64 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



the Central Provinces from 25th January to 12th March 

 with the especial object of obtaining information on pests 

 of fruit-trees. Mr. Ghosh visited Darjiling and Naini 

 la] in September to see the methods of bee-keeping prac- 

 tised there. Mr. De visited Assam in February to obtain 

 information regarding Eri and Muga silkworms. 



IV. — Provincial Work. 



The entomological work of the Provincial Departments 

 of Agriculture is to a large extent supplementary of and 

 interdependent on that done at Pusa. Except in Madras, 

 none of the Provincial Entomological Assistants are placed 

 under the control of a qualified expert able to check their 

 work locally and under such circumstances a Central 

 Institute can fulfil a very useful function in checking and 

 correlating their work besides acting as a centre for inform- 

 ation regarding life-histories, records of occurrence and 

 means of control of insect pests. Some provinces have 

 taken full advantage of this fact in the past and have 

 worked in close touch with Pusa; others have not done so 

 hitherto, but it is hoped that, as a result of efforts now being 

 made, they may do so in future. 



In Madras the Deccan Grasshopper work was continued 

 in the Bellary District but the failure of the rains at the 

 commencement of the monsoon caused the destruction by 

 drought of the early-sown crops in the area attacked so that 

 the control-operations proved abortive on this account. The 

 Entomological Laboratory: fittings and the Insectary at 

 Coimbatore were completed during the year and the collec- 

 tion rearranged in the new boxes. A large amount of 

 information on insect pests was amassed and much of this 

 was utilised for a book on South Indian insects which was 

 written and completed by myself before leaving Madias. 

 My successor, Mr. E. Ballard, who had been Government 

 Entomologist in Nyasaland for the preceding two years, 

 joined his new appointment at Coimbatore in January 1914 

 and has since been engaged in familiarizing himself with 

 the insects of the Madras Presidency. 



