mo 



I December, 1908. 



LIVE STOCK. 



PAMPHLET ON EPJ-SILK. 

 By Anukul Chandra Roy. 



(Translation from Bengali.) 



The writer principally gives sugges- 

 tions regarding the method of rearing 

 Eri worms. He begins with stating the 

 profitableness of the Eri-silk culture. 

 He says formerly Eri cocoons vised 

 to be sold at Rs, 50—60 per maund ; 

 but now they are sold at Rs. 100 — 150 

 per maund ; also pure white cocoons 

 fetch higher prices. The rearing work 

 can be done by the female members 

 of the family without any interference 

 with the household duties. The worms 

 feed only on the leaves of the castor 

 plant, and the seeds can be readily sold 

 in the market. 



Castor plants should be giown about a 

 year before the rearing work is taken in 

 hand. When the castor is ready, a 

 bamboo machan with 3 or 4 shelves is to 

 be prepared in a room or verandah, when 

 it is proposed to carry on the work on a 

 small scale ; when a large number of 

 worms is meant to be reared, a separate 

 house has to be built. A few bamboo 

 trays and baskets are to be secured. 

 The trays, baskets and shelves are to be 

 washed with a one per cent, solution 

 of copper sulphate. Ants, birds, frogs 

 and wasps are great enemies of the 

 worms. In order to prevent these a 

 fence is necessary round the machan ; 

 also the following compound is to be 

 painted round the bases of the posts of 

 the machan. 



Castor nil 1 seer ) Boil and then add 3040 



RSn i slli r dr °p s of the milk y 



Kesin , seei , J ■ uice of C alotropis. 



After these are ready, eggs can be got 

 from Assam ; or some seed cocoons can 

 be got and eggs secured from the moths 

 which will emerge. The eggs are to be 

 dipped in the copper sulphate solution, 

 dried in the shade and then kept spread 

 for hatching. They will begin to hatch 

 in"8 or 10 ( days in winter and earlier in 

 summer. 



The young worms soon crawl up to 

 the tender leaves of castor which are to 

 be placed on them at noon, and can be 

 easily transferred to a separate tray. 

 The worms of the first day are to be 

 placed on the lowest or highest shelf, 

 and those of the next three days (collected 

 every day at noon) on the next higher 

 or lower shelves in oider. The eggs can 

 be thrown away after the fourth day, as 

 by that time all will have hatched. Until 

 the worms are about one inch long, young 



leaves are to be cut into small pieces and 

 supplied as food. In order to bring up 

 the worms of the different dates to an 

 equal growth, the worms of the first day 

 are to be fed three times a day, those of 

 the second day four times, and those of 

 the third and fourth days five times a 

 day. After four or five days all the 

 worms will be found to be of an equal 

 size, and they can then be mixed to- 

 gether. They are to be fed five times 

 during the day and night— at 6 a.m., 

 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m.— until 

 they are ready to spin cocoons. Every 

 day the trays are to be cleaned. The 

 worms moult four times and should not 

 be given food while they are moulting ; 

 also they should not be fed with wet oc 

 dusty leaves. They spin cocoons in 

 about fifteen to twenty days in summer 

 and in about twenty-five to thirty days 

 in winter. They can be made to prepare 

 cocoons either (1) in the small chambers 

 of a chandraki specially made, or (2) in 

 the angles formed by two or three 

 sticks tied in the middle in a branching 

 manner, or (3) in a mass of dry plantain 

 leaves or papers. After three days the 

 cocoons are to be picked out and kept in 

 a basket. The moths are to be allowed 

 to escape from the cocoons. 



For seed those cocoons should be selected 

 which are (1) white, (2) big, and (3) formed 

 by the most active and restless worms. 



The cocoons are boiled in ashes and 

 water or in a solution of washing soda. 

 They are then washed with cold water 

 and dried ; and then carded and spun 

 into thread like cotton lint. 



[The above has been supplied by 

 Mr. N. N. Baneji, Personal Assistant to 

 the Officiating Director of Agriculture, 

 Bengal, as a rough translation of Mr. 

 A. C. Roy's Pamphlet on Eri-silk culture. 

 - Secy., C. A. S.] 



RATS AND AGRICULTURE. 



Lessons of the Danish Rat War. 



(Special for Indian Agrictdturist 

 by W. N. Boelter.) 

 Rats are the farmer's acorn enemies ; 

 they raid his pantry and store cupboards • 

 steal his eggs and kill chickens and duck- 

 lings ; eat his corn in the granary, in the 

 field, or even out of the manger ; devour 

 potatoes and turnips by the ton ; poach 

 young rabbits and pheasants ; eat insect- 

 destroying birds, and their eggs, thereby 

 reprieving innumerable farm and garden 

 pests ; riddle his stacks ; undermine his 



