220 THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
more wasty and loose in thread. The valuable properties of silks are, 
that they be clear in colour, and that the threads be clear, even, and 
elastic. The clearness of the colour is produced by the pureness of the 
atmosphere in which the worm is bred, and the care taken to filature the 
cocoon in a proper situation. The evenness of the thread is dependent 
on the regularity of the number of cocoons used in producing it, and its 
elasticity is acquired by having pure soft water in use, heated to a degree 
somewhat tepid. 
In China they have three kinds of worms; the largest, when fit for 
spinning, is about three inches long, and of a black colour. Three crops 
of a deep yellow coloured silk can be obtained yearly from this species. 
This worm is the most expensive; and four and a half frames thickly set 
with them are sold for two dollars. The worms on these will have 
consumed one hundred and eighty pounds of leaves in their progress, and 
will produce two pounds of pure silk. The cocoon produced by this 
worm is about two and a half inches long, and two in circumference, 
yielding strong sorts of silks used in the manufacture of Chinese broad¬ 
cloths. The second class of worm producing the white silk is extensively 
fed in China. It is smaller than any of the others, and completes its 
stages in twenty days. 
The third kind resembles the common worm of India, but produces 
silk of a strong fibre, and completes its stages in twenty-three days. One 
hundred and eighty pounds of leaves are required to feed seven frames of 
the white worm, and rather more for the third kind. The seven frames 
are bought for a dollar, and will produce about a pound of pure silk. 
From each of the latter kinds, six crops a year can be obtained. From 
the first species the Tusset silk so much used by the Brahmins in Bengal 
is manufactured. It is of course, dark-coloured, and most durable, and 
might be introduced with great advantage into the south of Europe and 
America, where a dress light and cool, yet not costly, is much wanted. 
MR. LAMBERT’S CONVERSAZIONE. 
In the early days of the establishment of the Linnean Society, Sir 
Joseph Banks was in the habit of assembling around him, on stated 
days, all the most celebrated persons connected with botany and the other 
branches of natural history of that time. All newly-discovered plants, 
all important discoveries, and, in short, all that was interesting in these 
most interesting sciences, was there discussed, before it was given to the 
public ; and as it is well known that new ideas are frequently elicited by 
the conversation of persons skilled in similar pursuits, which baffle all 
