78 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



worms produce more silk of a tougher and more durable 

 quality. Hosie ^ was the first to discover and make known this 

 interesting fact to the outside world, and subsequent observers 

 have confirmed his statements. 



Around Paoning Fu in the north, and Kikiang Hsien in 

 the south, a certain amount of silk is obtained from the worm of 

 Anther cea pernyi. This species feeds on the leaves of various 

 scrub oaks, and being bivoltine, produces two crops a year. 

 Several species of Oak are concerned, including Quercus 

 variabilis, Q. serrata, Q. Fabri, and Q. aliena, all of which, 

 though they attain to the dimensions of trees, are commonly 

 met with from 2000 to 4000 feet in the form of bushes covering 

 the hillsides. This Oak-feeding silkworm was introduced from 

 the province of Shantung many years ago, and the industry 

 is much more important in Kweichou province than it is in 

 Szechuan. This " Wild-silk," as it is called, differs from 

 ordinary silk in its harder texture and is spun from dry cocoons, 

 whereas ordinary silk is spun from cocoons lying immersed in 

 boiling water. 



In 1907, near the hamlet of Lu-yang-ho, alt. 2500 feet, in 

 the north-west corner of Fang Hsien, I chanced upon several 

 plantations of Ailanthus Vilmoriniana, grown for feeding 

 the worm of Attacus cynthia. The trees were all young 

 saplings. This was the only place in my travels where I saw 

 this particular kind of sericulture practised. In parts of north- 

 eastern China I understand it is more general, the species there 

 employed being the ordinary Ailanthus glandulosa, the " Ch'ou- 

 ch'un shu " of the Chinese, and " Tree of Heaven " of foreigners, 

 ^ Three Years in Western China, p. 21. 



