162 Silkworms in India. [ Vol, I, 



The following' is an extract from a note published in the Journal 

 Agri. Hort. Soc. India, N. S., VI, 1878-81 :— 



" The cocoons exhibited are part of a crop reared this autumn in Hoshiarpur. The 

 worms are semi-domesticated, i.e., the eggs are collected from the moths and hatched 

 out in the house, and then put on the her trees, which have to he watched while the 

 worms are feeding. They spin their cocoons in from 20 to 40 days. The cocoons col- 

 lected in the winter hurst in June. The moths lay their eggs, and the worms hatch 

 out in 9 days, and after 30 or 40 days' feeding spin their cocoons. These cocoons are 

 ready by the end of August and September. These cocoons again burst in 21 days, 

 and another crop of worms and cocoons is produced, the insect being bivoltine, or going 

 through all its metamorphoses twice in the year. The cocoons of the second batch 

 which are found in October lie dormant ail the winter, and burst in the succeeding 

 June or July, just after the first burst of the rains, when the her tree is putting forth 

 tender shoots, on which the young worms thrive. 



" The industry has not been taken up by the natives as yet, but it has been shown 

 that rearing the worm here is possible, though there are many difficulties to overcome, 

 and large numbers of the worms die before coming to maturity." — (Coldstream.) 



In the Annual Report of the Government Central Museum, Bombay, 



for the year 1859-60, Dr. (now Sir George) Bird- 

 Tusser in Hyderabad. ^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^ of . ^^ aflfl the 



preparation of silk from it, is largely carried on in Hyderabad. In the 

 Indian Museum there is a series of different stages of the insect from 

 Hyderabad, prepared by Captain Catania at the instance of the Nizam's 

 Government. 



In the Journal, Soc. Arts, June 1883, are published extracts from 

 Major G. Coussmaker's report to the Government, 

 recording the failure of his attempts to grow or 

 obtain tusser cocoons at such a price as to be remunerative, though he 

 abundantly shows that the cocoons can be easily raised in the Bombay Pre- 

 sidency. Major Coussmaker reared the worm experimentally on a con- 

 siderable scale in Poona, but the industry does not appear to have been 

 taken up commercially. 



The following are some of the chief sources of information on the 

 subject of tusser in India:— 



Heifer, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, VI, 1837. 

 Hutton, Journ. Agri. Horti. Soc. Ind., Ill, 1871. 

 Forsyth, Highlands of Central India, page 367, 1871. 

 Stack, Report on Silk in Assam, 1880. 

 ' Coldstream, Journ. Agri. Horti. Soc. Ind., N. S , VI, 1881. 

 Wardle, Wild Silks of India, 1881. 

 Coussmaker, Journ. Soc. Arts, 1883. 



Note on Handicrafts of the Central Provinces, author (P), date (?). 

 Dumaine, Journ. Agri. Horti. Soc. Ind., N. S., Vll and Vlil, 1887. 

 lioudot, Hart de la Soie, II, 18b7. 



