March 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



SERICULTURE IN OUDH. 363 



" Five ounces of eggs have been saved for next season. The cocoons 

 from which the moths have eaten out their way, fetch a good price in 

 England, and I would suggest that a few might be sent in the box with 

 the silk, to find out what they are worth." 



In conclusion, I think there can be little doubt about our ultimate 

 success, but what is immediately wanted is the propagation of all kinds 

 of mulberry trees, more especially the native kind. The China varieties 

 are very useful, and I should add to a great extent indispensable. As 

 almost all the natives of Oudh are entirely ignorant of the nature of the 

 silkworm, and, as I said before, have not the slightest idea that silk is 

 produced by a worm, but that, like other fibres, it is produced by plants, 

 the only way to make them acquainted with it, is for them to see it in 

 its various stages, and see the worm produce the silk. This will be 

 greatly facilitated by little independent experiments in various parts of 

 Oudh, even of a private nature, and with not more than a few hundred 

 worms. The incredulity of natives will scarcely be believed. They 

 are accustomed to hear such falsehoods from their own countrymen, 

 that without actually seeing the silk produced by the worm, they put 

 the fact down among the category of the usual items of information. 



All that these little experiments cau do just now is to create a desire 

 for the propagation and multiplication of the mulberry plants. By the 

 time they are well diffused throughout Oudh, and several plantations 

 commenced (without which no silk for commercial purposes can be 

 produced), those who are making experiments on a large scale on Govern- 

 ment account, will have a number of experienced natives to distribute 

 over the province, and to teach commercially the culture of the silk- 

 worm. 



The following instructions may be of use to those who are not 

 acquainted with the rearing of silkworms : ' 



Cashmere Silkworm. — The eggs of this worm are loose — that is, 

 when deposited, they do not adhere to the object on which the moth 

 lays them. When first deposited they are of a yellowish white colour, 

 and the good ones a few days after turn grey. 



They begin to hatch about the middle of January, or beginning of 

 February, and produce only one crop in the year. Their hatching will 

 be retarded or accelerated, according to temperature. They can be 

 forced to hatch earlier than they would naturally do, by artificially in- 

 creasing the temperature of the place in which they are kept, but there 

 will be no object in doing so, unless leaves can be procured to feed them 

 earlier than the usual time at which mulberry trees, left to nature, com. 

 mence to bud. The small-leaved China mulberry, if properly protected 

 from the frost, will remain in leaf throughout the winter. 



The time the Cashmere worm takes from hatching to spinning is 

 about forty-six days. This period will vary according to temperature. A 

 higher temperature than usual will cause them to go through their 

 changes more rapidly, and will also be the cause of diminishing the 

 quantity of silk each worm produces. h h 2 



