Ailanthiculture. 229 
ning a cocoon and leaving it unfinished. About thirty cocoons were 
gathered out of doors, and as many more were got from worms 
brought into the house as an experiment ; most of those brought in 
revived and began to spin directly, but others were unable to do so. 
Most of these cocoons of the second crop are inferior in size and are 
darker in colour than those of the first crop. I think from the ex- 
perience I now have had that it will not answer in this country to 
attempt to raise a second crop of worms; instead of trying todo sol 
should rather attempt to hatch the moths continuously, so as to keep 
up a succession of caterpillars through June, July and August; but 
I doubt that it will ever be safe to put any worms out later than 
the 20th or 25th of August. My first plantation of Ailanthus trees 
was made on a heathy sandy common, ona piece of land which had 
been rejected by the farmer as not worth cultivation from the great 
expense necessary to make it carry any kind of crop. It has how- 
ever a hard loamy sub-soil, which, when trenched and pulverized, 
makes a better soil than might at first be expected. About 
an acre was trenched, a small portion only of which has-as yet 
been planted with the Ailanthus. In December, 1862, I planted 
250 trees about 18 inches high, in rows 12 inches apart; they grew 
s!owly and were kept back by two very dry seasons, but this year 
they have made vigorous shoots, and appear to have taken satis- 
factorily to the soil, and I hope to extend the plantation consider- 
ably. I propose now planting the trees in hedges, leaving a clear 
space of full 6 feet between each hedge, and placing the trees 
about 18 inches apart, and enclosing each hedge : 
with thick hurdles or wattles at the side, witha ; é 
moveable top made of sparrow-proof wire netting, in dole 
in lengths of 4 feet or 5 feet, made waggon-roof ; 
shape, so as to feed off the hedges in lengths as ki: ognnt 
may be required. I have a second plantation in . . 
good garden ground, where the trees have grown much more 
rapidly and where I have reared the most of the cocoons I have 
got. It is circular, formerly a rosary, about 45 feet in diameter, 
entirely enclosed by sparrow-proof wire netting, 6 feet high at 
the outside, rising to 8 feet in the centre. Many of the plants 
in it were suckers thrown up by a large Ailanthus tree growing 
close by, these have sent up shoots 6 feet and 7 feet high; 
others were two-year old plants bought last winter, they have 
done very well, making shoots 3 or 4 feet high and were planted 
18 inches apart.” 
Mr. Calvert, of East Bergholt, Suffolk, planted in the garden 
close to his house, in the spring of 1863, 1,000 Ailanthus 
