THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
493

Downing Street, 17th June, 1869.
SIR,—At the request of Mr. Thomas Bayley Potter,
I transmit to you four copies of a Printed Paper
announcing the subject of the Prize Essay of the
Cobden Club for next year.

I have, &c.,
GRANVILLE.

The Officer Administering the Government
of New Zealand.

COBDEN CLUB.

The Subject of the Prize Essay for the Gold Medal
of the Club for the year 1869, is—
"Free Trade in its relation to the Colonies and
Dependencies of Great Britain."

The Essays, identified by a Motto (with the Names
and Addresses of the Writers enclosed in a sealed
envelope), must be sent to THOMAS BAYLEY POTTER,
M.P., Reform Club, London, before the 1st January,
1870. No Essay is to exceed in length fifty pages of
the "Quarterly" or "North American" Reviews.

The Committee reserve the right of publishing the
successful Essay.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 18th September, 1869.

THE following letter, with enclosure, from Mr. T.
C. Batchelor, of Nelson, on the subject of the
Culture of Silkworms, is published for general infor-
mation.

W. GISBORNE.

Nelson, 27th August, 1869.
SIR,—In consequence of the steps taken by the Silk
Society of Great Britain for the encouragement of
Sericulture in the Colonies, has induced me to forward
the enclosed circular of my proceedings in Sericul-
ture for general information; and should you consider
the culture of Silk of any worth to New Zealand, I
should feel most happy to render any information
in my power as to silkworms and mulberry trees,
the more especially as per next mail I shall be in
direct communication with the above Society.

I remain, &c.,
T. C. BATCHELOR.

The Hon. W. Fox.

CULTURE OF SILK.
Wakapuaka, 17th March, 1869.
SIR,—I will thank you to bring under the notice of
the Acclimatization Society the following particulars
concerning my attempt at cultivating the silkworm
in this Province, which I have reasons for believing
possess some interest. Of my previous labour little
need be said, beyond that for three seasons my
cocoons have all been obtained from worms fed upon
the broad-leaved Tuscan mulberry.

I commenced hatching the worms last season on
the 1st of November, and the greater portion were in
cocoons by the end of January, which was from ten
to fifteen days over the proper time. The number of
worms hatched was above 3,000, and the time occu-
pied in feeding and otherwise attending to them I
estimate at two hours daily. Were a person during
the season to devote his whole time to sericulture,
after a little experience and with proper appliances,
the number of worms he could attend to would be
almost incredible.

Through ignorance of the quantity of food the
worms would consume I did not attempt a succession
of hatchings, but I found my trees would have fed a
second lot; and with a greater number of trees, four
if not five hatchings of worms might be fed in a
season. In Persia, it is not uncommon to raise eight
or even ten lots of worms in a summer; in Italy and
the South of France, the number is five or six; and
in St. Petersburg, short as the summer is, four hatch-
ings of worms have been obtained. As the mulberry
flourishes remarkably well here, I see no reason why
sericulture should not be quite as successful in Nelson
as in France or Italy; and, as the worms are fed
indoors, artificial heat could be supplied if necessary.

In several of the States of America sericulture is
becoming a common industry, one person keeping a
million worms, and purposing to double the number
as soon as he can raise sufficient food for the increase.

In a communication I made some time ago to one
of the local newspapers, I over-estimated the number
of trees required to feed a given number of worms.
I have now twenty mulberry trees five years old, and
from the manner they stood stripping this past
season, I am satisfied I could have fed three times
the number of worms I did, by extending time and
labour. I had also stated that after the trees had
been planted three years, £15 per annum might be
netted for every acre of ground planted with the
mulberry. This was taking the price of raw silk at 20s.
per lb., but the price has since risen to 70s. per lb., so
that something like £50 a year might be got from an
acre of mulberry trees. Once the trees are planted
they require little trouble, and each year their value
increases, or the silk improves with the age of the
trees the worms are fed upon.

A parcel of cocoons, weighing two pounds, raised
by me last season, will be taken to England by J. R.
Dodson, Esq., who will hand it to J. Morrison, Esq.,
London Agent for New Zealand. A letter from His
Honor the Superintendent will accompany the parcel,
requesting Mr. Morrison to submit the cocoons to
the trade, ascertain the value of the silk, and transmit
back to His Honor all the information he can obtain
concerning sericulture in general, and the best kind
of worms to be used.

I may observe that I have kept a stock, for
supplying me with eggs next summer.

I remain, &c.,
T. C. BATCHELOR.

To F. Huddlestone, Esq.,
Hon. Secretary of the
Nelson Acclimatization Society.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 18th September, 1869.

THE following Regulation under "The Civil Service
Act, 1866," which has been approved by His
Excellency the Governor, is published for general
information.

W. GISBORNE.

Hours of Business.

The first Regulation under "The Civil Service Act,
1866," published in the New Zealand Gazette, No. 70,
31st December, 1867, is altered so far as it relates
to the attendance to be observed in the Public Offices
on Saturdays.

For the future, the hours of attendance on Satur-
days will be, except when otherwise ordered, from
10 o'clock a.m. to 2 o'clock p.m.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 18th September, 1869.

IT is hereby notified, that

His Honor DONALD MCLEAN
having tendered the resignation of his office as
Superintendent of the Province of Hawke's Bay, His
Excellency the Governor was pleased, on the 3rd
instant, to accept such resignation.

W. GISBORNE.