Ailanthiculture. ya Ae 
1 am quite clear upon, that I plant no more late potatoes near my 
Ailanthery. A similar epidemic attacked other larve in the same 
spot, for I found outstretched on a plantain leaf the larva of a 
Noctua which had evidently perished in the same way: it was 
cold, porrected, stiff, easily ruptured, and emitting a dark-green 
sanious fluid. Mr. Calvert, of East Bergholt, found some of his 
silkworms affected in a similar manner. And this epidemic 
appears to be identical with that which was observed to attack 
many worms at Lady Nevill’s, at Dangstein, and which destroyed 
all the larvae of Bombyx Yamamai when just commencing their last 
moult. At Dangstein, too, I found on inquiry that potatoes had 
been planted near the Ailanthery, and that these potatoes had been 
much diseased. 
It would seem therefore that at the last moult these larve are 
especially susceptible of cold winds, prolonged rain and epidemic 
influences—another argument for so distributing the crop over 
a moderately-prolonged time, that if one portion of the crop was 
affected, the rest would escape. 
It would not be safe to conclude from the experience of merely 
one year obtained from a few localities; nevertheless, 1 may 
express an opinion that, so far as I have seen, the loss from 
weather and enemies would not be large enough to be felt in this 
country, wherever acres of land are planted out for Ailanthi- 
culture. 
While the larve are feeding-up, the ground should be kept 
quite clear of weeds, so that if any larvee fal! down, they will not 
be diverted from the trunks of the trees by the stems of any 
weeds ; otherwise they would craw] up on the nearest plant, and, 
resting there, commence feeding, and subsequently perish, It is a 
common custom to plant cabbages, potatoes or other vegetables 
among the Ailanthus trees for the sake of economy ; I am con- 
vinced it is a mistake, I myself fell into that error, and thereby 
Jost a great many larva which fell from the Ailanthus trees and 
never got back again; whereas, had there been no other shelter 
near, some would have crawled back again up the stems of the 
trees. And we may here note a beautiful instance of the adaptation 
of the tree to the larva, in the emission of numerous suckers: the 
roots contain a great many dormant eyes or buds, and where- 
ever they get injured, an accumulation of sap takes place for 
the purpose of healing the wound; the dormant buds in the 
neighbourhood of the wound thus receive an extra supply of 
nourishment, and in moist weather young shoots are emitted: 
these young suckers serve to conduct the young larve which 
