RESOLUTIONS OP JOINT COMMITTEE ON COLONIAL INDUSTRIES.

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G.—No. I4 r

two acres with mulberry trees without delay, as I felt satisfied that the Government and the House of Representatives would, after reading so valuable a report, render me some pecuniary aid and thereby give me the much wished for opportunity of testing the commercial value of sericulture as an industry in New Zealand. In tho report presented to the House of Representatives by the Joint Committee of both Houses on Native Industry, it states that I am to receive £50 for each acre planted with mulberry trees up to five acres. I therefore beg to say that I have planted two acres of land with 800 mulberry trees as a plantation, and that I shall be prepared by next year to complete the five acres. I have received from Europe a number of mulberry trees, consisting of five different sorts, some of which are recommended for steep hill-sides, producing a large amount of foliage, valuable for silk culture, or reclaiming poor land. I am glad to state that I have good reason to believe that sericulture will be warmly taken up by our German settlers, as I have received several applications respecting the procuring of trees, eggs, Ac. As far as trees are required, my having partly agreed for a large supply next season, that want will, I hope, be met. His Honor the Superintendent informed me that the General Government had sent to California for a supply of eggs. I should be glad to hear more on this point. In the meantime the Provincial Government have sent to Sydney for some eggs from silkworms recently imported from Europe. Sincerely thanking the General Government for their liberal views on native industry, and sericulture in particular, I have, Ac, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. T. C. Batchelor.

No. 9. Mr. Cooper to Mr. Batchelor. Sir, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 31st October, 1870. I am directed by Mr. Gisborne to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th ultimo, and to state that, in pursuance of the recommendation of the Colonial Industries Committee, and in consideration of the special efforts made by you in the promotion of sericulture, the Government will, on the certificate produced by you, of the Provincial Secretary at Nelson, that you have planted two acres with about 800 mulberry (multicaulis) trees, at once grant you as aid in the prosecution of your advancement of that industry the sum of £100. For the next three acres similarly planted by you, the Government will give you three-fourths of the vote of £50 per acre when the planting is completed, and the remaining one-fourth of that rate per acre at the end of two years from the date of such planting, during which the plantation is to be kept under good cultivation. You will be good enough to furnish to the Government a full report showing the expense incurred in every step of the experiment, its progress, and the results obtained. The Government also rely on you to give the Acclimatization Societies in the different Provinces every information and aid in your power to secure the cultivation of the proper kind of mulberry tree, and otherwise to promote the silk industry. Mr. Gisborne has authorized the further payment to you of £5, in part defrayal of the expense which you have incurred in your visit to Wellington for the purpose of personally representing to the members of the Government what you had already done in this matter, and of laying before them your suggestions and advice in respect of it. I have, Ac, T. C. Batchelor, Esq. __________________ G- S- Cooper.

No. 10. Dr. Hector to Mr. Batchelor. Sir, — Colonial Museum, Wellington, 20th January, 1871. By direction of the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, I beg to forward to you by this day's mail a case containing eight cards of four choice varieties of silkworm eggs, such as are not usually sold to foreigners, which have been received through the courtesy of the Acclimatization Society of New South Wales, from Sir Henry Parkes, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Japan. You will be good enough to report if these eggs reach you in good order, and use your best endeavours to rear them successfully, preserving specimens of the cocoons forwarded, for comparison and valuation. It is very desirable that the production of eggs should be tested from this consignment, not only for distribution in this Colony, but also for the purpose of trying even on a limited scale, the experiment of transmitting eggs from this country to Europe. By taking advantage of the alternation of the seasons, I think that eggs sent by the San Francisco mail, at the close of our summer, say in March, would arrive in time for the European mulberry season, and so escape the long period of dormancy ; but whether this will have a beneficial effect or the reverse, requires to be tested by experiments. I have, Ac, Mr. Batchelor, Nelson. James Hector.

No. 11. Mr. Batchelor to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sic,— Nelson, 14th July, 1871. I beg to inform you that I have completed the planting of three acres with 1,260 mulberry trees this present season, including the two acres of 800 trees planted last season, making the five