INSTITUTE AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1907-09. 49 



at the college. There is no uniform system for all pro- 

 vinces, and the relations are closer in some cases than others, 

 but all assistants can obtain the effective assistance 

 of this section, where it can be given. Progress has been 

 made in the general study of injurious insects in the 

 provinces, notably in Madras, where a careful study has 

 been made of the surul pest of groundnut, of paddy stem- 

 borers and of the general pests of the province. In Bom- 

 bay, an enquiry was made into the occurrence of the potato 

 moth. In the Central Provinces, Bengal, Eastern Bengal 

 and Assam and the Punjab, the general investigation of 

 injurious insects has been continued, and in the last named 

 province the progress of cotton boll-worm and its parasites 

 has been closely watched. A general strengthening of the 

 staff is required in most provinces. 



5. Correspondence. — As in previous years, there has 

 been a large volume of enquiries on all matters connected 

 with insects; the enquiries directly connected with insects 

 injurious to crops, have been in part diverted to provincial 

 departments, but a large mass of miscellaneous enquiries 

 has been received and dealt with. Excluding correspond- 

 ence with provincial agricultural departments, these are 

 received from commercial firms, planters and planters' 

 associations, zemindars, fruit-growers, superintendents of 

 experimental farms and botanical gardens; specimens 

 sent for report by the members of the Bombay Natural 

 History Society, are, in some cases, forwarded and dealt 

 with here, and there is a certain number of enquiries from 

 persons interested in entomology for the identification of 

 specimens. The increasing interest in silk, lac and bee- 

 keeping also produced a large number of enquiries. Over 

 one thousand of such enquiries were dealt with by the 

 Imperial Entomologist personally during the last two years, 

 and this work is, by no means, the least useful part of this 

 section's activities. 



6. Research. — Progress is steadily made with enquiry 

 into the life-histories and habits of injurious insects. The 



