MISCELLANEOUS. 117 



miraculously preserved and fed by doves. Her mother, Derceto, of 

 Ascalon, in Syria, being ashamed of her frailty with a Syrian youth, 

 exposed this infant child in an open piano, where she was preserved 

 and nourished by doves till she was discovered by some wan- 

 dering shepherds, who took her to Simmas, the chief shepherd of 

 the royal herds. It was from this Simmas that she derived her 

 name of Semiramis. Her surpassing beauty first made her the 

 wife of Onnes, one of the king's generals, and then that of the king 

 himself. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



SERICULTURE IN INDIA. 



THii foil wing interesting letter has been addressed by Mr. S. Cimliffe Lister 

 of the Manuingham Silk Mills, Bradford, and the Lister Grant, Dehra Dun, to 

 Mr. Wardle, of Leek: — 



Bradford, January 2nd, 1889. 



I have read with great interest Mr. Makerji's letter to you, published in the 

 Report of the Silk Association. You are already aware that it was not niy inten- 

 tion to have said or done anything with regard to my sericultttral experiments 

 inDehraDuu andthePunjah, until the coming crop had been ascertained; but 

 we have nowgot an official appointed by the Indian Government, and as time is of 

 importance, I have thought it might be of use if I shortly and roughly sketched 

 out what has already been done, and also what I think might bedone to maintain 

 and develope sericulture in India. It is evident that Mr. Mukerji has much to 

 learn when lie says "again it is an industry which must necessarily be in the hands 

 of native peasant, " &c, and further says, <l and it is impossible for foreign capitalist 

 with hired native labour, to succeed in this industry." Such then is the opinion 

 of Mr. Mukerji to-day, and such may be said to be the universal opinion, that 

 sericulture is impossible on any other lines than those which have been followed 

 for thousands of years in all silk-producing countries, both in Europe and in Asia, 

 and yet with all this weight of authority against me, backed up by the experience 

 of ages, I am prepared to demonstrate, to show and prove, beyond all question 

 and doubt, that labour, guided and controlled by capital and knowledge, can 

 produce cheaper and better silk than has hitherto been done by cottage cultiva- 

 tion. Thus you have diametrically opposite opinions, and opposite systems, which 

 time and experience can alone show which is right. I have tried both systems, 

 and have paid dearly for my learning, and therefore can speak with some authority, 

 and I am fully persuaded that this great problem is now completely mastered, and 

 that the future of sericulture in India is thereby assured. Nothing, therefore, 

 could give me greater pleasure than that Mr. Mukerji, or any other official, 

 should go and see for himself what isbeingdoneat Lister's Grant, and examine 

 and test everything relating to the cost and the quality of the silk produced. If his 

 report is, as I believe it will be, satisfactory, then another year I should prop 



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