CULTURE OF SILK.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2016, 21 October 1869, Page 2

CULTURE OF SILK.

The following letter, with enclosure, from Mr T. C. Batchelor, of Nelson, on the subject of the culture of silkworms, was published in the JS T tw Zealand Gazette: — “ Nelson, 27th August, 1869. “ Sir, —In consequence of the steps taken by the Silk Society of Great Britain for the encouragement of Sericulture in the Colonies, has induced me to forward the enclosed circular of my proceedings in Sericulture for general information; and should you consider the culture of silk ef any worth to New Zealand, I should feel most happy to render any information in my power as to silkworms and mulberry trees, the more especially as per next mail I shall be in direct communication with the above Society. —I remain, &c., “T. C, Batchelor. “ The Hon. W>Fox.” ' “ Wakapuaka, 17th March, 1569. ‘ ; Sir—l will thank you to bring under the notice of the Acclimatisation Society the following particulars concerning my attempt at cultivating the silkworm in this Province, which I have reasons for believing possess some interest. Of my previous labour little need be said, beyond that for three seasons cocoons have all been obtained frcm worms fed upon the broad leaved Tuscan mulberry. “I commenced hatching the worms last season on the Ist of November, and the greater portion were in cocoons by the end of January, which was from ten to fifteen days over the proper time. The number of worms hatched was above 3,000, and the time occupied in feeding and otherwise tending them I estimate at two hours daily. Were a person during the season to devote his whole time to sericulture, after a little experience and with proper appliances, the number of worms he could attend to would be almost incredible. “Through ignorance of the quantity of food the worms would consume I did not attempt a succession of hatchings, but I found my trees would have fed a second lot; and with a greater number of trees, four if not five hatchings of worms might be fed in a season. In Persia, it is not uncommon to raise eight or even ten lots of worms in a summer. In Italy and the South of France, the number is five or six ; and in St. Petersburg, short as the summer is, four hatchings of worms have been obtained. As the mulberry flourishes remarkably well here, I see no reason why sericulture should not be quite as successful in Nelson as in France or Italy ; and, as the worms are fed indoors, artificial heat could be supplied if necessary. In several of the States of America sericulture is becoming a common industry, one person keeping a million worms, and purposing to double the number as soon as he can raise sufficient food for the increase. £|ln a communication I made some time ago to one of the local newspapers, I over-esti-mated,, the number of trees required to feed a given number of worms. I have now twenty mulberry trees five years pld, and frqm thg manner they stood stripping this past season I am satisfied I could nave fed three times the number of worms I did, by extending time and labor. 1 had also stated that after the trees had been planted three years, Lls per annum might be netted for every acre of ground planted with the mulberry. This was taking the price of raw silk at 20s per lb , but the price has since risen to 70s per lb., so that something like LSO a year might be got from an acre of mulberry trees. Once the trees are planted they require little trouble, and each year their value increases, as the silk improves with the age of the trees the worms are fed upon. “A parcel of cocoons weighing two pounds, raised by me last seas-n, -will be taken to England by J. R. Dodson, Esq., who will hand it to J. Morrison, Esq., London agent for New Zealand. A letter from his Honor the Superintendent will accompany the parcel, requesting Mr Morrison to submit the cocoons to the trade, ascertain the value of silk, and transmit back to his Honor alt the information he can obtain concerning seri : culture ip general, and the best kind of worms to be used. “ I may observe that I have kept a stock for supplying me with eggs next summer, “ I remain, &c,, “T. C. Batchelor. “ To F. Huddlestone, Esq., “Hon. Secretary of the “Nelson Acclimatization Society.”