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THE WILD SILK WORMS OF INDIA.

Dr. EIGHTS, of Albany, has received a fragment of the silken cloth woven from the threads of one of the tussah, or wild silk worms of India. He says:

I send you samples from three distinct species, which are to be found in all the western forests, extending from Ramghur to Midnapore; the cocoons of each are collected in the month of September.

The first of these (which, in the language of the country, is termed the mooga) is the most common and plentiful; the thread is coarse in its texture, but can be wound with the greatest facility. The cocoons are obtained directly from the trees of the forest, and are sold in an unprepared state to the purchasers. The caterpillars are to be found freely feeding upon the leaves of the ashan, saul and sejah trees, being frequently placed on their branches when found elsewhere for that purpose. larvæ commence spinning their cocoons about the middle of the month, and complete the process near its close; they are then collected and placed in boiling water to destroy the grub.

These

The teerah is the second species. It furnishes a much smaller cocoon, and is supposed by many to be the male of the former. The thread is represented as being much finer in texture, but not so easily reeled.

The third is the bonbunda, the largest of the wild silk worms in the country, and from which the present specimen of silk cloth was obtained. This is the species that bears so close an alliance to the saturnia cecropia of this country, spoken of in a former article. In its wild state, the cocoon is of much larger size than any of the cultivated species. In some seasons it is to be found in considerable quantities, but it is generally scarce. This is supposed to be owing to the depredations of many of the feathered races, who esteem them highly as an article of food.

These three species, belonging to the same genus, are termed by the natives, the "rainy weather" varieties; but there are others peculiar to the dry months, which, by way of distinction, are called the dabbo and the buggoy.

The former of these yields a fine thread and an excellent cocoon. The chrysalis begins to eat its way through the pod from the 8th of June to the termination of the month, and spins its mantle from the middle to the end of August.

The buggoy is of a light drab color, giving out a fine thread, and very soft; so much so as almost to equal in value the cocoon of the mulberry silk-spinning moth, particularly those reared in the vicinity of Singh boom. It approaches so near to the pure silk that the weavers are said to mix it frequently with the real, in the proportion of one thread to three, at their manufactories. The seed is procured in August and September. Spinning begins in the middle and is completed by the end of November.

There is another inferior species gathered in December, called the yarroy. It is a small cocoon, and difficult to wind; the thread, also, being exceedingly harsh. The seed is procured in the month of October, and the caterpillars spin their cocoons from the 15th to the close of December. It is held in less estimation than any of the other species. The natives, in preparing the silk for use, boil the cocoon in an alkali until it shells off and the threads appear to separate.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF IOWA FOR 1861.

The presence at the capital of members of the legislature from nearly every county in the State during the past week, presented an excellent opportunity for obtaining important information in regard to the present agricultural position and prospects of Iowa for the year 1861. After careful inquiry the subjoined facts have been elicited. They are believed. to be correct, and the increase indicated is within rather than above the real condition of things. Yet, as the members had not prepared themselves to give positive information, it must only be received as a pretty fair approximation to the true condition of our probable agricultural resources for the present year. Should the season continue favorable, however, it is believed the general aggregate will be sustained.

It appears from the returns the breadth of wheat sown in the State is about one-fourth more; of corn nearly one fifth more, and of pork for market there will be at least one-third more than in 1860. And of the crop of corn of 1860 there appears to be over one-third, and of wheat over one-fourth on hand. That the indications for a good crop of wheat were never better, and that the yield would fully equal that of last year, 16 bushels per acre as the average of the State; and that about one-half of the corn was planted by the 11th of May.

In addition to the above, I learn that all the cereal crops indicate an excellent yield; that preparations are making for a greater breadth of sorghum and imphee than in any previous year; that much of the land has been seeded with clover and timothy, probably double that of any previous year. In short, that our farmers are working and seeding as much land, and perhaps more, than they may find force enough to secure the yield therefrom.

As published last year, the yield of wheat was upwards of 19,000,000 bushels, or an average of 16 bushels to the acre; add for the additional breadth of land sown last fall and this spring, at the same average per acre, at least 4,000,000 bushels, and we have the probable amount of 23,000,000 bushels for 1861-all of which can be spared out of the State, as we have about 5,000,000 bushels on hand for home consumption for a year. This, if sold at 50 cents per bushel, will give us $11,500,000.

The corn goes into beef and pork. The published estimate of last year from this office was $7,000,000 worth for both these items. This sum is nearly equally divided between them. From the data obtained we have a pretty sure prospective increase of one-third for pork over 1860, and from extensive inquiry and the known average increase, one-fourth may be safely put down as the probable increased product of beef cattle. This will give the aggregate value $9,375,000 for 1861, for beef and pork, beyond our own consumption; but as the prices may range lower, it would be altogether safe to place the amount at eight millions of dollars. The result of all the above is, that the present prospective product of this State for the year 1861, beyond our home consumption, for wheat, hogs and beef, will be worth $19,500,000.

WM. DUANE WILSON, Sec. Ag. Col.

OFFICE OF AGRICULTURAL BUREAU, Į
Des Moines, Iowa, May 22, 1861. (

STATISTICS OF POPULATION.

CITIES OF EUROPE.

Population of the Principal Cities of Europe according to late returns.

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THE NEW CONGRESSIONAL APPORTIONMENT.

The Secretary of the Interior has addressed the following official communication to the Speaker of the House of Representatives:

DEPARTMENT of the Interior,
Washington, July 5, 1861.

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives:

I, CALEB B. SMITH, Secretary of the Interior, do hereby certify that, in discharge of the duty devolved on me by the provisions of an act of Congress, approved May 23d, 1850, entitled "An act providing for the taking of the seventh and subsequent censuses of the United States, and to fix the number of the members of the House of Representatives, and to provide for the future apportionment among the several States," I have apportioned the representatives for the thirty-eighth Congress among the several States as provided for by said act in the manner directed by the twenty-fifth section thereof. And I do hereby further certify, that the following is a correct statement of the number of representatives apportioned to each State under the last or eighth enumeration of the population of the United States, taken in accordance with the act approved 23d May, 1850, above referred to:

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The aggregate being two hundred and thirty-three (233) representatives.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the Department of the Interior to be affixed, this fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty

sixth.

CALEB B. SMITH.

THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.

The probable number of Chinese now in the State of California, it may be of some interest at this period, to inquire. Previous to 1852, the immigration of the Asiatics to that coast did not exceed a few thousands. Owing to the destruction, by fire, of the Custom-House records in 1851, there is no positive data as to what that immigration was, but from figures offered in 1856, by Mr. HANLEY, a Chinese agent, who had the subject specially under consideration, it is presumable that the excess of arrivals over departures, previous to 1852, was about 5,000. We shall adopt this number in the following estimate, and furnish details of subsequent years:

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THE BRITISH CENSUS OF APRIL, 1861.

The first British census was taken under Mr. PITT's administration in 1801. It was the year of the union with Ireland; a year of famine, and a year of sanguinary war with France, having the northern confederacy for its allies. The population of Great Britain was estimated at 7,392,000 in 1751. Manufactures and the large towns increased, but emigration was commencing, and some country villages were deserted. Goldsmith sang:

Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish or may fade,

A breath can make them as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.

And Dr. PRICE contended that there was an absolute decay of the popu lation. This gave rise to a protracted controversy, which, in the critical

state of the country, it was important to settle. The population of Great Britain was then enumerated in 1801, and amounted to 10,917,000, and with that of Ireland united with her, made above 16,000,000. This was a triumphant reply to the doubts of those who despaired of their country. Notwithstanding the war the population increased, as the census showed, at the rate of two to three millions every ten years until 1841. Then immense emigrations took place; there was a depopulating famine in Ireland, which had an imperfect poor law, and cholera was epidemic; yet the population of Great Britain was augmented by 2,308,000, and although the population of Ireland fell off, the people of the United Kingdom amounted to 27,724,000 in 1851. There will be no investigation as to the "religious profession" of any one. That inquiry, when proposed last year, having been met with general disapproval, was abandoned by the government.

The census concerns every individual in the British Isles. Early in April a schedule was left with the occupier of every house and apartment; and shortly after sunrise, on Monday, 8th April, 30,441 enumerators in England and Wales began their calls at every house, and collected the schedules which they have previously left, filling up those of persons who have been unable to write. A similar army performed a precisely similar operation in Scotland, in Ireland and in Australia. It is sometimes asked, why is the seventh census to be taken? What is the use of the information to be collected? The injunction "know thyself" is as binding on nations as on individuals.

CITIES IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Partial returns of the new census of Great Britain are given in the latest English papers. The official record of the cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow is published, and sufficient returns have been received from the agricultural districts to show a decrease in the population. We glean some interesting facts from the statistics.

Liverpool. The population of Liverpool, in round numbers, is 450,000. The city proper contains but 263,000 persons, the remainder being distributed in the suburbs of Exeter, Kirkdale, West Derby and Toxteth Park. The port of Liverpool has a large floating population of sailors, reckoned in this census at about fourteen thousand men. In 1841 the number of sailors was twelve thousand, in 1851 it was thirteen thousand, and in 1861 but one thousand more than ten years ago. The total population of the city and its suburbs, at the census of 1851, was 375,955, so that the increase in ten years has been a little more than twenty per cent.

During the last four years the number of inhabited houses in Liverpool has likewise increased from 54,000 to 66,000. In 1831 the buildings in the town were estimated to cover an area of 6,000,000 square yards, while in 1765 they only covered an area of 1,184,000 square yards.

Manchester.-Manchester has decreased in population, losing 2,000 inhabitants of the city proper by reason of the conversion of dwellinghouses to office and other business purposes, and alterations in narrow streets. The increase in the townships adjoining that of Manchester is

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