20 



is reddish-brown in the male, but the female is much 

 yellower. 



Major Coussmaker has formed a breeding establishment 

 at Poonah, and has planted many young trees for feeding 

 the worm. He has changed his former plan of feeding 

 them on cut twigs brought to them in captivity, and now 

 allows them, carefully watched, to feed in the open air on 

 the growing shrubs. This was an evident change for the 

 better. The larvae moulted in four to five days, instead of 

 five to eight days ; they spun their cocoons in 28 to 35 

 days, instead of from 40 to 50 days, and the moths emerged 

 from the cocoons in 30 days, their eggs proving more fertile 

 than under the former plan. 



A report on Tusser culture from Major Coussmaker is 

 dated Poonah, February 21st, 1880, from which I have ex- 

 tracted a few particulars : — 



" The great difficulty in rearing the Tusser worm is to 

 ensure an unfailing supply of suitable food, and, in order to 

 obtain this, the shrubs should be planted in the form of 

 hedges. I am in favour of growing Daiyeti (Lagerstrcemia 

 Indica), an ornamental shrub fairly abundant in the can- 

 tonment of Poonah, thickly planted on ridges so as to form 

 continuous lines of food, while the Bher (Zizyplms jujuba) 

 and the Karinda (Carissa Carandas) might be planted as 

 hedges surrounding the plantation, as they naturally grow 

 into thick tangled masses, and, being thorny, would keep 

 out cattle. In three years the Bher will grow from seed 

 into a bush four feet high, and in the same time the Daiyeti 

 raised from cuttings and root suckers would be nearly as 

 high, and the whole plantation would be ready for feeding 

 by the commencement of the third monsoon after it had 

 been started. I should, if possible, lay it out with a view of 

 irrigating it, for, though there is no necessity to water the 

 trees during the rainy season, still liberal watering and 

 plenty of manure will always increase the supply of leaf ; 

 by high cultivation of this nature my small plantation is 

 now so far advanced that next monsoon I hope to be able 

 to state how much ground will be required for a definite 

 number of worms. 



" Last year the worms finished spinning their cocoons in 

 the early part of November, and it appeared to me that 

 when the cold east winds which we had at the end of 

 October set in the worms made no further progress, 

 and more of them died at that time, instead of spinning 

 their cocoons, than at any other period of their existence. 

 During the five months 1 was rearing them this last season 



