IN NEW ZEALAND.

17

D.—No. 3.,

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