14 



are soon parted.'* In the hills of the North-west no doubt suitable localities 

 and elevation may be found, but T confess I do not consider Mussooree either 

 sufficiently elevated or far enough north to enable anyone to work the worm 

 with full success, or extract from it all that it is capable of yielding. The 

 district of Kunawur, I should imagine, would be as fine a field for the 

 cultivation of this species as any locality in India, or throughout the Hima- 

 laya. The lower part of the valley experiences far lighter rains during the 

 monsoon than are experienced in the lower hills near Simla, while the upper 

 part, towards the Tartar frontier, is altogether out of the reach of the monsoon. 

 It is precisely because this is the case that the district yields such good 

 grapes, while in the Sub-Himalaya they are acid and watery, and of little 

 woi'th. Hops doubtless would there thrive equally well ; they grow luxuri- 

 antly even at Mussooree, but there the heavy rains act injuriously in prevent- 

 ing the formation of the seed ; the plants flower well, but as the bitter 

 principle resides most strongly in the seed the value of the hops is almost 

 nil. Like the grape, however, the plant might in Kunawur arrive at full 

 perfection, and be rendered serviceable to the brewers in the lower hills. 

 Why then should not such a district be equally favourable to the growth of 

 silk ? The elevation and the temperature might be selected according to 

 the requirements of the insects, for the valley is a wide deep trough, through 

 which the Sutlej flows, and with shelving sides and fields cut out in steps ; 

 here too the worm would be actually on the confines, as to latitude, of its 

 native land the Chinese districts from which it originally came, lying, as 

 does this Himalayan tract, between 32 and 34 of north latitude. Cashmere 

 might likewise receive a helping hand. 



2. B. textor (Hutton), the Boropoolloo of Bengal, and which is apparently 

 fast fading away, being likewise an annual, would no doubt thrive equally 

 well in the same district. The cultivator however might be surprised to find 

 that the crop of silk derivable from these, although at first of a silvery white, 

 had now all turned to a golden yellow, the effect as I maintain of returning 

 health and strength. 



3. No monthly species could of course be expected to thrive in such a 

 land, and consequently would not be introduced. These must be left entirely 

 to the climates of Bengal and the western coast line. 



The object to be gained by the cultivation of all these species should not 

 be their extension into other districts where they have never yet been found 

 to yield a successful crop, but to rouse the sericultnrist from his present 

 sleepy state of apathy, and teach him that silk can only be increased in 

 quantity and improved in quality by a proper attention to the condition of 

 the food upon which the worms are fed ; if he is too idle and supine to do 

 this, and positively insist upon an improved system among the natives from 

 whom he obtains cocoons, then farewell for ever the expectation of ever 

 profitably introducing the cultivation of silk in India, change the name of 

 Bengal into that of " Sleepy Hollotv," and let thoss valuable insects go 

 dwindling downwards step by step until the whole are either lost or worth- 

 less. The present system is' altogether wrong ; in saying this I feel that I 

 am again travelling along a road that formerly was productive only of sneers 

 and ill-will, but that I little heed ; my wish is, if possible, to benefit 

 those who are now or who may hereafter be engaged in the cultivation of 

 silk, and therefore I am determined to speak only that which I believe to be 

 the honest truth. Improvement in the method of producing food improve- 

 ment in the quality of the food itself the improvement in the actual quantity 

 of food furnished to the worms, and which a native will always stint 

 improvement in the smoky, dark, ill ventilated huts in which the worms 

 are reared, and which like Irish cabins appear to contain a regular Noah's 

 Ark. These are at least some of the improvements to be effected before any 

 increase in the quantity of silk can be expected. There is in truth no 

 difficulty in this beyond that which the pig-headed native obstinacy of the 

 rearers opposes to all improvement. What then ? Is your silk to stand ever 



