December is, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 545 
file upon the floor around the central stage, where they remain till 
the flowers fade, aud then as soon as enough cuttings are secured 
for the next season the old plants are thrown away. 
The cuttings are inserted singly in small pots filled with rich 
loam, and are placed in a cold frame from which frost is excluded 
by a covering of litter in severe weather, but light and air are given 
on every favourable opportunity. They make roots slowly hut 
surely, very few ever failing; and when the roots reach the sides 
of the pots the plants are shifted into larger pots, care being 
taken to supply water when necessary, and to expose them to the 
air as much as possible. As the weather grows warm they are 
again shifted into the large pots in which they are to flower, and 
are stood out of doors upon a hard level space near a sewage 
pump. Henceforward throughout summer and autumn sewage is 
their daily fare, poured into the pots with no sparing hand, for 
the drainage is carefully done, and so long as that acts well there 
is no risk of over-waterin?. The Chrysanthemum is as great a 
glutton as the Rose, revelling in rich food, and starving without 
it. Somebody wrote quite recently that the production of fine 
Chrysanthemum flowers was a difficult matter, understood only 
by a favoured few. But here is the mystery knocked on the head 
by the handle of our sewage pump ; let it not presume to thrust 
itself into the way of plain people again. 
Stakes are employed for the plants when required, but no pinch¬ 
ing is practised. The plant generally breaks naturally into two or 
three leading shoots, which are tied loosely to the stakes, and all 
lateral growth is kept under. They attain a height of 7 or 8 feet, 
stems and foliage all being worthy of the sewage. So, too, are 
the huge flowers by which they are eventually crowned. Care is 
taken to disbud as early as possible, the central bud only being 
retained upon each of the shoots which spring from the end of 
each stem.— Edward Luckuurst. 
SILKWORMS AND SILKWORM-REARING.—3. 
It is with some people a favourite subject, not particularly 
pleasant to others, though it may prove in the long run occa¬ 
sionally useful, how much is lost or wasted year by year that 
might be turned to good account. In one of the papers published 
by the Silk Supply Association there appears the statement that 
in the vicinity of London are about thirty thousand Mulberries, 
from which, by judicious rearing of silkworms, there might be 
obtained 10,000 lbs. of silk annually. Granted the Mulberry 
trees, I doubt much whether, under the most promising circum¬ 
stances, such a quantity of silk could be thus obtained near London 
from silkworms if kept on a sufficiently large scale. But I am 
tolerably well acquainted with our London suburbs, and do not 
believe there is anything like that number of Mulberries now 
growing, old trees or young. Some have been planted in various 
localities, very seldom, however, in lines or groups ; yet many 
trees have disappeared that were formerly well known owing to 
the growth of the metropolis. Chelsea Park retains none of its 
old Mulberries, I believe ; nor would it be of any use to seek for 
remnants of the Mulberry Garden at Pimlico. We may hope 
that before the end of the present century many more Mulberries 
will be planted about London and throughout England ; for though 
attempts have been made to rear silkworms upon other food, the 
Mulberry is manifestly the species in every way best adapted 
for feeding them upon with satisfactory results. It is in the 
hands of our gardeners to encourage the culture of the Mulberry, 
not only as a fruit-bearer, but as supplying leaves for silkworms, 
and I venture to think they have a degree of interest in whatever 
may tend to cheapen silk. Gardening pursuits are not, on the whole, 
unhealthy, still they expose many persons to chills from changes 
of temperature and contact with damp earth. Flannel as a pro¬ 
tective against cold and rheumatism has, in some instances, been 
proved to be inferior to silk under garments, which do not induce 
perspiratioD, but at present they are rather expensive. Perhaps 
the day may arrive when to some of our nursery gardens there 
will be attached a silkworm house, the product being reeled on 
the premises, and, if not supplying an additional source of in¬ 
come, at least furnishing silk textures to the proprietor and his 
friends. 
Before considering the common silkworm in its aspect as a 
“ domesticated animal,” if one may so style it, the structure and 
natural habits of the species call for some brief remarks. In this 
Bombyx Mori we have none of those bright colours during any of 
its stages which please the eye in other insects of the group. The 
moths are of a dull white, shading into grey, with a few faintly 
defined bands across the wings. These, as we know the species, 
are never used for the purpose of flight; the moths show also little 
inclination even to crawl about. No native moth of Britain is 
quite so sluggish as B. Mori, yet probably in its original haunts 
and in a different climate its habits may be more lively. These 
moths eat nothing, for a very good reason—they have no organs to 
bite or suck with, and their sole duty is to continue their race ; 
the life of the males being the shorter, their companions dying as 
soon as they have deposited their eggs. This is generally within 
a week after the moths have come forth, though the females may 
be kept alive longer if they are prevented from following the 
natural process of egg-laying, for, as entomologists know, all 
female insects have a strong vitality until that business has been 
accomplished. The number laid by each moth is variable, seldom 
less than three hundred, and they are neither piled up nor 
scattered, but placed side by side with careful regularity all by 
the sense of touch, for the moth never turns her head to see what 
progress she is making. 
In our country there is only an annual brood of this silkwerm, 
the young larvas or caterpillars emerging from the eggs during 
the spring, the date depending upon the season, and they appear 
in rapid succession. The newly-hatched caterpillars are of a 
dusky brown hue and hairy, having a horn or appendage above 
the anus, which, like the colour of the body, undergoes changes, 
until after the last moult it generally resembles a ridge or hump. 
Between the time of hatching and the period of maturity four 
moults occur, which divide the life of a silkworm into five ages. 
A rather perilous poition of its life is 
the few days before the first moult, for 
it is then small in size, and, eating but 
little, has not gained much strength. 
Having cast its skin the silkworm is 
lighter in colour, less hairy, and shows 
traces of the crescent-shaped marks, 
which are subsequently very distinct 
on the second and fifth segments. The 
next moult leaves the silkworm hair¬ 
less and almost white : it has now be¬ 
come about an inch in length and more 
plump. Between the moults there is 
an interval of six or 6even days, so that 
the caterpillar is a month old on the 
average when it reaches the fourth or 
last moult, which is followed by a 
great increase of size during the re¬ 
maining nine days or so of its exist¬ 
ence in this stage, when it eats so in¬ 
cessantly as to consume many times 
its own weight in leaves, and gradu¬ 
ally becomes transparent. In fact, to 
the eaters of caterpillars (for such 
there are), the adult silkworm pre¬ 
sents a tempting-looking morsel, su¬ 
perior, I should say, to the co&sius upon 
which the Romans of old are said to 
have feasted. 
Taking a silkworm for examination 
when of some size, we perceive the body 
is composed of thirteen segments, the 
head counting as the first. This head 
is horny, and has an upper lip curiously 
hollowed to receive the edge of a leaf, 
which is held by it while the jaws cut 
off slices, which are pushed towards 
the opening by two little appendages 
called the “ palpi.” An under lip 
closes the mouth, and this has in it a 
small orifice from which the silken 
thread is drawn by the caterpillar. 
There are six jointed legs, which are 
also found in the moth, and ten mem¬ 
branous legs or claspers, which belong 
to the caterpillar only. On the sides 
of the body is a double row of breath¬ 
ing pores. 
At each of the four moults every 
part of the exterior of a silkworm de- 
velopes a new covering beneath the 
old one, which is then cast off by 
means of a liquid which oozes be¬ 
tween the two coats. While this 
change is in progress the creature 
remains motionless, seemingly in a 
condition of sleep, and quits its food 
for a day or two. It is injurious to 
the silkworm to be disturbed at these 
periods. In order, as far as possible, 
to preserve itself from dislodgement 
and annoyance, it spins threads across 
