E. J. BUTLER 3 



since 1913), and from thence to the estuary of the Meghna by a line passing to 

 the north of NoakhaU town. West of the Meghna, in the district of Backer- 

 gunge, the disease was found in 1916 from Barisal to the borders of Khulna 

 District at the river Madhumati, but the exact limits of the extension south 

 and east of this area are not known. In the eastern section of this boundary 

 further spread southward is checked by the sea and by the Chittagong Hills 

 and a narrow belt between the hills and the sea where the land is relatively 

 dry and no swamp paddy is grown. No trace of ufra has been found in 

 the swamp paddy areas near Chittagong town. West of the Meghna, the 

 limits so far observed are not coincident with any topographical feature of 

 importance, and there seema to be no reason, beyond the comparatively recent 

 origin of the disease and the slowness of its spread, why it should not extend 

 into Khulna and the Sundarbans, at the head of the Bay of Bengal. 



To the east, the infected area is limited by the highlands of Hill Tippera ; 

 but between these and the district of Mymensingh is an area in which extension 

 is going on towards and perhaps into Sylhet. It is known to have reached 

 Akhaura, about 10 miles from the Sylhet border, in 1913. There appears to 

 be no obstacle sufficient to save the very large rice area of Sylhet from 

 infection. 



The same applies to the almost equally important rice tract to the north 

 in Mymensingh. Ufra has been traced through Dacca to the Mymensingh 

 border east of the Madhupur Jungle, and probably extends further north. In 

 this direction it is unlikely to be checked by any natural obstacle until the 

 Garo Hills, which bound Mymensingh on the north, are reached. 



Westwards, the Brahmaputra is not known to have been crossed north 

 of its confluence with the Ganges. South of this, however, there is a large 

 infected tract on the west of the Padma (as the river is now known), in the 

 district of Faridpur. The western limits of this extension are unknown, but 

 there is some reason to hope that the relatively dry area of Jessore may check 

 westward spread. But extension into Khulna, further south, is, as already 

 mentioned, highly probable, and along this line there appears to be nothing 

 to prevent infection of Central Bengal up at least to the Hooghli. 



The immediately threatened areas are, therefore, Sylhet to the east, 

 M3'^mensingh to the north, and Khulna (with possibly some of the districts 

 across the Brahmaputra) to the west. 



As regards the losses sustained only isolated instances can be given. Total 

 loss of the crop in individual fields is not uncommon. I have seen such cases 

 in Noakhali, and the Collector of Dacca saw large areas near Pubail, in 1916, 



