THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Oct. 1, 1864. 



128 



SILKWORM CULTURE. 



The silk trade in France seems to be in almost as much difficulty with 

 respect to raw material as its sister cotton manufacture. The culture 

 of silk in France has long been in an unsatisfactory condition, the sup- 

 ply falling short of the demand or the price rising from time to time 

 to a ruinous pitch. Great efforts have been made in various directions 

 to increase the produce : silkworm eggs have been fetched from China 

 and other places, with great care and cost, and many new kinds of eggs 

 have been introduced from abroad with the hope of obtaining more 

 hardy and more productive worms. The " Magnanerie," as a silkworm 

 nursery is called, in the Jardin d' ' Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne 

 of Paris, is just now an object of considerable attraction, and contains 

 many thousand worms of various kinds, and amongst others the Bom- 

 byx mori of China, and the B. blanche of Japan, which feed on the 

 leaves of the mulberry ; the Bombyx cynthia and the B. Arrindia, 

 which live on the castor-oil plant and the leaves of the Ailanthus, or 

 Japan varnish-tree ; and the Bombyx Yamamai and B. Pernyi of China 

 and Japan, which devour oak leaves. These two latter are in the open 

 air, and hopes are entertained that they may acclimatise in Western 

 Europe. There is also another establishment adjoining the Imperial 

 model farm of Vincennes, where M. Guerin-M6neville — whose exhibi- 

 tion of some of these worms and their produce in the French depart- 

 ment of the London Exhibition of 1862 excited considerable attention 

 — is pursuing their cultivation with a view to practical results. In the 

 meantime, the want of the eggs, or seed as it is called, of the silkworms 

 already cultivated in France is great, and apparently very difficult to 

 supply. Not long since some adventurous persons announced their 

 intention of seeking a supply of eggs in Independent Tartary, but they 

 were warned by the Minister of Commerce that it would expose 

 them to great danger in that country, and they therefore renounced 

 their project. News has since been received from Teheran, by the 

 Minister of Commerce, that there would be a better chance of success 

 in Persia, and the attention of cultivators is now directed to that coun- 

 try. It appears, however, that several parties have set out on this 

 errand from Constantinople, but have been deterred from proceeding 

 by information which they obtained at Tiflis. The opinion seems to 

 be that interested speculators in silk have managed, for their own 

 interest, to prevent the French agents from obtaining a supply of the 

 eggs. Be that as it may, it is certain that the trade in silkworm eggs 

 is but little developed, although the demand is very great in Europe, 

 and in spite of the success which has attended the importations which 

 have been made from China. The cultivation of silk is carried on in 

 five provinces of Persia, Meshed, Yezd, Cachan, Mazenderan, and 

 Ghilan, but the quantity and quality differ greatly. The worms obtain 



