Pbockedings of the Faiuiers' Cluh. "jijl 



planted a large nuiuber of aihmikm trees in a portion of her 

 beautiful g-arden, and covered tlieni with a strong inclosure of net- 

 work to keep off the birds. There were hundreds of young 

 trees growing, and thousands of worms feeding in the highest 

 state of perfection, a beautiful sight, indeed, on entering the inclos- 

 ure to see those magnificent silk-worms, from one to three inches 

 long, of an intense emerald green color, with the tubercles tipped 

 with a gorgeous marine blue. They seemed to care nought for wind 

 or rain ; their feet having great adhesive power, they cling to the 

 leaves with a peculiar strength ; their bodies, being covered with a 

 fine down, seem to turn the rain like the leaf of the cabbage. iSome 

 were eating ; some dormant ; others commencing to spin like 

 w^eavers, and many had made their cocoons and were stowed away 

 in the leaves. Lady Nevill says they are cultivated at little expense 

 and the ailanthus glandulosa is easy to raise, A ready market is 

 found for all that can be cultivated ; while the English cocoons are 

 said to be finer than the French. The females lay from 300 to 350 

 eggs ; and the average is a])Out -iSO eggs to a gramme, a gramme 

 being equal to fifteen and one-half grains. A tree will produce about 

 100 cocoons when in good bearing and planted in good soil. To 

 America what a boon is ofiered in the introduction of these new 

 species, and the utilization of oak leaves; a material wdiich has 

 never been of the least value, has now suddenly become valuable, 

 nay, precious. If such a statement had been offered one decade ago, 

 it would have been looked upon with derision, but now, by the 

 medium of an insect, our trees and hedges, and the once neglected 

 ailanthus, are, by a modern change, converted into a precious silken 

 fiiljric. Whatever may be done, or however extensive the cultiva- 

 tion of this new species, they can in no way injure the success of the 

 homhyi'' ino/'i. This beautiful study opens up a field, not only for 

 entomologists, but for all interested in natural history or the indus- 

 trial pursuits of the day ; nor need it stop here. Its progress mus 

 be onward, and should be also encouraged by the fair sex, who will, 

 indeed, find it not only a healthful and life-giving pursuit, but a 

 l^eautiful and interesting study; for it will open up to their nimble 

 fingers a ntost extensive and remunerative source of labor; more 

 than that, it will prove a relief to many districts purely agricultural, 

 where the want of manufactures is the chief bar to pros|)erity and 

 progress. 



As the materials ar« all around us, provided by nature, ailanthi- 



