168 
EOTAL HORTICITLTUBAL SOCIETY. 
That the capsule of the indubitably true L. damrictm did not 
develop itself to ripeness, might be urged likewise in support of 
this objection. 
Whether the L. hulhiferum was a mongrel, can only be ascer- 
tained by experiments with plants known to be true. But the 
fact that L. davuricum, the purity of whose pedigree cannot be 
doubted, had a capsule of the form of that of L. hulhiferum, 
seems to me to best meet the objection, and to show that in this 
case the influence of the pollen on the fruit stands established. . 
XIX. On Sericiculture in Canterbury, New Zealand. 
By "William Swale. 
Since the introduction here of seeds of Ailanthus glmdulosus, 
(about the year 1862) — which germinated very freely on their 
arrival from England, when sown in the oldest-established nursery 
of Canterbury — it has become a question whether it might not 
be utilized for sericiculture. Out of the original seed-bed I 
purchased 50 seedlings, from about 6 to 9 inches high, and planted 
them around my botanic garden amongst other trees of much 
larger size for shelter. I have been very successful as regards its 
growth. Young shoots of this last summer's growth, many of 
them, are 3^ to 4 feet in length; and its large pinnate leaves 
are more like fronds of our tree ferns than any thing I know of, 
when in full growth. These monstrous growths of this beau- 
tiful pinnate-leaved tree are generally made during midsummer ; 
and the young shoots, the result of this quick growth, appear 
quite gouty, and generally die down a foot or more during the 
winter. Generally in spring the buds are blackened three or four 
times by our late spring frosts ; hence, probably, such rapid growth 
when safe from frost. 
This tree, quite an infant here yet, is now making a bit of a 
stir among our old settlers that possess a little capital, to turn 
one from Corsica collected by Mabille. This, Mr, Baker assures me, is indubi- 
tably the true plant. The capsule, however, almost precisely accords with that 
attributed by Maximowicz to L. davuricum. This, so far, weakens the case as 
far as L. hulhiferum is concerned, and confirms what the author himself states 
above ; it leaves, however, matters unaffected with respect to L. davuricum. — 
Tr.] 
