240 . Dnvaliace oe 
The reply to this question will indicate the amount of stimulus 
likely to be given to British Ailanthiculture. For no one without 
the probable certainty of a fair pecuniary reward would embark 
time and money in industrial Ailanthiculture. And here we are 
beset by the difficulties which inevitably attend the introduction of 
any new material. On the ultimate demand by the public for this 
silk depend both the venture of the manufacturer and of the pro- 
ducer, and the former will give scanty encouragement to the 
latter, unless he sees his way very clearly to a larger profit than 
usual when introducing a new fabric ; and this is not all, for there 
are great difficulties attending the reeling of these cocoons, which, 
as yet, have only been surmounted by a few individuals in France 
and Italy, who have patented their methods. Time, therefore, 
and patience are necessary for the solution of this important 
question. Nevertheless there are not wanting facts which evi- 
dently indicate that the demand for this silk is on the increase, and, 
consequently, that the solution of the problem of Ailanthiculture 
is not far distant. First, it is well known that the silk produced 
in China and India from these cocoons is very durable and ser- 
viceable, though inferior in lustre to the silk of the mulberry 
worm; 2ndly, it is produced in Shan- tung and other provinces in 
China in large quantities, and the importation into Europe is 
greatly on the increase; 3rdly, owing to the great decrease in 
the production of mulberry silk, owing to ‘Ja gattine,” there is 
a larger demand for inferior silks; vide “Journal of Society of 
Arts, 1863,” p. 776; “la gattine’ “has long led to a wish 
on the part of those interested, that a more tees breed of silk- 
producing worms could be introduced into Europe, even though 
the produce was coarser and of a worse colour than the ordinary 
mulberry silk ;” 4thly, our, French neighbours, already in advance 
of us,*have so far introduced the produce into commerce, that 
fabrics both from the carded and the reeled material (Ajlanthine), 
as well as sewing silk, can be purchased in Paris, at the house 
of Messrs. de la Grave and Dechaud, Rue de la Croix Rouge ; 
lastly, it being known from specimens of the silk (Ailanthine) 
reeled in one continuous thread imported from China, that a 
method of reeling these cocoons was familiar to the Chinese, 
French and Italian ingenuity devised methods whereby raw silk 
can be reeled in a continuous thread from the cocoons of B. 
Cynthia ; these methods, but recently introduced, require time and 
practice to attain perfection; nevertheless, it is certain that the 
thing has been done, and the material made therefrom exhibited 
for sale in Paris at a moderate price. We are, therefore, far 
Wty 
