12. Kiungchow.—The annual production is about 280 plods of raw silk from worms fed on mul herry-leaves. There is also an average yearly production of 120 piculs of gut from a large cater pillar found on a tree growing in the c,entre of the island of Hainan, and supposad to be Liquidambar formosana. The export of raw silk in 1879 was 230 piculs.
13. Palchoh—The " gut "-yielding worm largely frequents the Liquidambar trees in this neigh bourhood.
Our imports from China of raw silk fell from 4,984,800 lb. in 1876, to 3,165,935 lb. in 1880 ; while knuhs, husks, and waste rose from 10,936 cwt. in 1877, to 31,402 cwt. in 1880. The approxi mate London market values of Chinese raw silks are :-16-19s. a lb. for Teatlee No. 3, 11-16s. for Nos. 4, 5, &c., 9-188. for Taysaam, and 10-16s. for Canton.
Italy.—Preference is given to the white mulberry (Morus alba) both in Italy and France for feeding silkworms. Great care is generally taken in carrying out l'astcur's method of microseopio selection of the moths in all largo establishments. As to the yield of the different breeds, 1 oz. Japanoso grain gives 35-45 lb. green cocoons ; 1 oz. Japanese reproduced in Italy, 85-95 lb. green ; 1 oz. Italian green, 130 lb. yellow ; 1 oz. French striped (Var), 78 lb. nankin ; 1 oz. Roussillon, maximum 175-190 lb. roseate-yellow. In 1879, about 80,000 cards of grain were huported from Japan, about 10 per cent. remaining unsold. In many districts, the cultivation of Japanese grain is almost nil, attention being exclusively paid to Italian grain yiehling yellow cocoons giving a satisfactory product. In Lombardy, iu 1879, a large proportion of the grain cultivated con sisted of reproductions of green and crossed white and green Japanese.breeds, while experiments on an augmented scale were made in cultivating the native yellow grain. In Piedmont, a certain quantity of grain imported from France and producing yellow cocoons was cultivated in addition to the Japanese varieties. In Venetia, the larger portion of the yield was composed of imported Japanese grain and Italian reproductions, the native grain forming but a small item. In Emilia, the yield was native and Japanese, either imported or reproduced in Italy. In Tuscany and the
Marche, the bulk of the yield was from native grain giving yellow cocoons. The total yield of cocoons in Italy in 1879 was as follows :— Of this total, about 5i million kilo. of cocoons were yellow, and 13i million green. The produc tion of raw silk was computed at 499,938 kilo. yellow, and 960,052 green. The exports from Naples in 1879 were 8753 kilo. of cocoons, 698 of raw silk, and 26,476 of waste ; the values of the silk exports were 6286/. to Great Britain, 19,612/. to France, 440/. to Germany, 515/. to Turkey and Egypt, and 518/. to other countries. Our imports of raw silk from Italy fell fiem 24,552 lb. in 1876, to 36 lb. in 1877, and recovered to 36,643 lb. in 1880; of waste, knubs, and husks, from 155 cwt. in 1876, to 0 in 1878, and 84 cwt. in 1880. The approximate London market values of Italian silks are 24-26s. a lb. for Novi raw white, 22-28s. for Milan thrown, and 25-30s. for Piedmont thrown.
France.—The number of silk growers in France in 1874 was 198,043, 64,957 of these being on a large scale. Yet while France exported only 4,737,000 kilo. of raw and waste silk in 1879, she im ported in the same year 10,889,000 kilo. The production is almost exclusively from cultivated worms fed on mulberry-leaves, but attention is being gradually given to the introduced ailanthus -worm. There has hitherto been great difficulty in rearing the silk-worms Attacus Yama-mai and A. Pernyi, and other species feeding on oak-leaves, in Europe, on account of the early date at which the leaves are required. Much importance is therefore attached to the introduction of Quercus Mirbeckii from Algeria into S. France, as this species (or variety) develops its leaves in March, being fully a month in advance of all French oaks. Calais, in 1879, exported 1832 kilo. of raw and thrown, and 1769 of waste silk. Our imports from France of recent years have seen the following fluctuations :—Raw rose from 242,706 lb. in 1876, to 566,522 in 1877, and fell to 81,361 in 1880; -waste, knubs, and huske fell from 9323 cwt. in 1876, to 6514 in 1877, and recovered to 14,169 in 1880 ; thrown fell froin 144,660 lb. in 1876, to 32,033 in 1878, and reached 192,932 in 1880.