2IO AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



ing the egg white, as with some is really the case from the first. On 

 breaking the Qgg one is surprised to find no yolk, but instead a 

 well developed little worm lying curled up till awakened by a certain 

 degree of warmth. Then they break the parchment-like shell at 

 the point where the head lies, generally during the morning hours, 

 and creep out, already so rapidly grown that they measure some 

 seven or eight millimeters, or about four times as long as the 

 diameter of the tgg. 



Yama-maY silk is more expensive than other varieties. In 1875 

 at Matsumoto 25 momme (c. 9375 grammes) of reel silk of this 

 kind cost one yen, while for the same price could be purchased 35 

 momme of ordinary silk. The relative price of the two is about as 

 7 : 5, which is due as much to the difficulty of raising the Oak 

 spinners as to the quality of the product. From these statements 

 a Picul of Yama-mai silk may be reckoned as costing 640 dollars ; 

 this agrees with the testimony of Bavier,^ according to whom a 

 Picul varies in price according to quality, from four to eight 

 hundred dollars, or from 27 to 54 shillings the kilogramme. He 

 also states that the total Japanese production of Yama-mai" silk 

 amounts to about 100 bales, each 75 lbs. English in weight, and 

 amounting to about 3,400 kg. It was not possible for me to prove 

 the correctness of this statement for which Bavier does not make 

 himself responsible ; but it seemed to me that the estimate was 

 over rather than under the real yield of the harvest, since the 

 Yama-mai silk is kept in the home market and can only be used 

 there in a limited quantity. (See Art Industry : Textile Industry.) 



The Chestnut spinner {Caligula japonica, Butl.) is the only one 

 of the wild Bombycides in Japan whose cocoons or worms are 

 sometimes gathered and used. It is called Sukari, the worms 

 Genziki-mushi (camphor-spinners) and also Shiraga-mushi (grey- 

 haired worms)."^ Hilgendorf in an article entitled, " The Camphor 

 Spinner (Genziki-mushi),"^ first called attention to this insect and 

 its most important features, which he had learned mainly from 

 Japanese sources. 



This species of worm feeds upon the leaves of the chestnut, 

 walnut, different varieties of oak and sumach trees, and in Southern 

 Japan upon the camphor-laurel also. I found it often in my 

 travels in Japan, and became convinced that its favourite food is 

 the Kuri {Castanea vulgaris, Lamk.). The large worms feed upon 

 chestnut trees standing alone, till they are often quite bare, and 

 strip even whole groves of these trees, while they generally avoid 

 other kinds of trees standing near. Moreover, as the worm and the 

 tree seem scattered together alike over the whole country, I prefer 

 to call it the Chestnut spinner, as that is the only really fitting 

 designation. The belly of this great worm is light green, the back 



1 "Japan's Seidensucht,'* by E. von Bavier, p. 99. 



2 " Official Catalogue, Japan section." Philadelphia, 1876, p. 120. 



3 " Mitth. d. deutscher Ges." etc. 9 Heft. Yokahama, 1876. 



