double brooded, and may be reared by any one possessed of a few acres
of land, which may be good enough for growing ailanthus trees, but
not good enough to grow any thing else. The labor of a few old men,
or women, or even children, is sufficient for the purpose. The cost is
therefore trifling.

The objection to the cultivation of _Cynthia_ is that the cocoon
cannot be reeled. But it can be carded, and if the Chinese can make
excellent silk goods from it, why cannot we? I suspect, too, that
_Cynthia_ silk can be worked in with cotton, or, perhaps, woolen
goods, adding to their beauty and durability (for it is indestructible
in wear), and thus open up branches of manufacture hitherto unknown.

For manufacturers of coarse goods, I have no doubt that the silk
from our native silk moths, _Cecropia_ and _Polyphemus_, may be used.
Indeed, I believe that M. Trouvelot is of opinion that _Polyphemus_
may fairly enter into competition with _Bombyx mori_, the ordinary
mulberry silkworm. The worm, however, is rather difficult to rear.

In reference, however, to _Bombyx mori_, it is well known that the
silk crop in France and Italy has been reduced greatly, and the price
of silk goods consequently enhanced, by prevalence of disease among
the worms. So much is this the case, that silk breeders have been
obliged to look around for some silk-producing moths whose products
may, at any rate, supplement the deficient crop. _Cynthia_, as already
mentioned as one of these, and two others mentioned by Warren in the
_Tribune_ reports above adverted to, are at present the subjects of
experiment.

My article mentioned before as appearing in the _American
Entomologist_ is mainly devoted to my experiments, and those of my
correspondents, with _Yamamai_, which, as I said before, is an oak
feeder. In Japan, which is its native country, it feeds, in its wild
state, on _Quercus serrata_. Whether that oak be found in America, I
do not know, but it is of little importance, as the worm will feed on
almost any species of oak, although I think that it prefers white oak.
The importance of acclimatizing new species of silk moths is of so
much prospective importance, that I shall devote the remainder of this
article to the consideration of whether _Yamamai_ and _Pernyi_ may not
be naturalized here. Any one, who happens to have the number of the
_Entomologist_ containing the article above alluded to, may find it
worth while to read it, but as many persons