It was through Mr. Cobden that I obtained a special sort of silkworm
which at one time I kept in my garden. Before this I had from time to
time experimented with the ordinary silkworm which feeds upon mulberry
leaves; but my experiences had not been very satisfactory, for, in
addition to other inconveniences, my silkworms, which were kept in the
house, used occasionally to stray about and get up people’s trousers,
much to their inconvenience and horror. So I determined to make an
altogether new departure, and had a sort of regular silkworm farm laid
out in a part of the garden where it could be under constant
observation. A certain portion of this ground was entirely devoted to
the _Ailanthus glandulosa_, or “Tree of Heaven,” which is quite hardy.
On its leaves lives the Ailanthus silkworm, which I then set about to
procure, and wrote to several of my friends asking them to assist me.
Eventually it was through the kindly efforts of Mr. Cobden that my
ambition was achieved, as the following letter will show:—
ALGIERS, _23rd February 1861_.
MY DEAR LADY DOROTHY—My wife will have the pleasure of writing
to you with the beads, and I merely wish to add that I am also
sending some amber beads they procured for me. Having called at
the Jardin d’Essai here, and spoken with the intelligent
director, he tells me that he has only about one hundred cocoons
of the kind of silkworm you allude to, and that he obtained them
from Paris, where he advises me to apply for some. He wrote me
the following:—“Pour avoir des œufs ou des cocons de ver à soie
de l’Ailante, s’addresser à M. G. Ménéirlle, secrétaire de la
société Impériale d’acclimatation à Paris.” I give you this
address so minutely that you may be enabled, if you are
impatient to possess these little animals, to send for them
before I return through Paris, otherwise, if you will be so good
as to express the wish, I shall be delighted to execute the
commission for you on my way home. The weather is delightful
here. Last week I placed a thermometer on a table in the sun in
front of the house, and it stood up to 95°. We find it too warm.
With kind remembrances to Mr. Nevill,—I remain, very truly
yours,