8 CULTURE OF SILKWORMS. 



as a food plant for the variety of worms now in Perak, though 

 the anniial varieties may possibly be induced to eat it.* 



ENEMIES OF THE WORMS. 



I have noticed two s])ecies of spiders, the common reddish 

 coloured house ant, and a wasp as offenders ; the most destruc- 

 tive being the ants, who on one occasion killed a tray of over 

 fifty worms in an hour or two. None of the worms seemed to 

 have been eaten, merely stung to death. Putting the tray stands 

 in cups of water and enclosing the whole in netting would of 

 course prevent loss from these insect pests. 



The house lizard, rats, and the magpie-robin have also to l)e 

 guarded against, as they will all devour the caterpillars when- 

 ever they get the chance, and they are most persistent in their 

 attempts. 



DISEASE or THE WORMS. 



I was informed in August, 1891, that there had been con- 

 siderable losses amongst the worms at Ayer Kiming, and on 

 visiting the original Chinese cultivators I found that the whole 

 of their worms had died out, and they had not a single hve one 

 left on the place, Mr. Light stated that after attaining a size 

 of about three-c^uarters of an inch in length the worms went off 

 their feed and ceased growing, and that it was the opinion of the 

 Chinese that the worms were diseased. I at first thought that 

 the leaf disease might be the cause of the unhealthiness of the 

 worms, as I failed by a microscopical examination of some of the 

 young worms to detect any of the haderia which cause the 

 Isuown silk-worm diseases. About ten days afterwards I again 

 visited Ayer Kuning, and took some thirty of the weak worms, 

 which had dropped off the cocooning frames, and which were 



* " A discovery has been made by a lady in Columbia, S.C., that may 

 have a marked effect upon two great industries. For a number of seasons 

 this lady has amused herself by feeding silkworms and sending a few 

 pounds of cocoons to the Women's Society for the Encouragement of the 

 Silk Industry in Philadelphia. The extraordinary warmth of this winter 

 caiised the eggs to hatch far in advance of the season, and as the young 

 leaves of the nudberry and the Osage orange had not put forth, our amateur 

 was at a loss what to do. An account adds : — 



" ' Seeing that the foliage of the ramie in a neighbouring field was 

 putting out, she gathered some and put the worms upon it. They fed 

 ravenously, and she kept up the supply until the Osage orange leaves ap- 

 peared. Then she divided her wornas equally, feeding one set with ramie, 

 the other with Osage orange. She kept the cocoons separate and sent them 

 to Philadelphia. The experts there were astonished at the size of those 

 spun by the ramie eaters, and wrote to the lady to know what she had 

 done to secure them. They were not only larger, but the silk was finer.' " 

 —Keiv Bulletin, No. 44 of 1890, pages 174-5. 



