FISH CUI^TURE II49 



production of silkworm eggs, cocoons and silk, and finally an account of 

 government encouragement afforded to sericulture and the future in pro- 

 spect for this industry in the island. 



The Nanisana station annually prepares from 300 to 350 thousand lay- 

 ings of moths, which are distributed free to European and native rearers. 



In the Centre of Madagascar the cocoon has retained the classical form 

 of the good French cocoon. As regards their size above all and the quality 

 of the threads, the Madagascar cocoons are comparable, according to com- 

 petent authorities, with the cocoons of the Cevennes. The experiments 

 carried out at the Public Silk Conditioning Establishment in Ivyons and by 

 several spinners in the South of France and the North of Italy plainly show 

 that the silkworm races of Madagascar when subject to continuous and 

 methodical selection can furnish cocoons at least as rich in silk as those of 

 the European breeds. 



The raw silk is comparable in all points with the good raw silk of Pied- 

 mont and the Cevennes. 



The local government, in addition to free distribution of the eggs 

 produced by the station of Nanisana, has distributed more than 200 000 

 rooted mulberry plants. The " cultivation agents " attached to the public 

 departments demonstrate to those concerned the conditions of silkworm 

 rearing. Finally, premiums are distributed for cocoons at the rate of 3^. 

 2d. and i ^/a d. per kg. (2.2 lbs.) according to quality. 



With regard to spinning, the decree of the 21st July 1910 allows an 

 annual premium for a period of 10 years from the ist January 1911, of 

 400 francs per degummer working with more than 3 ends ; another pre- 

 mium of 400 francs is granted for additional degummers at the rate of one 

 additional degummer to every three working with more than 3 and less than 9 

 ends, and at the rate of one accessory degummer per two degummers work- 

 ing with more than five ends. 



892 - Researches on the Digestibility of Different Foods used for Rearing Young 



Fish. — M'OHLGEMUTH RICHARD, ill All'^t'tncine Fischcrci-Zcitiin'^, Year 1913, No. 18, 

 pp. 271-275. Munich, 1915. 



At the Bavarian fish-breeding Station of Wielenbach, the Author 

 carried out feeding experiments in order to determine the digestibility of 

 different foods for fry. For this purpose he employed rainbow trout fry 

 8 weeks old and of normal development. In order to produce like conditions 

 the food under study was always given in the morning, 12 to 14 hours after 

 the last meal, so that the fry, under the stimulus of hunger, regularly ate 

 their ration. The natural food was generally eaten withtin a few minutes ; 

 the ration was always abundant, and the part uneaten was afterwards re- 

 moved. After half an hour at least the fish were taken out and studied from 

 the point of view of food digestion. The term « digestion completed » 

 means that the stomach is left quite empty or contains only indigestible 

 remains. Each time at least 10 fish together were taken. 



The following were the foods studied ; 



i) Spleen : It was carefully freed from skin, then forced through a 

 filter to remove all the tougher portions. Before giving it to the fry it 



