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These are points which probably none but a naturalist would take into 

 serious consideration in the treatment of this important subject, and yet it 

 is absolutely essential for the sericulturist to know how nature acts and 

 what she wills should be, for it is only by the rational study of her works 

 that he can ascertain how far she may leel inclined to assist him, and if he 

 wilfully shuts his eyes to facts, and determines to pursue an unnatural 

 system of his own by acting in opposition to her dictum, he will only have 

 himself to thank should his efforts eventually end in total failure. " Go to 

 the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise." In the present 

 instance let us go for wisdom to the mulberry feeding Bombyces, and we 

 shall find them answering to our inquiries that "Nature, by not placing any 

 of them upon the indigenous trees of the lowland provinces, proclaims aloud 

 that she does not consider their climates suitable to their constitution, and 

 therefore located them in different latitudes and climates, upon trees there 

 previously provided for their nourishment ; therefore be wise and profit by 

 the warning and advice thus given by a Master Mind, rejecting the illogical 

 doctrine that wherever the mulberry grows there too ought silkworms to 

 exist and thrive ; or if you will not be guided by such evidence as their 

 non-existence in those provinces affords, at least let the frequent failures in 

 the attempt to introduce them arrest your steps in time to save you from 

 an otherwise inevitable loss." 



I have no expectation that my croaking views will be more readily attended 

 to now than formerly, while yet I believe it to be my duty to my fellow men 

 to speak out boldly what I consider to be the honest truth. " Hinc illw 

 lachrymce." 



I may be asked what species of mulberry tree I would recommend for the 

 rearing of the worms, and I would certainly reply that this must be regulated 

 by the nature of the species under cultivation, and the climate in which 

 they are situated. In Bengal where alone in India the monthly worms are 

 capable of being cultivated with any prospect of success, the trees selected 

 should come from the districts from whence the worms themselves were 

 originally procured, while the annuals of the north should be reared on the 

 leaves of northern trees. I have tried at Mussooree the Phillipine mulberry 

 (M. multicaulis), the large leafed Morus cucullata, the Chinese Morvs Sinenais, 

 and several other species, and invariably found that the silk was both more 

 abundant and of better quality when the worms were reared upon the leaves 

 of Morus Sinensis and Morus nigra than upon any others ; while worms fed 

 upon the leaves of M. multicaulis and M. cucullata produced nothing but a 

 thin flimsy web, through which the pupa was distinctly visible. It is to be 

 remarked however that this experiment was tried upon northern worms, and 

 with the trees growing in a northern climate, so that the advantages were all 

 on the side of the northern species, and against the southern trees. In Oudh, 

 however, where the southern M. cucullata might be supposed to possess an 

 advantage over the M. Sinensis, the very same results were observed, as my 

 son, Mr. A. K. Hutton, of the Oudh Commission, who conducted an experi- 

 ment under the orders of that Government, informs me that when he first 

 entered upon the experiment with Bombyx Mori, B. textor, and B. Sinensis, it 

 was found with respect to the latter worm that it was in such a weakly 

 condition as to be unable to gnaw the epidermis of even so thin a leaf as 

 that of Morus cucullata, and it was found necessary to chop the leaves very 

 finely for them during the first stage, when, instead of eating the fibrous 

 portions, they contented themselves with the sap exuding from^the edges. 

 Placed upon the unchopped leaf, they wandered about and died, being unable 

 to pierce it ; in the following year he changed the leaf for that of Morus 

 Sinensis, and found that his worms had improved, and that in the third year 

 they had improved still more. From this it was somewhat hastily inferred 

 that if the experiment had been continued the worms would have^annually 

 improved until they had reached the Bengal standard, when nothing more 

 would be needed, and the experiment would have been successful. Unfor- 



