INSECT WHITE-WAX loi 



white-wax industry of Western China from observations near 

 Fulin. Unfortunately, this talented observer possessed no 

 botanical knowledge, and, being misled by vernacular names, 

 he increased if anything the mystery which shrouded the 

 botanical aspect of the subject. 



In 1884 Mr. (now Sir Alexander) Hosie, then Consular 

 Agent at Chungking, undertook, at the instigation of the Kew 

 authorities, the thorough investigation of the subject. He 

 travelled through the principal wax-producing districts of 

 Szechuan, collected specimens of the two host-plants and of 

 the wax itself, noted the mode of culture and the preparation 

 of the commercial white-wax. The two host-plants were 

 identified by the Kew authorities as Ligustrum lucidum and 

 Fraxinus chinensis, the first named being the tree on which 

 the insects breed and the latter the tree on which the wax is 

 deposited. There can be Httle doubt that the Ligustrum is 

 the natural host of the wax-insect, and much of the difficulty 

 in elucidating the subject was due to the fact that this tree 

 has two or three different vernacular names. In central and 

 Western China it is usually designated the " La shu " (Wax 

 tree) or " Ch'ung shu " (Insect tree), but it is occasionally, 

 and particularly in the eastern provinces, called the " Tung- 

 ching shu." This last name simply means " Winter-green 

 tree," and is usually apphed to Xylosma racemosum, var. 

 pubescens, a tree commonly planted around shrines and 

 tombs. Many wild guesses were made as to the identity 

 of this " Tung-ching shu," and with each guess the subject 

 became further involved. 



The districts of Omei Hsien and Hungya Hsien, both within 

 the prefecture of Kiating, are the headquarters of the wax- 

 producing industry, but the insects are bred in the Chiench'ang 

 Valley, in the prefecture of Ningyuan Fu, nearly 200 miles 

 distant. A few insects are bred near the town of Chienwei 

 Hsien, a day's journey to the south of Kiating, but these are 

 said not to produce so much wax or of such good quality as 

 those from the Chiench'ang VaUey. 



The insects develop during the winter months, and the 

 cone-like scale or " gall " is ready for removal about the end of 

 April, being then full of the minute eggs of the insect. So far 



