August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



73 



new woiin mig)it be diffused over the gi'eater part 

 of India without any planting pi-eparationa being 

 requii-ed. The Japanese progenitor of the liybrid is 

 known as the "oak-feeding" silkworm; so tliat may 

 partly account for the omnivorous character of the 

 creature, although experience may show that carefully 

 selected diet will impro\o the quality of its silk. 

 The new variety might be provisionally designated 

 Yamma-pai>hia Mowisia, thus preserving the name of 

 the ingenious sericulturist, Mr. Paul Mowis, who 

 developed the hybrid, and tested its value through 

 several seasons. Having, myself, seen the creature 

 during all its stages, from eggs to moth, I can testify 

 to its healthy appearance, its fertility, and productive- 

 ness. iSome millions of its cocoons were, I understood, 

 sent about 1S78, to be reeled and worked up at Bradford. 

 The silk is finer than that of tlie Tusser, and nearly 

 as strong ; so that if the worm can be reared and 

 fed on the same plants, and with as little trouble 

 as the coarser Tusser worm, then there should be a 

 very distinct gain in the more valuable quality of silk 

 produced. Mr. Mowis is, at present, carrying on his 

 sericulture somewhere in the i-ailway resented forests 

 of H. H. the Nizam's domuiions; and, no doubt, in- 

 formation could be elicited from him on the subject. 

 He had given much attention to the practical chemistry 

 of sericulture in trying to hit on the best methods of 

 removing the mucilaginous matter from the worms, 

 and ui preparmg the fibre for dyeing. 



Sir- George Bu'dwood's old report (1859-60) on the 

 Tusser and other wild silks of the period (reprinted 

 by Mr. Wardle). though in some respects superseded, 

 gives useful indications of the sph-it with which this 

 promising industry should be fostered by tlie Bombay 

 Govermnent. — W. M.uitin Wood, West Kensington, 

 February '2't\i,— Journal of the Society of Arts. 



TASAR SERICULTURE. 



Letter from Major G. Coussmaker, (Tasar Sei'iculture), 

 to the Secretary to Government, General Department, 

 dated Poona, 3rd February ISS2, No. 2. 



I have the honor to submit, for the consideration 

 of Government, my report upon the progress made In 

 Tasar Sericulture during tlie past year as far as the 

 same came under my notice. 



1. I cannot yet state that I have succeeded in 

 gathering a full season's crop of cocoons of my own 

 rearing. I oertuinly had better results last year than 

 in previous years, but still there were mauy deaths 

 among tlie Bilk-»orms for which I could not account 

 to my entire satisfaction. 



2. I believe that my cages are as perfect and as 

 simple as can be ; my plantation hai thriven well, 

 and I never thoroughly exhausted m? stock of food, 

 though once or twice I fancied that the caterpillars 

 had begun ti spin their cocoons before tliey were 

 quite full grown. I can only imagine that there was 

 some climatic inUuence which I did not perceive, or 

 against which I was unable to contend with perfect 

 Bucc S3 ; or, although the cages ktpt out rats, birds, 

 lizards, wasps and other enemies of the silk-wurni?, 

 there may have been some small spider."^, mo'^quitoea 

 or oiher equally minute enemies which 1 did not per- 

 ceive. As It was, I gathered 1,000 cocoons from 270 

 feet of hedge during the monsoon. 



3. I was fortuuately able to commence operations 

 at the earlie.-t and most favorable opportunity. My 

 first batch of worms hatched out on 2nd May, and 

 the first cocoon was spun on the 6th June. The last 

 batch of worms batched in the middle of November, 

 but they gradually dwindled away and came to nothing, 

 the last worm dying ou 8lh December. A skilful 

 sericulturist might evidently extend the rearing over 

 eight mouths in the year. 



4. The whole seison's eolleetinn amounted to 00,000, 

 double of what it was in 1880 and collected in the 

 same way. The contiibution of the Forest Depart- 

 ment amounted to 58,000 against 17,000 in 1880, all 

 gathered in the Northern Division. I had all these 

 cocoons cleaned of erjtranoous matter, and the result 

 being 200 lb. of clean cocoons for the two years, I 

 sent it all to Mr. Thns. Wardle of Leek. His report 

 will be most valuable, for the.-e are all of this Presid- 

 ency's production, and the quantity will be sufficient 

 for him to pronounce thereon a decided opinion. 



5. In the districts I myself purchased from the 

 villagers about 1,000, which is about what I have 

 been able to do for the past two years in the Ahmed- 

 nagur Collectoraie. Previously 1 had found them al- 

 most entirely ou the " Bber " or " Bhori " tree 



Zizyphus JvjiiMa ; but last year they were found on 

 the "Ain" or " Siidra " — Terminalia tomentosa, and 

 the "Karanda" — Garissa Carandas. I was at woik 

 in the Akola TAluUa of Ahmednagar, in a part where 

 the majority of the cultivators habitually manure 

 their seed beds with fresh wood ashes, and where 

 two-thirds of these two trees are pollarded annually 

 or cut back very hard. This cultivation is most 

 favorable to the i'asar worm, for the constant lopping 

 of the trees and burning of the branches and leaves 

 harass the squirrels, birds, lizards, and wasps, while 

 the fre-ih shoots which spring from the mutilated trees 

 afford the best food possible to the worms. Durino- 

 the short time that I was tliere I got more perfect 

 cocoons thau I have collected elsewhere. I made it 

 a rule to abvays have a few empty cocoons in my 

 prickets, and when I went out I uoed to show these 

 to the little villuge-boys who were tending cattle, tell- 

 ing them to bring me as mauy as they could, and 

 that I would pay them for so doing. The consequence 

 was that eveiy day when I returned to my tent I 

 used to find three or four children sitting down, wait- 

 ing for me. I never refused to take the smallest 

 collection, giving them one pie for every two cocoons 

 produced, and they went away exulting iu the poss- 

 ession of two or three copper coins. Prettj prompt 

 payment is what is required in this matter, and if 

 the W(im, the villaije retail dealer, would but take 

 the matter up, the Tasar silk industry would soon be 

 firmly established 'J'he Wdni buys these cocoons in 

 the Central Provinces; why should he not take them 

 here to ? There is no need for him or any one to 

 kill the chrysalides inside ; he has simply to hang 

 the cocoons anywhere where the rats cannot get at 

 them and let the moths escape until he can send the 

 ocnons to Poona, or wherever the market may be. 

 Until village Wdnis or other independent traders will 

 take the purchasing of the cocoons from the villngers 

 up as a regular business, I fear that we can only 

 look upon the collection of the same as a spasmodic 

 affair fostered by Government officials and carried on 

 by tlie lower cl.isses for the sake of cuirying favor 

 with them. 



6. As regards the prospects of the Tasar siik in- 

 dustry they are most promising, and eveiy year shows 

 an improvement. Mr. Thos. Wardle has lalely drawn 

 up a most complete and minutely detailed account of 

 the "Wild S Iks of India" in his " Handbook of the 

 Collection in the Indian Section of the South Ken- 

 sington Museum." In this he mentions how desirable 

 it is that a trade in Tasar cocoons should spring up, 

 for the uses of this si k are rapidly increasing and 

 the ilen.and is far in excp.<<3 of the supply ; one of the 

 most important uses to which it has been appliid ia 

 in the manufacture of seal cloth. This beautiful fabric 

 consists of a Tasar silk plush woven into a cotton 

 back and was sold in ISSO at 083. Cd. per yard. 

 When I was in England in 1873 the highest price 

 obtainable for any fabric manufactured from Tasar was 



