36 REPORT OF 1 HE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



giving good results. The problem of increasing the supply 

 of good cocoons for reeling is of very great importance and 

 there is good reason to believe that very much better cocoons 

 could be produced on a large scale if the industry were 

 developed on the right lines. The experiments of the 

 Bengal Silk Committee and those carried out at Pusa show 

 that success is probable, but that it will take time and 

 organisation to develop the supply and keep rearers on the 

 right lines; failure in inevitable if the present Bengal 

 varieties are cultivated as the silk is almost unsaleable and 

 not worth growing and reeling in new localities. The 

 present experimental work is very satisfactory and the very 

 depressed condition of the silk industry fully justifies the 

 employment of a proper staff to complete and develop these 

 lines of improvement. 



Lac. — ^The cultivation of the lac-insect on Ber {Zizyplms 

 Jujvha), Siris (Serissa glomeruta), etc., has been carried on 

 as before and two short courses of train in £^ were given to 

 ten students from Beno-al, Hyderabad (Deccan), the 

 Puniab, the United Provinces, Kathiawar and Jodhpur, 

 as well as to malis from factories in Tirhoot. Lac for seed 

 was supplied to the Bombay and Baroda Departments of 

 Agriculture, to a Court of Ward's Estate in Orissa and 

 arran2!:ements have been completed for forwardino; the 

 same to Formosa through the Japanese Consul at Bombay. 

 The most important work of the past year was an enquiry 

 into the races of the lac insect in collaboration with the 

 Forest Department which sent in samples from all parts of 

 India and Burma. The samples are being collected, 

 arran<Ted and forwarded to Mr. E. E. Green, the Govern- 

 ment Entomologist, Ceylon, for examination. The number 

 of enquiries regarding lac cultivation in India increased 

 considerably and every assistance was given to those 

 wishing to start it on waste lands in agricultural areas. 



Demonstration. — The series of coloured plates of pests 

 has been added to and copies circulated to all Provincial 

 Departments, to the Bombay Natural History Society, the 

 Quetta Museum, the Madras Museum, the Bishop Cotton 



