414
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

nearly every part of Australia would produce the
proper kind of mulberry; and even where they had
not marked on the map produced by Mr. Dickins, in
the elevated parts the mulberry would grow, even up
to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the Colony of New
South Wales the ladies had always had a liking for
the production of silk; in all their local exhibitions
there was invariably exhibited small quantities of
silk from various quarters. The only thing wanted
was the knowledge that had been alluded to by Mr.
Chadwick and Mr. Dickins. They did not know, in
the first place, what kind of worm to get, and when
they got the cocoon they did not know what to do
with it; but if an Association like the one proposed
would give all these details, beginning with the com-
mencement, he was quite sure that in the course of
a few years small quantities of silk would be coming
into the market from Australia. The Cotton Supply
Association might appear to have done little, but
from his knowledge of the country he knew that it
had done a great deal, and that the quantity of cotton
sent home would increase year by year. Sugar
would soon be cultivated to such an extent as to
supply from New South Wales all the sugar Australia
required; and he was quite sure the idle part of the
family, who did not like the cultivation of sugar and
cotton, would take to the lighter work of producing
silk, if they could add to the income of the family by
so doing. Information as to the kind of egg and
worm, the way to use them, and the mode of reeling,
was what was wanted.

The CHAIRMAN.-Would the Government of New
South Wales take part in making the matter generally
known?

Sir DANIEL COOPER.-If you will give me the
information, I will take care to push it myself; but
the Local Government I am quite sure will do all in
their power. They did the same for the Cotton
Supply Association. As they have Crown Lands
Commissioners in the different districts of the colony,
they would have no difficulty in disseminating the
information. In fact, I shall be going out there
myself next year, and will do what I can in the
matter. (Hear, hear.)

Dr. A. CAMPBELL (who was also invited to speak)
said:-He had served thirty-five years in India.
Bengal was a large silk-producing country. There
was one wild worm which produced a coarse silk, and
another worm, which fed upon the castor-oil plant,
which produced a most excellent silk. The growth
of this kind of silk might be extended, he believed, to
any amount. The fabric it produced was very good
and was much used in many parts of India, though it
was rather too heavy to wear in Bengal. It was much
worn in the hills, and exported also beyond the hills
to Thibet. He believed that in England it would be
a most valuable product. It was of the colour of
brown-holland, but by washing became silky. It
would wear almost for ever. As Mr. Dickins had
observed, it was very rough in the reeling off, but if
the cocoons were sent to England or elsewhere to be
reeled, he believed a very good and perfect silk could
be obtained. Nearly all the inhabitants might be got
to join in its cultivation.

Mr. FITZWILLIAM said:-He had only to confirm
what had been stated by Dr. Campbell. All that
was wanted in India was English capital, not only to
be applied to indigo, but to silk. There were other
parts of India where the mulberry grew, and where a
higher class of silk might be produced. What was
wanted was information and capital. The Govern-
ment should be urged to ask the Government of
India to encourage capital being introduced into India
for this purpose, and to give every facility for the
extension of the growth of silk.

Mr. BROWETT (representing the Coventry Chamber
of Commerce) approved of the formation of the Asso-
ciation, and added that silk would no doubt be most
successfully cultivated wherever cheap labour could
be obtained.

Mr. C. KIPLING trusted the manufacturers would
support the Association, and suggested that they
might be able to deal direct with the Association in
the purchase of silk. India and China silk, he added,
was not adapted for all classes of goods, and the
manufacturers were obliged to go to France and Italy
for silk for the best goods.

Mr. Jupe differed somewhat from the proposal to
seek new fields for the supply of silk, and thought
the operations of the Association would be better
confined to resuscitating the silk production in those
countries from which the supply had fallen off.

Dr. MANN (Commissioner from Natal) said:-He
had resided nine years in Natal, and knew pretty well
every mile of the country in the whole district; from
the sea-coast up to an elevation of 6,000 feet above
the level of the sea, there was not an acre of ground
that would not grow the white mulberry as well as
it would grow wheat. He had seen the mulberry
chopped up into lengths of twelve inches and stuck
into the ground, and the difficulty was to keep it from
growing, it grew with such rapidity and so soon
choked the land by filling up the space which should
separate the trees. The proposed Association was an
essential one for Natal for two or three reasons.
There was a district extending 150 miles along the
coast and 16 miles inland, which grew coffee and sugar
readily and well. Beyond that, there was a region
whose only products for export were silk, tobacco,
and a few grain crops, and the resources of which
were very imperfectly developed. In this district
there were nearly 5,000,000 acres of land which the
Colonial Government was prepared to give away on
certain conditions. In this region the mulberry
grew everywhere. The men who had been sent out
there could not find a product which they could
export for money. There were in Natal 240,000
natives-just the people who would concern them-
selves with silk culture. They did not like hard work
or work that was protracted; they would work only
for a short period. Their wages were from 6s. to
10s. a month, and the cost of maintaining each
labourer was less than that; and they simply wanted
to be shown how silk was managed. The silkworm
was already in the colony, and thriving exceedingly
well. In the rearing of worms in Natal, there was
one circumstance that would necessitate careful
treatment, and that was that the summer was a
period of wet, and the eggs were hatched when the
rains began; but he did not think this would present
any practical difficulty. As soon as the Association
was established, he would communicate its plans and
proposals to the Government of Natal, who, he had
no doubt, would offer their most cordial co-operation.
This Association might be the means of supplying
exactly what was needed to render Natal a silk-
exporting country, and its operations could hardly be
directed more legitimately than to the attainment of
its objects by stimulating enterprise in an English
colony. In Natal, there were 17,000 Europeans;
multiply them by ten, and there would then be a
prosperous community.

Dr. HYDE CLARKE said: -I am not connected with
silk; I am connected with cotton and the Cotton
Supply Association, having been Commissioner to the
Ottoman Government for a period of nine years.
All the doubts, difficulties, and objections you have
been discussing to-day were discussed when the
Cotton Supply Association was formed. You must
decide in the same way, and rely on it you will have
the same success. I can say the Ottoman Govern-
ment will do for you what they have done for the