Supph77ient  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculhmst.” 
[Sept.  1,  1896. 
210 
to  their  size  and  estimated  ultimate  weight.  The 
ties  should  be  about  an  inch  apart  so  us  to  give 
full  support  and  prevent  the  shoulders  from  be- 
ing broken  off  (when  the  berries  swell  and  gain 
weight)  where  the  tying  material  is  fa.stened. 
Should  the  bunches  be  large,  the  second  tier  of 
shoulders  must  be  tied  up  in  a line  willi  the 
centres  of  the  angles  formed  by  tho-e  above,  and 
so  on  until  the  bottom  is  nearly  approaclieth 
This  tying  up  which  is  only  required  in  large  bun- 
ches is  the  most  tedious  part  of  the  w«rk, 
.Commence  thinning  the  berries  from  the  base, 
gradually  working  up  to  the  top,  and  cut  away 
all  the  smaller  and  inner  ones  until  the  berries 
left  are  about  an  inch  aj)art,  wdiich,  in  most  cases, 
wiU  be  found  to  be  about  the  right  distance  10 
allow  for  the  full  developement  of  the  berries. 
Great  care  must  be  exercised  in  guiding  tlie 
scissors,  so  that  the  points  do  not  prick  the  fruit, 
and  the  central  berry  of  each  small  cluster  must 
be  caiefully  preserved.  At  the  lower  part  of  tlie 
bunch  this  is  generally  the  only  one  necessary  to 
leave.  The  thin  smooth  stick  may  be  used  with  the 
one  hand  to  steady  the  bunch,  while  the  other 
guides  the  scissors  in  cutting  out  the  berries.  It 
is  better  not  to  touch  the  berries  at  all  with  the 
hand. 
If  the  vines  are  weak,  or  it  the  bunches  have 
set  too  thick,  the  bunches  will  also  require  to  be 
thinned.  If  the  Vine  is  healthy  about  1 lb.  of  fruit 
may  be  left  to  each  foot-run  of  rod. 
In  England,  where  grapes  are  grown  largely 
for  market,  the  thinning  of  the  fruit  often  makes 
the  difference  between  a paying  and  non-paying 
crop,  especially  in  a wet  season  when  an  extra 
thinning  is  beneticial,  as  itcr.usi's  tlieair  to  circulale 
among  the  berries  and  allows  water  to  i)ass  off 
without  lodging  and  causing  decay,  as  it  would  do 
if  the  bellies  weie  pressing  hard  on  one  another. 
W.  i\OCK. 
SEKICULTUEE. 
Before  giving  a short  account  of  some  of  the 
better  wild  silks  in  India,  it  w'ould  be  well 
to  mention  that  experiments  have  been  carried 
on  in  Ceylon  from  time  to  time  both  in  raising 
the  wild  silkworm  as  well  as  the  dome>ticated 
varieties.  But  these  e.xperiments  it  would  appear 
have  not  been  followed  with  any  ajipreciable  success. 
Dr.  J.  L.  Vanderstraaten,  in  a paper  contributed 
by  him  to  the  Journal  of  the  Ceylon  Branch 
of  the  Eoyal  Asiatic  .Society  in  1881,  makes 
mention  of  some  of  these  attempt.--.  So  far 
back  as  1663  it  appears  from  Valentyn’s  History 
of  Ceylon,  that  “iu  Jaffnapatam  experiments 
are  made  to  nourish  the  silk-worm  and  obtain  by 
it  a source  of  livelihood.  Mulberry  trees  have 
been  iilanted  here  and  in  many  other  places,  and 
they  appear  to  thrive  well.  In  January  and 
February  worms  are  transported  from  Jaffna,  and 
other  small  insects  can  be  collected  here.  These 
are  occupations  which  are  interesting  and  can  be 
undertaken  with  little  pains  and  at  small  cost.” 
Ur.  Vanderstni'jteu  also  gives  extracts  from 
other  works  on  Ceylon  which  have  reference  to 
Sericulture.  In  March,  1740,  Governor  Van 
Imhoff  left  the  following  memorandum  on  silk. 
“Silk  has  not  been  so  successful  as  we  anticipated 
when  we  began  to  grow  it  here.”  It  is  also  men- 
tioreil  that  on  the  site  of  the  village  now  known 
as  Sedawatto,  the  first  experiment  in  Seri- 
culture was  made  by  the  Portuguese.  The 
name  .Sedawatte  meins  silk  garden.  Later 
on  in  1879  Eev.  Father  Palla  of  the  Eoman 
Catholic  .Mission  made  attempts  to  raise  the  mul- 
berry silkworm  at  Galle.  In  November,  1879, 
Father  Palla  a])plied  to  His  Excellency  the 
Governor,  Sir  J.  E.  Longden,  to  use  his  inliuence 
in  obtaining  a supply  of  eggs  from  China  or 
Japan.  In  December,  1880,  the  first  supply  was 
received  from  Yeddo  and  handed  to  Father 
Palla.  They  began  to  hatch  a few  days  after 
they  were  exposed  to  the  air  iu  a ventilated  room. 
The  caterpillars  were)kept  in  little  paper  boxes 
containing  tender  mulberry  leaves. 
The  late  Jlr.  Geddes,  who  was  the  Editor  of  the 
Catholic  Meifsenyer,  carried  on  experiments  in 
raising  silk-worms  at  his  garden  at  Parratte  in 
Moratuwa.  It  appe.ars  from  a letter  which  is 
published  in  the  Hoyal  Asiatic  Society’s  Jour- 
nal already  referred  to,  that  he  succeeded  in 
obtaining  silk  from  cultivated  as  well  as  wild 
varieties,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  under- 
taking was  a commercial  success. 
1 have  already  noted  in  my  previous  paper 
that  the  three  important  varieties  of  wild  Indian 
silks  are  the  Tusser,  the  Muga,  and  the  Eri 
worms. 
7'he  Tusser  silk-worm  is  the  most  important 
of  the  Indian  wild  silks;  it  occurs  in  the  forests 
of  the  lower  plains.  The  Tusser  goes  through 
its  metamorphosis  twice  a year.  The  worms  hutch 
out  from  the  eggs  about  the  ninth  day.  They  live 
and  feed  for  from  thirty  to  forty  days  jiassiug 
through  five  moults  at  intervals  of  from  five  to 
eight  days.  After  twenty-one  days  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  spinning  of  the  cocoons  the 
moths  come  out.  The  cocoons  are  very  compact 
containing  a large  amount  of  coarse  buff-coloured 
silk.  They  aie  often  of  a very  large  size 
attaining  nearly  2^  inches  in  length  and  1^  inches 
in  diameter.  Dr,  Watts,  in  his  Dictionary  of 
Economic  Products  of  India,  gives  a list  of  the 
])rincij)Ml  trees  on  which  this  worm  feeds,  and 
among  others  he  mentions: — 
Jiassiu  latifolia  ver.  Mahawa,  a tree  closely 
allied  to  the  Siidialese  Mi. 
Jiomba.v  malabaricvm,  Sing.  Katu  Imbul. 
Carcya  arborea,  Sing.  Kahata. 
Celastrus  paniculatn,  Sing.  Duhudu 
Chloro.vylon  swietenia,  Sing.  Buruta. 
Euyenia  jambolana,  Sing,  Maha-dan 
T'iciis  reliyiosa,  Bo. 
Layerstrcemia  indica  and  L.  parviflora,  Sing. 
Muruta. 
Jlicinus  communis,  Sing.  Endaru. 
Shorea  robusta,  Sal. 
Tectona  yrandis,  Sing.  Tdkka. 
Terminalia  balerica,  Sing.  Hulu. 
7'.  catayya,  Sing.  Ivottamba. 
Zizyjdius  jujuba,  Sing.  Masan. 
Mr.  Geddes  in  a letter  regarding  this  experience 
of  tlie  Tusser  silk-worm  at  Moratuwa,  mentions 
that  the  worm  also  feeds  on  Kaju  {Anacardium 
occidcntale),  Weralu  (Kleocaryus  serratus),  Am. 
Another  plant  which  he  mentions  ns  Katakaluica 
must  be  the  Sing.  Bovitya  f Mela-'-foma  mala- 
bathricum). 
W.  A.  D.  S. 
(To  be  con t inn''  ',' 
