21 
transferred themselves to the vines in pots, and twelve cocoons were 
all we obtained from eggs little short of 1500 in number! For so 
signal a failure we must try to account. There may be two causes 
—their natural enemies or the weather. First, the natural enemies. 
In a French work we find, that among the birds we have now it is 
only the Tomtit which takes them, and the period when it does so 
is, when the worm is on the point of spinning; but against this 
enemy, they were protected by netting. It was too early in the 
year for wasps, and therefore we must refer to the little yellow ant, 
an acknowledged enemy of these worms in their infant existence. 
At the time, it had escaped my recollection they were so danger¬ 
ous ; and, even had it been remembered, the insect is so scarce, 
ordinarily, at Sheriff Hutton Park, and the numbers seen were so 
few before we left home, that their appearance caused no appre¬ 
hension. Had we stayed at home their depredations would have 
been noticed and checked. As the trees are protected from birds 
by netting, it is my firm conviction that it is to the yellow ant we 
are chiefly indebted for the failure of the first raising of silkworms 
in 1865. Nevertheless, the drought (which certainly rendered the 
leaves less succulent), in all probability retarded the growth of the 
worms, and left them for a longer time open to the attacks of 
their foes. "We had again twelve cocoons. The moths began to 
emerge on the 14th Sept.; the same care was bestowed, and about 
500 eggs were gathered. They also hatched satisfactorily, and the 
ants being gone, we hoped that this second rearing might be some 
indemnification for the disappointment occasioned by the first. 
2nd Oct.—The trees were still in excellent foliage, and the worms 
seemed for a time to do very well; the weather however became 
very ungenial, and though never so cold as to destroy them, it re¬ 
duced them to an almost torpid condition. 25th.—All that could 
be found were removed to the grape house. Here we tried to raise 
them on Ailantus foliage in water, as well as on the plants in the 
house, but on the latter the leaves had been nearly all devoured, 
and the autumn was rapidly stripping those in the garden. We 
sought about for a substitute for their natural food. Scorzonera, 
mentioned in a French work as having been used with success, 
was refused by the worms. Celery tops were nibbled, but decidedly 
were not relished. Under these untoward circumstances it is not 
surprising that but few of the cocoons of 1865 have been preserved. 
They are very small, but still, such as they are, it is not without 
hope that I look forward to the season of 1866. There is an old 
but encouraging saying, “ a bad beginning makes a good ending.” 
