THE AILANTHUS TREE AND SILK WORM.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 914, 4 February 1868, Page 3

THE AILANTHUS TREE AND SILK W ORM.

[From the Australasian.] Most of our readers will be inclined to say, what is the ailanthus and its silkworm, and what does its successful introduction matter ? We think that it matters a good deal, and therefore wish to say a few words about the tree and the tissue to be produced from it. It is not for the first time that the thing has come before the notice of that section of the Australian public which is alive to the necessity of increasing the resources of the country. Three years ago, Mrs. Davenport, the wife of that accomplished gentleman, the Hon. W. S. Davenport, who has done so much towards introducing new ideas among the agriculturists of South Australia, succeeded in transporting the eggs safe and sound across the difficult trial of the Line, but the few which hatched out came to nothing, and the experiments for a time came to a standstill. The second attempt, however, (in Queensland) has been thoroughly successful. It is rather remarkable how very rapidly the experiments, successful or unsuccessful, have been pushed. It is just ten years ago since the ailanthus was h'rst brought into France from Japan. At that time, a dreadful disease, amounting to a plague, was decimating the silkworms. The silk-trade is, to the south of France, of more consequence than gold mining to Victoria, the value of the one being to the other as 4 to 3, and considering the difference of the manner of living of the inhabitants, it is in its economical results as 3to 1. If the silk-growing came to a stop, above four millions of Frenchmen would have been thrown out of employment. It was, therefore, urgently necessary to find a substitute. Several innovations were tried, but the only one which has held its ground has been the ailanthus. It was found (the tree, that is) to be so hardy, so easy of growth, thriving so readily on very indifferent soil — where, in fact little else would grow — that anailanthus plantation became the fashion. The insect, it was found, gave as little trouble as the tree. It did not want to be looked after, because it looked after itself. So, as we have said, it rooted itself in France pretty firmly, and is steadily spreading ; while Lady Dorothy Neville has transplanted it into England, successfully. The ailanthus tree requires little notice. All that is to be said of it is in its praise. It is a showy, vigorous tree, which, if it were good for nothing else, is always ornamental. It grows in Australia with great facility, and is obtainable in any quantities. A considerable number are, or were, to be found at Sydney on the North Head road, and about Melbourne it can be obtained to order iv any quantities. Left to itself, it grows into a rather short and bushy tree ; but for silk-growing, it is best cut closely down into a hedge. It makes a first-rate one for keeping out stock, and by keeping it in this form the insect feed on it is most easily managed.

The ailantine silk-worm (Bombyx cynthia) is as hardy as the tree that it feeds on. It produces two broods every year, while the common silk-worm has only one. The process of rearing it, if such it may be called, as it rears itself, is very simple. The egg commonly hatches out from the eighth to tho twelfth day at a temperature of from 75 deg. to 80 deg. Fahr. During the first week of its short life it is bestkept indoors, in trays or boxes, like the common silk-worm, and fed with the ailantlius leaf and no other, at about seven a.m. and four p.m. This is the only time when it gives any trouble. As it is, unlike the common silkworm, remarkably restless, the trays should be kept covered, with air holes in the tops and sides. After the first week, so prodigiously rapid is its growth, it can be unceremoniously turned loose upon the ailanthus hedge, and requires no further care. Eain and storm have no effect upon it. It sticks so firmly to the leaf that it is impossible to wash it oft, and it gives some trouble to remove it with the finger. In its infant state, its chief enemies are the spiders ; afterwards, lizards and birds. A very simple remedy against the two last is to stretch a netting over the hedge, the first cost being the only consideration. At the end of about tho fourth week, the worms begin to spin, and the hedges are speedily loaded with cocoons, which can now be gathered and put into baskets in the ordinary way. Nothing, it will be seen, can be simpler than the above; the whole process requires very little either of capital or trouble ; and if it turn out a failure, next to nothing has been lost. This is its strong point, as compared with ordinary silkgrowing, which involves considerable expense, and a very great amount of care and attention, though only for a period of six weeks. In a, new country, like Australia, where labor is of necessity dear and bad, the rock upon which the sericulture of the ordinary kind is likely to split, is not only the carelessness, but the l'oughness and slovenliness of the work. With the ailanthus silk, this risk is at once removed. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the produce is very inferior in point of quality. As far as strength goes, there is nothing to desire. A dress of ailantine silk is everlasting. It is of this species of silk that the dresses of the middle and lower classes of the Chinese are formed. Speaking, rather at a guess, we should say that if the current price of French and Italian silk be, as it is, about 255. per lb., that from the ailanthus will be from Bs. to 12s. per lb. This Bs. or 125., however, it must be borne in mind, will be, at least two-thirds of it, sheer profit, for the tree will grow where next to nothing else will grow, and the insect takes care of itself.