 'which w rere purchased in Japan in September and October, will be hatched in April. " Each box is three feet long, and the freight from Japan to Genoa or Milan is £3 per box, exclusive of a duty imposed by the Japanese Government of §2 on 100 cards. "It is necessary that the eggs should be renewed every year. Little did Lord Elgin imagine when by moral force, and under the influence of English artillery, he almost compelled the Japanese to sign the treaty which opened up that extraordinary country to civilized Europe. Little could his Lordship have thought that he could have numbered among the exports from Japan silkworm eggs to the annual amount of one million sterling ! Your readers who may be curious upon this subject will read a good article in relation to it in the Cornltill Magazine, August or September, 1869. In New South Wales you have tho climate and the soil for the culture of silk, but at present you lack the population."

No. 11. Mr. F. Huddleston to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sir,— Nelson, 12th March, 1870. lam in receipt of your circular of the 10th of February last. I delayed answering it until I had placed it before the Committee of the Acclimatization Society, and also before the gentlemen of the Scientific Association, both of which I have now done; and have also had an interview with His Honor the Superintendent upon the subject of the culture of silk. Our Society beg me to inform you that they will give every assistance in their power. The Society have no ground of their own; but His Honor has kindly promised to give us permission, to use the grounds of the Hospital, and other Government Eeserves for that purpose. Our great difficulty will be in getting the trees, as we do not as yet possess many of the right sort for the silkworm. The climate of most of the Nelson Province we deem most favourable for the culture of both the mulberry and ailanthus worms. Our opinion is, if Government would assist in distributing trees to those Provinces willing and able to cultivate them; and also a small premium for the most land planted with either of these trees; also, a second premium to those persons who may have the greatest number, and in the best condition at the end of the third year after planting. No premium given for less than 250 trees. It is great folly any person attempting sericulture unless they have abundance of food for the worms, as one day's short commons will ruin the whole hatching of that season, and persons are very apt to hatch more than they have food for. I have, &c, To the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Feed. Huddleston.

No. 12. Mr. S. C. Fare to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Deae Sir,— _ Christchurch,- 26th March, 1870. By instructions from the Canterbury Acclimatization Society, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of 10th February, relative to sericulture, and to inform you that the matter of mulberry plantations has been referred to the Domain Board. Also that a sub-committee is appointed to gather reliable information on the subject, and forward to you the first opportunity. I have, &c, The Colonial Secretary, Wellington. S. C. Fare, Hon. Secretary, Canterbury Acclimatization Society. 4 .

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No. 13. Mr. Macdonald to the Seceetaey of the Canterbury Acclimatization Society. Sib,— Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 29th March, 1870. I have tho honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th instant, stating that information relative to sericulture will be furnished to this Government, and, in reply, am directed by Mr. Gisborne to express his satisfaction at the interest exhibited in this subject. I have, &c, The Hon. Secretary, Canterbury Acclimatization Alex. C. P. Macdonald Society, Christchurch. (for the Under Secretary).

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No. 14. The Hon. Seceetaey, Canterbury Acclimatization Society, to the Hon. Mr. Gisboene. Sir,— Christchurch, 16th June, 1870. I have the honor to forward you the enclosed Report on Sericulture, from the Council of the Canterbury Acclimatization Society. I have, &c, S. C. Face, The Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Hon. Sec, Canterbury -Acclimatization Society.

Enclosure in No. 14. Bepoet of Canterbury Acclimatization Society. Bepoet of Committee appointed by Resolution of the Council of the Canterbury Acclimatization Society on the 25th day of March, 1870, "To collect information respecting the planting of Mulberry Trees and the rearing of Silkworms, and transmit the same to the General Government." Youe Committee having in view the circular letter of the Colonial Secretary, addressed to the Secretary of this Society, and dated 10th February, 1870, wishing to ascertain whether this Society could offer any practical suggestions on the subject of silk culture, and especially whether they would be able to assist in the rearing and distribution of mulberry trees, or other trees suitable as food for the different varieties of silkworms, if the Government obtain the support of the Assembly for the purpose of assisting the establishment of such plantations, have not confined themselves strictly to the objects specified in their appointment, but have ventured to take such steps in tho matter and to make such suggestions as appear in the following report. The culture of silk in this Province does not, so far as your Committee have been able to ascertain, appear to have been carried on by any one for the purpose of profit, but simply by way of experiment or amusement. Of silk culture simply for amusement, there does not appear to be anything worthy of record. As to its. culture experimentally, very little seems to have been done; and the only evidence your Committee have obtained is that of the two gentlemen, residents at Christchurch, whose reports are hereunto appended. The propagation of the white mulberry (Morns alba) does not appear to have received any attention in this neighbourhood, but the few trees to be found seem flourishing and doing well; and your Committee are satisfied of the suitability of this climate and soil to their culture. Your Committee are informed by Mr. A. M. Johnson, the Curator of this Society, that his attention has frequently been directed to the question of silk culture in this Province, and that, about five years ago, steps were taken by himself to introduce silkworm eggs, supplies of which were obtained from Melbourne and Sydney, and distributed from year to year amongst members of the Society ; but we do not hoar of any practical result, except in the two cases before mentioned, owing probably to lack of interest arising from an insufficient knowledge of silk culture as a branch of industry, and of the pecuniary profit likely to he derived from its systematic development. Your Committee are strongly of opinion that Sericulture may be established and carried on here with great success, if encouraged by tho Government and judiciously promoted. An agreeable and profitable employment, without fatigue, would be afforded to those unfit for more laborious work —the old, the infirm, and the younger children ; and might be beneficially introduced into our asylums and hospitals, and other charitable institutions. Land, at present comparatively unproductive, might be turned to more profitable account in the cultivation of the mulberry; for it appears from the Report of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Government and Chamber of Commerce at Shanghai, that " the cultivation does not interfere with other crops, as the mulberry trees grow on the hills in places not available for ordinary agricultural purposes." Owing to the discovery that cocoons thoroughly desiccated may be pressed and packed for exportation and will yield as good silk as if reeled at once in the localities where they aro produced; the only impediment to a successful prosecution of silk culture in this country appears to be removed, and the process reduced to the greatest simplicity, so that it may be even carried on at the homes of the working classes concurrently with their other avocations. The Provincial Government having, in answer to your application, consented to make a white mulberry plantation if the necessary trees could bo procured, your Committee have ventured to take advantage of the sailing of the barque " John Knox," for Sydney, and have arranged with Captain Jenkins of that vessel to bring over a supply of young trees on his return voyage, so that the plantation may not be delayed. Your Committee are of opinion, that every exertion should be made to speed the establishment of this branch of industry in the Province ; and although there are no funds of this Society at present available, they think it may be assumed, from the tenor of the circular of the Colonial Secretary above referred to, that the General Government contemplate rendering pecuniary aid for such purpose. Your Committee would suggest that a liberal donation be made by the General Government t,o such of the Acclimatization or other Societies of the several Provinces as may bo willing to undertake 4.

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sericulture, as a means of promoting its establishment among the people, by affording them practical instruction in the process and by distribution of silkworms and mulberry trees, and that the General Government also offer in each Province a handsome reward for the best white mulberry plantation established within the next fifteen months ; and a similar reward to the most successful cultivator of silk within a given time, say the next four years, so as to allow time for tho growth and maturity of the mulberry trees. Mr. R. W. Fereday, (member of your Committee) has recently received a letter from his friend Dr. Wallace, of Colchester, England, who has been engaged for some years in practically testing sericulture in England, and has written several valuable essays and works upon the subject. Dr. Wallace in this letter, after strongly urging tho establishment of sericulture (especially as regards the mulberry worm Bombyx mori) in this country, says : —" Mr. Henry Smith, United Club, Yokohama. Japan, is my agent, and from him you can procure anything in the silk line you require ; he would even send over to New Zealand for you a Japanese silk farmer to instruct you in the process and superintend operations." Your Committee would suggest that the General Government communicate at once with Mr. Smith for the purpose of ascertaining the terms upon which the services of a Japanese silk farmer could be engaged, with a view to his being employed by the Government in affording instruction throughout the Colony, and visiting from time to time such silk establishments as may be formed — your Committee being of opinion, that the services of such a person in the Colony would be invaluable in promoting the welfare and success of its silk culture. Your Committee have before them a great deal of other valuable information on silk culture generally; but as it is such as the Government are most probably already in possession of, your Committee think its introduction would unnecessarily encumber this report. The above report is confined to the subject of culture of the mulberry silkworms (Bombyx mori) the most valuable of the silkworm species. Of the other species, except the ailanthus, we do not find that there have been any experiments made in the Province. Eggs of the alianthus silkworm, Bombyx cynthia, were obtained by this Society and distributed in 1868, but the experiments as to its culture were not very successful; but further experiments may lead to better results. The food plant Ailanthus glandulosa grows here with the greatest possible luxuriance, yielding an abundance of food for the caterpillar; but so far as our experience goes, the silk is not to be compared with that of the Bombyx mori, and the tree is liable to suffer from the contingency of late spring and early autumn frost. In conclusion, your Committee desire to urge the importance of vigorous exertions in extensively planting and cultivating the white mulberry, so that advantage may be taken as soon as possible of the high price of silk arising from disease in the silkworm in the countries contributing the greater portion of raw silk for European manufacture. W. Wilson, 15th June, 1870. Rich. Wm. Feeeday, S. C. Face, Hon. Sec.

Sub-Enclosure 1 to Enclosure in No. 14. Mr. W. Wilson to the Chaieman, Canterbury Acclimatization Society. Sic,- — I have much pleasure in yielding to the Acclimatization Society's wish that I should furnish a brief detail of my own experience in the culture of the silkworm, and of the means I adopted for conducting the experiment through its various stages, from the acquirement of the eggs of the silkworm to the production of a considerable quantity of fine glossy silk, a sample of which I herewith enclose. Introduction. In the month of July, 1869,1 planted in my orchard two well-grown black mulberry trees, with the view of practically testing their value for the rearing of the mulberry silkworm. I found the tree perfectly hardy, —as easy of cultivation as any hardy fruit tree, and producing an abundance of thick succulent leaves from the middle of October to about the same period in the month of April, the two trees yielding an abundance of leaves for 130 silkworms, without impairing in the least degree the health of the trees, although under the disadvantage of having been recently transplanted. It is reasonable to suppose that when they are one year established, their growth will be much greater, and they will then yield a full half more leaves, and so on progressively during at least the first ten years of their growth, besides abundant crops of a very agreeable fruit, provided the stripping of the leaves be not overdone. Eggs. Resolving to carry on my silkworm-rearing experiment, towards tho end of August I succeeded in obtaining a piece of absorbent paper, dotted over with about 150 of the eggs of the silkworm. lat once put these on an ordinary earthenware plate, which I placed in the window of a cool drawingroom, the windows of which having a warm northerly aspect, appeared to be all that was necessary to insure the eggs being successfully hatched; for by the 10th of September the first of the worms began to appear, and within fourteen days the full number of 130 worms had been hatched. The remaining twenty eggs, showing no symptoms of life, appeared to have lost their vitality, and were soon afterwards removed. Treatment op the Woems. Upon the first appearance of the worms I felt that they had been at least four weeks too soon brought into existence, for at this date the mulberry trees were, by their swelling buds, only just showing symptoms of vitality, with no likelihood of their leaves being expanded before the middle of October. In the midst of my concern lest my experiment might be brought to a sudden collapse for the want of food for the worms, I suddenly recollected that I had somewhere read that the worms in the earlier

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stages of their growth would succeed quite as well upon lettuce leaves as upon those of the mulberry. Having the former in abundance and of fine growth, 1 at once made the experiment, by the introduction of a few leaves amongst the worms, and had the satisfaction of seeing them very soon commence a voracious attack on the lettuce leaves, fresh supplies of which I furnished every morning until the middle of October, when the first early mulberry leaves began to appear. These I introduced but sparingly for the first few days, lest a too sudden transition from one description of food to another might have proved hurtful; as furnished, however, no bad consequences followed, although the worms showed at once a decided preference for the leaves of the mulberry. They now rapidly increased in growth, casting their skin four times within the first six weeks, abstaining from food for two days or so before each change. At the end of this period they had attained their full size, and began to show symptoms of considerable restlessness, the reason for which became at once very obvious, on finding, in the same order of hatching, from five to ten worms each morning commencing the production of rich beautiful yellow silk threads. The Cocoon. The time had obviously now arrived when it had become necessary to afford the worms facilities to enable them to spin their cocoons. To accomplish this I secured a shallow box of pasteboard, such as drapers use for containing threads or ribbons. Its dimensions were 14 inches in length by 9 inches in width. Small squares of paper were then twisted into cones, precisely of the shape which grocers frequently use for wrapping tea, sugar, or other groceries with, but these were not more than an inch and a half in width by 3^ inches in depth. A large number of these having been got in readiness, they were stitched with thread in one continuous row. Around the inner edge of the box three narrow stripes of pasteboard were then fastened on the edge lengthwise along the box, and to each of these a row of conical paper tubes to the number of fifty were also stitched. The box was then complete, with five rows of inverted conical paper tubes, each of which was intended to be occupied by one silkworm whilst spinning its cocoon; and well was this arrangement suited for the purpose, for each morning in succession, as a few of the worms showed an unmistakeable disposition to commence spinning, they were picked up and gently dropt into the hollow cone, where they not only speedily adapted themselves to their new habitation but commenced spinning, invariably beginning at the top of the cone and working downwards, but finishing within the centre of a handsome oval cocoon of rich yellow silk about 2 inches in length by a full inch and a half in diameter. It was now that the experiment became invested with the greatest interest, —the restless industry of the worms, the slowly expanding dimensions of the cocoon, its handsome form, its rich silky lustre and extreme delicacy of texture, were each amply calculated to reward the experimenter and call forth his highest feelings of wonder and admiration. The insect now remains in the centre of the cocoon, hidden from view, and in an apparently torpid condition; but after an interval of fifteen days it changes into the pupa or chrysalis, emerging from the top end of the cocoon a winged moth. They evince, however, but little disposition to fly, and are easily collected and placed in a shallow box made of pasteboard, lined with small squares of paper, on which each of the female moths deposits from 250 to 500 eggs ; these may again be exposed to warm bright sunshine, and will again be hatched into silkworms as before described. The same process may be repeated three times during the course of the summer, or within the six summer and autumn months, allowing eight weeks as the interval required for each hatching, this period of time being more than sufficient for the whole process, from the first hatching of tho eggs until the collecting of the fully perfected cocoons of silk. When the last batch of eggs for the season has been obtained, these may simply be stowed away in a drawer or box in a cold room, where they will remain torpid for the winter, until brought into animated existence by exposure to the exhilarating influence of the light and warmth of the following spring. It will be observed that I have confined myself mainly to a description of the treatment the cocoons require to secure large quantities of eggs, with a view to extend silk cultivation as a source of Colonial wealth. Where, however, the object is the production of silk mainly, the treatment is the same in all respects up to the period when the insect ceases to spin; the cocoon is then freed from the paper cone, or whatever else it may have been spun upon ; it is then immersed in hot water for a few moments, by which the chrysalis is killed, and the cocoon of silk remains unperforated, and, consequently, its delicately spun threads unbroken, because there is no longer a live moth requiring to emerge from its walls. If, however, the cocoons are reeled off at once, the insect need not be destroyed. Reeling. In like manner, and for the same reasons, I need say but little at present of the process of reeling silk, it will be sufficient to remark that the cocoon, after the chrysalis is killed, is either reeled off at once or sent to England to those who make this a distinct branch of trade, where comparatively recent improvements in machinery have very greatly simplified and accelerated the delicate process of silk reeling, which, at no very remote date, was deemed both intricate and tedious When, however, silk is produced in this country in sufficient quantity to create a new source of trade, no real difficulty need exist in New Zealand to hinder the carrying of the raw material from the cocoon of the silkworm through the various processes necessary to its complete conversion into the most beautiful fabrics of silk manufacture. Food. Hitherto I have confined myself to a description of my own experience in the use of lettuce leaves for early spring, and the leaves of the black mulberry for summer and autumn. However suitable these may be for the insect, and however easy the black mulberry tree is of propagation by means of seed, by cuttings, by layers, and by grafting on small portions of the root of the same variety of tree of some age, yet it must be admitted that the white mulberry (Morus alba) is not only the more suitable food of the two, but is of still easier propagation by the same means, besides being of more rapid growth and, if possible, of easier cultivation. It grows to the height of 40 feet, with a

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stem 2 feet in diameter; but, of course, if grown for the purpose of yielding food for silkworms, it would be kept low by frequent cutting, thereby inducing a more vigorous growth and greater supply of succulent three-lobed leaves, with a profusion of white berries, sometimes, however, varying to rod, and possessing a sweet and insipid taste. The tree is a native of China, but is fully acclimatized and abundant in the Australian Colonies and New Zealand: it has long been in the Province of Canterbury. A Wardian case of white mulberries, shipped by Thos. 11. Potts, Esq., in the ship " John Taylor," in 1853, were planted in Mr. Dampier's garden in Lyttelton ; and a further supply came from the Cape, some of which were planted, and are still growing to a height of 20 feet, in the garden of the late John Boaley, Esq., besides several other gardens in and around Christchurch. Cleanliness. It is highly essential to the health and well-being of the silkworm that the atmosphere of the building in which the silkworm is reared should be kept sweet and wholesome through the daily removal of decaying mid-ribs of partially consumed leaves or other refuse ; that fresh leaves should be given every morning, and these only in a perfectly dry state. Attention to these conditions will maintain the insects in high health and vigour, enabling them to produce silk in greater abundance and of superior quality. Geneeal Bemaeks. Having now an abundance of the eggs of the silkworm, I hope to follow up my experiments in silk culture on a much more extensive scale during the coming summer, fully testing the comparative merits of the silk-producing qualities of the black and white mulberry, the relative health and progressive increase of the silkworm, the best modes of propagation and culture of the most desirable variety of the mulberry, which is still an open question, together with such general information as may tend to raise the culture of the silkworm through the stage of experiment into the more exalted position of a settled and .highly profitable rural industry, affording lucrative employment and gladdening the homes of thousands of New Zealand colonists with the means of comfort, happiness, and peaceful independence. I am, &c, To J. T. Peacock, Esq., W. Wilson. Chairman, Canterbury Acclimatization Society.

Sub-Enclosure 2 to Enclosure in No. 14. Memorandum by Mr. David Naien. Inteoduction. In August, 1868, I received from the Canterbury Acclimatization Society seventy eggs of the Bombyx mori, being part of some presented to the Society by a gentleman of Sydney. Being the only successful cultivator of the silkworm that year, I allowed the moths to eat through the cocoons, and obtained from them a supply of eggs, part of which I distributed to Mr. William Wilson and other members of the Society, and am happy to state that they have been as successful as myself in my first year's experience. In the year 1869 I tried the experiment of feeding the worms on trees in the open air, and the killing of the pupa) in the cocoons, and drying the cocoons for exportation; all of which I will afterwards explain in order, hoping that others will be induced to forward a new industry in this Province, by giving silk culture a trial. Hatching. The female moth lays some 200 to 400 eggs. I have used pieces of silk paper for the eggs to be deposited on, and these should be placed in some cool and dry place during winter, otherwise the eggs would be hatched long before there are any mulberry leaves to feed the worms upon. When hatched too early 1 have had to feed them on lettuce leaves, which causes a change of colour in the silk, and a diminution in the size of the cocoons. The eggs begin to hatch about the middle of October. In Canterbury the black is the only kind of mulberry I have had to feed the worms upon; but I am told that the white is much the best, and is sooner in leaf. Feeding. When the worms make their appearance from the eggs, they are not much larger than a pin's head. A few fresh leaves should then be given them daily ; and I find it necessary that the leaves be dry, as wet leaves appear fatal to the worms. The worms grow very fast, so that a great increase in size is perceptible every day. They cast their skin four times in six weeks, if well attended to. They should be kept clean, and in the sun as much as possible. Spinning of the Cocoons. The worms arrive at maturity in nine weeks, when they will commence spinning. A well-sheltered summerhouse I find very suitable to keep them in. Paper curtains should be hung for them to spin upon, or they will make a very large quantity of loose silk to hang their cocoons upon, which should be avoided, as the larger the cocoons the more valuable. Killing the Cheysalis and Deying the Cocoons. As the moths will eat through the cocoons if the chrysalides (or pupa.) are not killed, the cocoons should be spread on white tin, and pla&ed in the hot sun for three days, which will kill the chrysalides and dry up the cocoons, so that they can be packed for export without danger of being damaged, asthe sample enclosed herewith will illustrate. Dayid Naien.

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No. 15. The Under Seceetaey to the Hon. Seceetaey, Canterbury Acclimatization Society. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sic,— Wellington, 27th June, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, and in reply am directed by Mr. Gisborne to thank you for the Beport on Sericulture from the Council of the Canterbury Acclimatization Society enclosed therewith. I have, &c, The Hon. Secretary, G. S. Coopee, Canterbury Acclimatization Society, Christchurch. Under Secretary.

No. 16. Bepoet on Silk Cultuee in the State op California, by Me. Willtam Baldwin. Introductory. To the efforts of the late Mr. Prevost, a Frenchman, residing on the Guadaloupo Biver, near San Jose, in this State, California is mainly, if not entirely, indebted for the introduction of this great industry. He was its earliest pioneer, and a perfect enthusiast in its cause, not sparing himself, his time, or his money in promoting its advancement. But this advancement has been very slow. Like all now undertakings, this too had many difficulties to contend against, and many prejudices to overcome. It is only now, indeed, after the lapse of sixteen years since Mr. Prevost planted his first mulberry tree, and ten since his first cocoon was spun, that the culture of silk can be said to bo engaged in as a pursuit worthy of the great future in store for it. Mr. Prevost's attention was first attracted to the subject by observing how peculiarly favourable the climate was for the prosecution of this industry ; the freedom from rain, thunder, and lightning during a great part of the year, more particularly during the months of May, June, and July, when the worms are being fed, and the absence of electrical disturbances in the atmosphere—a matter of paramount importance. In 1854 he procured some mulberry seed from France, that grew up with a rapidity and luxuriance truly surprising. Ho then had some eggs imported, but for two years they were bad. In writing of the matter afterwards he says, "I told Mr. Hentsh, of San Francisco, that it would be good now to import some eggs. He procured me some from China; but the eggs were bad or had been spoilt on tho voyage, and none of this first importation hatched. The year after some more were procured, but with the same result. For the third time Mr. Hentsh ordered some more; again from China, and some also from France. They all arrived here in the spring of 1860. It proved that the Chinese were not very good, as one or two dozen only hatched ; but the lot from France hatched out finely. They produced fine superior cocoons, the samples of which forwarded by me to France were pronounced to be of first-rate quality." From 1860, however, until 1866, very little interest was taken in the new industry ; at all events, it made very little if any progress in the State. But in this year, through the efforts of Mr. Prevost, the attention of the State Legislature was directed to the subject, and its action, though hasty, has been the means of giving an impetus to the pursuit, and of placing it in its present position— a position which it would have taken years to acquire if left to itself. State Assistance. The policy of the United States generally, and of California in particular, has been to foster by aid, monetary and otherwise, her native industry of every description. In California, this aid by the State has been found most beneficial. Many private enterprises owe their present prosperity to the assistance thus granted them ; and under the operation of the Act of 1862, there have sprung into existence cotton mills, woollen mills, powder mills, white lead manufactories, paper factories, boot and shoe factories, resin factories, breweries, distilleries, hop, cotton, beet-growing, tobacco, and flax cultivations —all creating property which contributes annually to the State four times more money than it has ever been required to pay in bounties. Acting in this spirit, and considering tho importance of the subject, the Legislature in 1866 passed a Bill entitled " An Act for the encouragement of Silk Culture in California." In this Act it is provided that " there shall be paid from any money in the Treasury otherwise unappropriated, the following sums for each of the articles herein enumerated, grown within the State of California, for the term of four years from the passage of this law :— " First —For each plantation of five thousand mulberry trees of the age of two years, two hundred and fifty dollars. " Second —For the production of each one thousand silk cocoons, three hundred dollars." The assistance thus offered by the State, as I have already stated, proved highly advantageous in promoting the development of the young industry. Public attention was directed to it. The State Agricultural Society lent its powerful aid; many persons were induced to enter into it; and thenceforward, the culture of silk in California progressed steadily, if not rapidly, and its permanency became secured. Thousands of trees were planted in 1866, and the numbers were still further increased by cuttings in 1867, in which year there were 400 lbs. of seed imported from France as well. In the year just ended it is calculated there were upwards of four millions of mulberry trees in the State. But many of those who entered into this pursuit, after the passing of the Act of 1866, did so from speculative motives, and for the sole purpose of claiming the subsidy. To those, of course, it became the great object to crowd as many trees as they possibly could into a given space, regardless as to the supply of sun and air, and as to the rules generally observed in planting. The Legislature, to stop this pernicious system, stepped in and amended the Act of 1866, by declaring that the premium of 250 dollars should 5

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be only paid for 5,000 trees of two years old which were "planted in a suitable form and at proper distances for permanent silk culture." But what is a suitable form and what a proper distance, it may be asked ? Upon this point the " Pioneer Silk-Growers' Association of California " lay down tho following rules: — " A plantation of mulberry trees in California should bo so regulated as to general location and distances between the trees as to secure plenty of air and sun to perfect the foliage. Such a plantation of trees of the age of two years should not be nearer together than from three to four feet one way, and from one to two the other, or tho equivalent of these distances. After that they should be thinned out to adapt them to the location and growth of trees." It will thus be seen that trees must be laid out in plantation form, and at the distances just stated, so as to come under the provisions of the Act. Disease amongst the Silkworms of 1869. Such, briefly, is the history of silk • culture in the State of California up to tho year 1869. In the beginning of that year, more than ordinary interest was evinced in its further development, not only by agriculturists but by business men, and the outside public generally. The course of events, perhaps, warranted this interest. A general decline in tho production of silk had been taking place in European countries for some time previously, and the quantity produced was of an inferior quality also. The disease amongst tho worms, which caused this falling off in quantity and quality, caused also a greater demand for healthy eggs. Of late years a largo portion of these had been procured in Japan, the export in 1858 averaging about £4,000,000 sterling. But here too the disease had broken out amongst the worms, and large orders, which could not be attended to, were sent to California from France, Italy, and Mexico. The industry, however, was by no means successful throughout the State during tho 3 rear 1869. Then, for the first time, the production of tho w rorm ended in partial failure, in many localities. That this unhealthiness of the worms of 1869 was local, the result of circumstances easily explainable, I have little doubt in my own mind. I have looked carefully into the matter, and think the presence of disease may be explained in the following way; —The season of 1569 was a most unfavourable one. Again, artificial processes injurious to the worms had been adopted, with tho view of cheeking their early hatching. Let us examine both of these reasons a little more minutely, The spring of last year was cold, and the growth retarded beyond the usual time ; and not only was tho vegetation backward, but the leaves of the trees were found to contain a large quantity of watery fluid. Now, one of the great characteristics of Calitornian vegetation is the absence of such moisture, and it is this fact, amongst others, that makes the State so admirably adapted to the pursuit of silk culture ; for the more gluten and the less acid contained in the mulberry leaves, the stronger and healthier are the silkworms. There was yet another reason. The coldness of the latter portion of the spring had been preceded by some hot, sultry weather, and it was found that many of the eggs had begun to bo hatched before the supply of food was ready. To prevent this, the eggs, in many cases,, were placed in ice boxes, and where this was done the failure was almost universal. Everybody knows, that to engage successfully in the culture of silk, the health of the eggs is a matter of the first importance. They must be healthy eggs, the produce, that is to say, of healthy worms ; but they must also be preserved in a healthy condition. For nine or ten months of the year, therefore, the eggs of the animal are kept in some dry, cool place, —generally in a cellar free from damp. But the mistake made last year, to which in a great measure may be attributed the severe loss amongst the silkworms of the season, was this placing the eggs in refrigerators, after the hatching had once commenced. The experience gained by the silk-growers was, however, dearly bought. With a little caution and some consideration they might have known, that once the embryo was formed in the eggs, the exposure of these afterwards to a very low degree of temperature was certain either to impair the strength or destroy the life of the young worms. It is needless, perhaps, to pursue the inquiry further ; I have, I think, said sufficient to show that the disease of last year was local—the result of exceptional causes. I may, however, add, as confirming this view, that I have just returned from a visit I paid to the largest silk cultivation in this State, where I saw upwards of three millions of silkworms in their several stages, —from that of hatching to the spinning of cocoons —and all were healthy, vigorous, and free from disease of any kind. Climate and Soil. The climate and soil are, of course, deserving of our first and greatest consideration. If the climate is unfavourable and the soil unsuitable, to attempt the culture of silk would be mere folly, and end in a complete failure. As a general rule it may be laid down, that the dryer the climate the better. The less rain there ia, in moderation of course, the healthier will tho leaves of the mulberry be—th© more gluten and sustenance will they give the worms. The mulberry, when subjected to excessive rain or moisture, secretes in its leaves a sort of watery poisonous fluid, and this affects the worms with a kind of diarrhoea, which is most fatal to them. But wherever the mulberry thrives, the worms thrive also. Tho mulberry thrives wherever vines grow well; indeed, it has been found that the cultivation of tho former is pretty well limited by that of tho latter. Both grow well where the average temperature does not fall below 49°. Perhaps the best temperature for the worms during the periods of hatching, feeding, and spinning, is from 65° to 75°. When the thermometer falls to 50° they then refuse all food. But lot it be understood that in these latter remarks I refer to two, or, at most, three months of the year, tho remaining nine or ten being comparatively unimportant. For instance, in Canton I find the winter averages about 44°, and the summer 80°; again, in Milan tho winter ia only 30°, and the summer 72°. But the great desideratum is the absence of electricity. From tho time of hatching to the third age, thunder or lightning proves very injurious; but in tho last stage, when the worm is about to spin the cocoon, electricity in any quantity proves fatal. Soil. In California, as elsewhere indeed, a stiff clay or a gravelly soil is not w^ell adapted to tho growth of the mulberry tree, the best soil being a rich, loose, dry loam. The rich low bottom lands, too, have

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been found favourable to its growth; but I think, in a climate like New Zealand's, where the moisture is greater than in this country, the drier hilly lands would answer better for planting; aud from the experience I have acquired since my arrival in California, I am quite satisfied there are many Provinces in New Zealand where the culture of the silk can bo carried on successfully and profitably. As a rule, any soil where fruit trees thrive well answers also for the mulberry; but tho successful culture of the peach is the surest test. The peach tree is very sensitive, its foliage being very subject to atmospheric influences ; and its healthiness and production of fine-flavoured fruit seem to indicate the soil and temperature where the mulberry flourishes and the silkworm thrives. The Mulberry Tree — its Propagation and Treatment. '■ The different varieties of mulberry trees are very numerous, but in this State three kinds only are used in the culture of silk, and it will therefore be unnecessary for me to refer to any other than those in this report. The varieties referred to are, the Morus Multicaulis, tho Morus Alba, and the Morus Moretti. The Morus Multicaulis, or Chinese mulberry, is a very rapid-growing tree, producing a great quantity of large, soft, tender leaves, which have hitherto been most commonly used here for feeding the worms until the third age; but, as I shall hereafter explain, experiments made by the manager of the plantation I have recently visited seem to show that even for this purpose it is inferior to the other two varieties. It produces, however, a larger quantity of leaves than either the Morus Alba, or the Morus Moretti, and it possesses this advantage also, that it grows readily from cuttings; but its leaves absorb water more readily, and for this reason it is less adapted for moist climates. The Morus Alba, or white mulberry, is the tree principally used in European countries and India, ■where, it is said, tho worms fed upon its leaves produce the best quality of silk. The experience of California, however, goes to prove, that the third variety, the Morus Moretti, is better adapted to its climate and soil, growing, as it does, stronger and hardier, and producing larger leaves and with more sustenance than the Morus Alba. But the habits and appearance of the Alba and Moretti are somewhat similar, the former bearing white and tho latter purple berries however. In most of the large mulberry cultivations I have seen in the State, all three varieties are planted in about equal numbers, the trees making very rapid growth, some of the cuttings of the Multicaulis being eight or ten feet high within the twelve months. It is said that three years' growth of the trees in California is as much as five years' in European countries. The Propagation of the Mulberry is by Seeds, Cuttings, and Layers. —Before attempting the propagation of the mulberry it is, of course, absolutely necessary that the ground should have been properly prepared beforehand. The soil must be thoroughly loosened by the spade or plough, as the case may be, and to a considerable depth, for the roots of the mulberry strike downwards, and therefore require a greater depth of loosened soil than do most trees. When the soil is finely pulverized and'subsoiled or trenched, the seed is dropped into drills, say two feet and a-half apart, so as to admit of working between them, and in distances along the drill of about an inch. Tho seeds are then covered about half an inch deep, and the soil pressed slightly upon them. An ounce of seed generally produces eight or nine thousand young plants. Before planting, however, tho seeds are soaked in lukewarm water for twenty-four hours ; they are then mixed with a little fine sand, and kept in a warm place until they commence to sprout. But tho propagation of the mulberry from seeds is both precarious and difficult, and but a very small proportion of the amount sown ever comes to anything. The young seedlings are very tender, and easily killed by the frost or the rays of the sun. They must, therefore, be protected from both, and constantly watered for the first six weeks after making their appearance above ground. It is necessanr, also, to have them carefully hoed and kept free from weeds. Cuttings. —This is the easiest and surest way to propagate tho mulberry. I doubt, however, very much if the three different varieties can bo all produced in this way. A great diversity of opinion, I find, exists upon tho subject. That the Multicaulis grows, and grows well too, from cuttings, is 'admitted; but that the other two varieties —the Alba and Moretti —do is very problematical. Mr. Provost says they do; but whilst this gentleman's memory is deservedly respected throughout tho State, his opinions are thought of little worth. Indeed, his theories have proved very injurious in 'many instances. Others who have published their Opinions upon the subject say, that all three grow from cuttings, but there is a difficulty in raising the Alba and Moretti in this way. I have, however' been informed by experienced practical gardeners and silk-growers that these two varieties cannot ba propagated from cuttings at all. Tho conclusion I have arrived at is that all three grow from cuttings; but tho difficulty of rearing tho Alba and Moretti is so very great that, for all practical purposes, it is 'useless to attempt it. For cuttings, the shoots should be about eight inches loug, and contain two eyes or buds, aud put into the ground so far that their tops should be covered over with half an inch of soil. This serves to protect them from the sun. In California tho planting of cuttings is generally 'performed in December and January. Producing Trees. —But tho surest plan of producing trees is by layers. Here the method adopted is this : —The treo is first cut down to within a few inches of the ground, in the autumn or early 'winter. The young shoots springing up from the stump are then bent down, laid along the ground, and covered over, all but the extreme ends, with three inches of clay. From these layers young trees supplied with roots grow up. Hitherto, to avoid labour, the trees have been pruned and kept low; but'it is now said that the too frequent application of the knife is injurious, and, when necessary, 'should bo as sparingly as possible carried out in the winter. The leaves from cuttings twelve months old aro used to feed the worms in this state ; but experienced silk-growers say they should not be used until the tree is two years old, when it will supply from 5 lbs. to 7 lbs. of leaves. Hatching the Eggs and Raising the Worms. Tho eggs laid by the " Miller" or female moth, in the manner hereafter described, having been preserved in the paper on which they were laid, in a cellar or other dry place where there is no danger >of mildew and tho thermometer never rises above 45°, when the proper time for hatching arrives, -.they are gradually exposed to the warmth of the atmosphere. May is the month usually found best

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adapted for hatching in this state, the weather being then more favourable, more warm and settled, and the leaves of the mulberry fit for use. " When I want to hatch my eggs," writes Mr. Prevost, " I simply take the papers on which my eggs are from my cellar to my garret, and there the heat Caused by the sun through the roof makes them hatch promptly, which they generally begin to do on the third or fourth day." From the fourth to the sixth day the worms are observed to crawl about on the paper on which the eggs have been laid nine or ten months previously. Then commences the real business of the silk-grower, the feeding and careful management of the worms; but this I shall reserve for my description of the Davisville Cocoonery, and will now briefly describe the worms themselves and the changes they pass through. The silkworm during its short period of existence, about six weeks altogether, passes through four changes or moultings, which consists in the shedding of its old skin, and occupies generally twentyfour hours. Tho periods between these moultings are termed ages, and are five in number. First Age—When hatched, the silkworm is of a blackish colour, and about a twelfth of an inch long. It eats well for tho first three days, then grows torpid, and must not be disturbed until it awakens. The first moulting usually occurs on the fifth day after hatching, and, when in this torpid condition, it attaches itself to whatever is in its way, stretching out its head, which continues to swell until the skin bursts and slips back to the tail. During this period the worms must not be disturbed. Second Age—The silkworm having thus cast its skin, is now become of a dark ash colour, and requires about three times as much food as in the first age. On the ninth day it usually passes into the Third Age—lts mouth has now become darker and harder, and continues so to do throughout the following two ages. It is therefore from this time forward fed on entire leaves. The thirteenth or fourteenth day it passes through its third moulting, and then enters its Fourth Age—The colour of the worm is now a sort of whitish flesh-colour, and it has become much enlarged in size. About the twenty-second day it enters the last stage of its existence. The Fifth Age—The worm is now dark-gray, and eats voraciously, taking a quantity of food that is really astonishing. It continues in this stage of its existence for ten days, and thus arrives at maturity in about thirty-two days, being then from 3to 4 inches long. It is now ready to perform the great work of its life, —• The Spinning of the Cocoon. When it is ready for this work the worm ceases eating, and is observed to move about uneasily, looking upwards aud trying to ascend to carry on its spinning; its neck, too, becomes wrinkled, and its body soft. It is now necessary to prepare some place to which the cocoon can be fastened. Boughs of willows or other small bushy twigs are used for this purpose, as is also straw. The cocoon is generally spun in four or five days ; and in six or seven days after this —that is to say, in about six weeks from the time of hatching —the cocoons are gathered, and such of them as are not required for hatching purposes are exposed to the rays of the sun for four or five days, until the chrysalis inside is Idlled. Producing the Eggs. —Whatever eggs are required for use the following year or for sale, must be produced from the moths or butterflies which emerge from the cocoons. Before destroying the chrysalis, it therefore becomes necessary to calculate what quantity of eggs will be required, and, as a basis for doing so, it is said the female moth lays 300 eggs ; there are 40,000 eggs to the ounce, which will therefore require 140 pairs of moths for production. It is almost unnecessary to say the best cocoons are always selected for this purpose —-such cocoons as are large, firm, and bright in colour. They are selected, too, in equal numbers, male and female —the former being easily known by their smallness, length, narrowness, and sharp-pointedness at both ends —tho female being larger, rounder, and more like an egg in shape. Having been first stripped of the outside floss, the cocoons are next laid, in single layers, in open paper boxes or baskets, and then put away in some dark, warm, but airy place. About the twelfth day after the cocoon has been formed, the moth emerges from it in the form of a butterfly; the male generally appearing first, and being known by its smaller size and the fluttering of wings; the female is larger, and seldom moves. They emerge from the cocoons between seven and nine o'clock in the morning, and must be then paired as soon as possible, by being placed on sheets of paper, spread on boards ; when this is done, they arc taken carefully by the wings, so as not to separate them, and removed to different sheets of paper, and are afterwards placed in a dark room, where they remain until four or five o'clock in the evening; then they must be separated, by taking the wings of the male in one hand and of tho female in the other and drawing them gently apart, so as not to hurt them. The males are of no further use, and are thrown away, unless, the following morning, when this process is resumed, it should happen there are more females than males. To meet this contingency, it is customary to keep some of the males, as a reserve, in a perforated box. The females are now laid on soft paper, and very soon exude drops of yellowish matter, which is usually deposited on blotting paper and thrown away. They then commence to lay their eggs, and in a few Tiours have finished doing so. If the eggs be of the annual variety, the papers on which they are laid are deposited in tin boxes perforated with holes ; the lids are carefully fastened, and the boxes put into some dry cool place, and there kept until the following May. This is the plan adopted in California. If, however, the worms be of the Bivolline or Trivolfine species—that is to say, if their eggs hatch twice or three times during the year —the eggs, instead of being laid aside in the manner just described, are put in some warm place, and in about eight days they will hatch, the worms going through the stages mentioned previously. There are three varieties of silkworms in California : the Annuals, which hatch only once during the year; the Bivoltines, whose eggs hatch twice in the season ; and the Trivoltines, three times ; but the Annuals are principally, if not entirely, used by the silk-growers of the State. They allege, as a

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D.—No. 3.

reason for this, that, besides the question of labour, the one crop from the Annual is better than two from the Bivoltines or three from the Trivoltines. The cocoons of the two latter are much smaller, and therefore so much the less valuable than those of the Annual species, for the longer the silk threads the higher the price it fetches. Mice are very destructive to eggs, worms, and cocoons. The Davisville Silkworm Nursery. In order thoroughly to understand silk culture in all its different stages, and to enable me to report upon its details from practical experience, I considered it necessary to visit one or two of the principal Magnaneries, or silkworm nurseries, in the State. This I accordingly did, and shall now proceed to give an account of this visit. The largest of these nurseries is situate near Davisville, in Yolo County, and about eighteen or twenty miles from Sacramento. Starting for this latter town in one of the river steamers, and proceeding up one of the many arms of the magnificent harbour of San Francisco, we passed by the towns of Benecia and Rosavista, sloping down to the river's side on its left-hand bank. After entering the river, and for thirty miles beyond, immense cultivations of wheat, of oats, and of other grain crops, for the most part unfenced and without sheds or outbuildings of any kind, lay around us on every side, running away to the right and left, backwards as far as the eye could reach. The country, too, was very like portions of New Zealand —like it in its general appearance and outline. Then we entered the flat bottom lands —great swamps covered with coarse grass, with the tule, a kind of rank rush, and here and there with dwarf shrubs—finally reaching Sacramento in about ten or eleven hours. Visiting Grass Valley, the great quartz-mining district of the State, I next proceeded to Davisville. This property consists of five hundred acres of fine undulating land of a rich friable soil, and was purchased two years ago for thirty dollars an acre ; it was afterwards taken over by a company of five or six gentlemen, one hundred acres and upwards of it being planted with the three different varieties of mulberry trees, and tho remainder with apples; pears, vines, and other fruit trees. Its estimated value now is 140 dollars —say £36 the acre. At the time of my visit there were about 700,000 young mulberry trees growing on the grounds. Passing through these plantations, I reached the cocooneries and men's dwelling, pleasantly placed on the higher ground, and shaded by clumps of the large native oak and of the cotton tree. There are two cocooneries on the property : one of them being rented to four Frenchmen, who are supplied with eggs and mulberry trees, and return half the gross proceeds to the proprietors ; the other contained upwards of three millions of worms in their different stages of development, and was a scene of busy activity when I entered it. The cocoonery itself is a long narrow building, supplied with three ventilators on the top of the roof, and built of wood: it is 100 feet long by 30 feet broad, but 15 feet by 30 is partitioned off for a hatching-room and a room to cut the leaves in, each of these being 15 feet by 15 ; the space, therefore, in which the worms are fed is 85 feet by 30, and tho height of the walls of the building is 16 feet. The building is also ceiled and floored; has sixteen windows, which slide in grooves lengthwise, eight in the bottom and eight in the top, and eight in each gable-end, four below and four above, having thus forty-eight windows in all, besides four doors, one in each end and side. The windows were all open, and are so left during the whole time the operations are carried on, unless when very cold or wet, the rays of the sun being prevented from penetrating by coarse canvas screens placed against the windows. The internal arrangements were as follows : —Lengthwise along the feeding-room rail eight rows of slight posts fastened to the ceiling and floor; each two of these rows were 5 feet 6 inches wide, and at every 20 inches were battened across throughout. There were thus four rows and four walking spaces along the room, and each row had nine tiers, rising one above the other, 20 inches each in height; on the fourth tier there is a platform, ascended by a ladder, as a man on the ground could not reach higher, to attend to the worms. Between each of these tiers the worms are placed on sheets of paper 2 feet 9 inches by 2 feet, the paper lying loosely on a wooden frame of the same size, made of laths or other narrow pieces of wood. Underneath the building, and entered from the outside, there is an excavation about 15 feet square and 7 high, where the mulberry leaves are put and kept fresh until required for use. There is a stove in the hatching-room for use, if required, which seldom or ever happens ; and in tho other small room are two machines, something like chaff-cutters, used for cutting up the mulberry leaves. It must not, however, be supposed that buildings such as this I have attempted to describe are in general use, or that they are necessary in carrying on this industry. A garret, a cool room, a barn or other shed, may, with a little fitting up, be made to answer every purpose. There must be no smells nor closeness : purity and plenty of air and warmth are the only essentials. Chinese are employed in the establishment as being cheaper, and generally understanding something about the management of worms. Under the guidance of Monsieur Blanc, the able manager, and Mr. Reed, the obliging managing director of the Company, I carefully examined the various details of the operation, remaining in the cocoonery the whole day. To commence with the hatching-room:— The worms are here hatched, and, at the end of the day, every day's hatching removed on to the paper trays previously described, wdiich must bo then marked with the day of the month. This keeping of every day's hatching separate is absolutely and essentially necessary, otherwise the worms on the same paper would moult at different times, and some would require feeding, whilst others would require to be left alone undisturbed. The manner of removing the young worms is this: Long narrow strips of the mulberry leaf is laid upon them, on to which they immediately climb, and the strip of leaf is then placed on the paper tray which is intended for use. The process is the same throughout, except that, after the first age, young mulberry twigs are substituted for the leaves. The tray, dated, and thus filled with worms, but not too closely or so as to overcrowd one another, is then carried into the feeding-room, placed upon one of the shelves or tiers, and food placed upon it. During the first age the worms require little food, but that food, must be finely cut up. The food is cut up coarser the second age, and coarser still the third age, when, indeed, the leaves are sometimes given entire, as they always are during the. fourth age ; branches aro supplied to the worms of the fifth age. After each moulting, the remains of leaves and skins are cleaned off the papers, the worms being meanwhile removed in the manner already explained. There is a fifth cleaning, too, between the fourth moulting and the commencement of spinning the cocoon. Monsieur Blanc has the worms fed four 6

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REPORT ON SERICULTURE

times in the twenty-four hours, namely, at 5 in the morning, 10 in the forenoon, 3 in the afternoon, and Bat night. The worms of the fourth and fifth age, especially tho worms of the fifth age, are fed day and night. During this latter age they eat more than they do all the rest of their lives together, and must never be allowed to want; for the more they eat and the faster, the greater will be the quantity of silk they spin. Tho worms which were ready to commence their cocoons had dried branches or twigs of oak placed upright along two sides of the paper trays, bent at the top, along the bottom of the shelf or tier above. Bugs and mice had begun to be destructive to the worms, but, to prevent this, deep tin bowls were being placed underneath the uprights, and filled either with water or lime. The floor of the cocoonery, too, was sprinkled twice or thrice daily with water. Monsieur Blanc was making some very interesting experiments, at the time of my visit, in crossing the Californian Annuals with the French and Japanese, and seemed very sanguine that the result would give a larger worm and a much hardier one, which would produce a more valuable cocoon than is now produced in either of these countries. An ounce of eggs produces from 38,000 to 40,000 worms ; 80 oz. had been hatched by Monsieur Blanc, and the result was about 3,000,000 of worms. By keeping the eggs back, he expected to hatch altogether about 8,000,000 worms, which would give him about 22,000 oz. of eggs, all of which are already ordered at four dollars an ounce, making the returns about £19,125 for the season. 1,600 lbs. of leaves are required to feed the worms hatched from an ounce of eggs —that is to say, 38,000 worms. A tree two years old generally produces from five to seven lbs. of leaves ; consequently it would take 250 trees to feed this number. Here the young trees are plucked when they are twelve months old, but Monsieur Blanc is opposed to this, and never touches the leaves of the trees at Davisville until they are two years' growth. A tree five years old, if not picked before, produces 40 lbs. of leaves ;if so picked, 25 lbs., increasing the quantity of its leaves as it grows in age. For persons entering into the business at a distance, trees one or two years old are recommended. They are safely transported, having been sent from California to Europe. The propagation by layers and cuttings is safer than by seeds ; the industry, too, can be entered into at once without having to wait a couple of years. The cost of the trees is from 75 to 100 dollars the thousand. Packing Eggs and Cocoons. The eggs are usually packed in tin boxes, perforated with holes, the papers on which they have been laid being carefully placed one on the top of the other. Tho cooler they are kept, of course, the better; but without any other precaution they are, or have been, imported into California from China and Japan, and are exported now to France, Italy, and Mexico. There have been no cocoons exported hitherto, except perhaps in a few instances, where some have been sent to France or Italy ; but these were only samples, and therefore limited in number. The reason of this is that the supply of eggs raised in California has hitherto been insufficient to meet the demands of foreign countries ; and as the production of these is much more profitable to the growers than the raising of cocoons, silk-growers have confined themselves exclusively to the former. There is thus no practical experience to be obtained upon the matter. Monsieur Blanc, however, informed me that the silk should not be wound off in this country, as it can be done much cheaper and better at home ; and for this reason, the cocoons unwound are preferred by tho manufacturers. He intends exporting some this year as an experiment, and the plan he proposes to adopt is, to dry the cocoons by steaming them, and afterwards pressing them. The process is very simple. A box of sheet iron is fitted up with a false bottom, say eighteen inches above the real bottom, made of wire cloth, and the space between a little more than half-filled with water. The box is then laid upon the fire until the water boils, when the cocoons are laid upon the false bottom, and there kept for ten minutes. They are then removed, and thoroughly dried in the atmosphere, when they are pressed in a hydraulic press, and readjr for export. In carrying out the process the greatest care must be taken in seeing that the cocoons are entirely dry before putting them in the press. Profit of Silk Growing. " The first question asked," says Mr. Hoag, Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, in his address before that body, " by a prudent business man, when investigating any subject with the view of engaging in a new business, is, Will it pay ? Californians generally ask in addition, How soon will it pay ? These questions I propose to answer. In doing so I will simply state my own experience. "In the year 1868, I fed the leaves of 3J- acres of land covered with two-year-old trees. They had been cut back in the spring or winter close to the ground, and the tops used for cuttings, so that they did not furnish much over half the early foliage had they been pruned with an eye to that purpose. But even with this drawback the result will show a profit which compares favourably with any other pursuit." The result of the operation is as follows: — Receipts. Dollars. Cent-. 486 ounces and 13|- pennyweights of eggs, sold Hensh and Berton, at 4 dollars per ounce ... ... ... ... 1,946 70 Eggs retained for self and sold other parties ... ... ... 1,897 50 Perforated cocoons ... ... ... ... ... 75 30 Gross total ... ... 3,920 00 Deduct labour and other expenses ... ... ... 472 00 Net profit ... ... 3,448 00 " The feeding was commenced on the Ist of June. On the 25th July it was finished, and the eggs all made. On the 7th of August I had my money from Hensh and Berton, and could have sold the entire lot to them."

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The profit, therefore, in Mr. Hoag's case, was about 1000 dollars, say £218, an acre, and this return came in in about sixty days. Mr. Hoag is, I may add, a practical silk-grower, residing near Sacramento. He has about 50 acres of mulberry plantation this year, which I also visited. I have, in a previous part of this Report, casually referred to the fact that one of the cocooneries at Davisville was occupied by four Frenchmen, who, as an experiment, had been supplied by the proprietors with 25 ounces of eggs, and food for the worms, the gross returns from the transaction being equally divided between the men and the proprietors. The Frenchmen, of course, found all necessary labour, and defrayed all other expenses. The following estimate of the profits was supplied to me by Monsieur Blanc: — 25 ounces of eggs x by 38,000, number of worms in 1 ounce, = 950,000 ; 950,000 worms, allowing for casualties, produce 900,000 cocoons : 900,000 cocoons, divided by 350, the usual number of cocoons in a pound weight, give 2,285 lbs. 2,285 lbs. cocoons, at 4s. 2d. per lb. ... ... ... £476 1 O Half of this makes the proprietors' share ... ... ... 238 0 0 The Frenchmen's expenses will be — Their keep for six weeks, say ... ... ... £18 0 0 Six extra men for ten days ... ... ... 810 0 26 10 0 Giving them a net profit of £212 for six weeks' work. The quantity of leaves required to feed these million worms will be about 45,000 1b5.,—1,600 lbs. being the quantity allowed for an ounce of eggs, or 38,000 worms. If we allow 5 lbs. of leaves to each tree, and this is a low estimate, we find that 9,000 trees, two acres say, give a gross return of £476. This, however, I am inclined to think high, my own opinion being that from £120 to £150 an acre may be expected, and that the expense of cultivating and attending the worms may be put down at from £25 to £35 per acre, leaving £100 an acre as the clear profit. This is certainly an estimate, erring, if at all, in placing the return below that actually obtained. This year it is supposed upwards of 20,000,000 of cocoons will bo exported, when a more accurate estimate as to the profits can be obtained. I look forward, too, with much interest to the statement of receipts and expenditure of the Davisville Silk Nursery, which are to be laid before the Company in the course of a few months.