The Indian Wheat and like Weevil, Z7 



Sahibgunge Agency, 



The 31st January ISSS. 

 Wheat Weevils. 



The following is our reply to your favour of 25th instant about wheat weevils : — 



1. Samally qualities are not only the first to be attacked, but also suffer more from the 



weevil than other qualities. 

 Doodhia is next ; whilst Gangajally and Gya, on account of their hardness, are not 

 attacked to any great extent. 



2. The North- Western Provinces suffer more than Bengal from the pest, but, generally 

 speaking, there is not any considerable difference. 



3. The weevil appears in July, but during this month and August the damage is not 

 very great ; the following months, up to December, show considerable damage, more espe- 

 cially during November and December, when whole bags have been destroyed, not a single 

 grain remaining unweevilled ; in January and February they begin decreasing, and in 

 March the grain is almost entirely free from them. 



New crop wheat, rice, and maize are quite free from weevil for the first three months 

 of the crop, but this is on account of the grain being new and fresh. 



4. The wheat weevil attacks rice and maize but never oilseeds. 



5. It is found in the open, not being so prevalent in granaries in Bengal and some 

 parts of Behar, which places follow the method as given in the next paragraph for the 

 protection of grain in store. 



6. The only method to prevent destruction of grain from the weevil (and which we 

 believe, is not followed to any great extent in the North- West) is to make the granary 

 air-tight ; this is easily done, as holes are dug in the ground or round buildino-s of mud 

 are erected, then the floor and walls have a coating of about 9" to 1' of bhoosy-wheat 

 chaff and husk; the wheat is then bulked in this, stopped with a thick layer of bhoosy 

 and closed in air-tight; the grain remains in this way for mouths without beincr attacked 

 from the weevil, which attacks it directly the bhoosy is removed. It is in this way that 

 cultivators keep their stocks in a fit condition for cultivation. Dealers and others seldom 

 use this method, but simply store in bulk iu their godowns, and consequently about 

 three feet deep on the top of the pile is almost destroyed, whilst the lower portion is 

 untouched; this is accounted for as the Mheat settled down becomes solid and practically 

 air-tight. 



Ventilation and stirring the grain assist the weevil in its ravages, as it loosens the oraiu 

 and allows the weevil to work further into the pile. 



Nothing is known to destroy the pest ; neither is there any insect or animal that kills 

 it ; drying in an oven would prove but of a temporary benefit, as the grain would soon be 

 attacked ; after the process was over and the wheat was warm, we find that grain consider- 

 ably weevilled gets heated, especially the soft kinds, and at this stage the weevil completely 

 destroys the grain. 



As far as we are aware, there are but two methods for preventing destruction by the 

 weevil, and they are the methods used by cultivators as mentioned above, or the substitu- 

 tion of sand for the bhoosy, which is necessary, as, if wheat is simply stored in the above 

 way, and on the same principle but without the bhoosy or sand, the weevil will attack 

 the grain, although not to such a great extent as if it were in a ventilated room. 



JuBDrLPOEE Agency, 

 The 18th February ISSS. 



Wheat Weevils, 

 The following is the only information we can give you on the subject : — 



1. The weevil is not, as a rule, observed in new wheat till the monsoon. 



2. The damp warm air of the monsoon seems to be most conducive to the propaga- 



