﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  FOURTH 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  MEETING 
  60 
  

  

  from 
  Mm 
  a 
  flag 
  to 
  wave 
  over 
  the 
  fields, 
  was 
  not 
  infinitely 
  better 
  than 
  

   anything 
  suggested 
  to 
  them 
  by 
  an 
  ofiicer 
  who 
  was 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  revenue 
  

   oflacers 
  and 
  therefore 
  of 
  no 
  account. 
  In 
  Calicut 
  taluq 
  the 
  usual 
  apathy 
  

   which 
  is 
  so 
  difficult 
  to 
  fight 
  against 
  was 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  poor 
  atten- 
  

   dance. 
  

  

  The 
  *' 
  Paramba 
  " 
  system 
  in 
  Malabar, 
  so 
  peculiar 
  to 
  that 
  district, 
  

   always 
  make 
  a 
  raiyats' 
  meeting 
  difficult 
  to 
  get 
  together. 
  There 
  are 
  

   practically 
  no 
  villages 
  in 
  the 
  usually 
  accepted 
  sense 
  of 
  the 
  word. 
  Dwel- 
  

   lings 
  are 
  very 
  scattered 
  and 
  one 
  has 
  to 
  depend 
  on 
  the 
  big 
  landholders 
  

   to 
  get 
  their 
  tenants 
  together. 
  If 
  the 
  landlord 
  is 
  sympathetic 
  and 
  will- 
  

   ing, 
  a 
  good 
  number 
  of 
  raiyats 
  can 
  always 
  be 
  obtained 
  ; 
  if 
  he 
  is 
  apathetic 
  

   and 
  takes 
  no 
  trouble, 
  as 
  sometimes 
  happened, 
  then 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  difiicult 
  to 
  

   get 
  at 
  the 
  actual 
  cultivator. 
  

  

  Another 
  factor 
  which 
  contributed 
  to 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  collecting 
  

   audiences 
  was 
  the 
  suspicion 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  raiyats 
  that 
  the 
  meetings 
  

   were 
  a 
  ruse 
  to 
  obtain 
  war 
  loan, 
  or 
  contribute 
  to 
  the 
  war 
  fund. 
  Others 
  

   said 
  that, 
  although 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  things 
  it 
  was 
  good 
  of 
  Government 
  to 
  

   send 
  officers 
  to 
  warn 
  them 
  about 
  pests 
  and 
  help 
  them 
  to 
  save 
  their 
  crops 
  

   they 
  were 
  afraid 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  charged 
  heavily 
  for 
  any 
  demon- 
  

   stration 
  or 
  help 
  which 
  was 
  given. 
  Others 
  again 
  who 
  were 
  behindhand 
  

   with 
  their 
  dues 
  v/ere 
  afraid 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  put 
  to 
  shame 
  before 
  their 
  

   neighbours 
  by 
  being 
  asked 
  to 
  pay 
  on 
  the 
  spot 
  at 
  the 
  meeting. 
  

  

  The 
  magic 
  lantern, 
  as 
  already 
  stated, 
  always 
  proved 
  an 
  attraction 
  and 
  

   a 
  cinematograph 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  better 
  still. 
  

  

  The 
  final 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  plan 
  of 
  the 
  campaign 
  could 
  only 
  be 
  put 
  to 
  the 
  

   test 
  in 
  one 
  case. 
  An 
  exceptionally 
  heavy 
  monsoon 
  which 
  burst 
  with 
  

   great 
  violence 
  was 
  apparently 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  S. 
  mauritia 
  being 
  in 
  pest 
  

   conditions 
  in 
  only 
  one 
  tract. 
  In 
  this 
  particular 
  case 
  the 
  AdhiJcan 
  un- 
  

   like 
  the 
  others 
  in 
  that 
  taluq 
  had 
  been 
  very 
  slack 
  and 
  had 
  taken 
  no 
  inter- 
  

   est 
  either 
  in 
  getting 
  raiyats 
  together 
  or 
  seeing 
  that 
  the 
  lecturer 
  had 
  any 
  

   assistance. 
  However, 
  he 
  did 
  notice, 
  or 
  the 
  raiyats 
  noticed, 
  that 
  the 
  

   pest 
  had 
  arrived 
  and 
  sent 
  in 
  to 
  taluq 
  head-quarters 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   instructions 
  received. 
  This 
  report 
  reached 
  taluq 
  head-quarters 
  on 
  

   10th 
  June. 
  The 
  lecturing 
  officer 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  th&t' 
  taluq, 
  although 
  he 
  

   was 
  constantly 
  in 
  touch 
  with 
  the 
  taluq 
  office, 
  was 
  not 
  told 
  of 
  the 
  report 
  

   until 
  seven 
  days 
  later. 
  In 
  seven 
  days 
  Spodoptera 
  can 
  do 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  

   damage. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  these 
  delays 
  the 
  pest 
  was 
  checked 
  by 
  trenching 
  off 
  

   the 
  attacked 
  areas 
  and 
  collecting 
  the 
  caterpillars 
  in 
  winnowing 
  fans, 
  

   and 
  one- 
  third 
  of 
  the 
  seed-beds 
  were 
  saved. 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  report 
  

   received 
  and 
  all 
  lecturers 
  were 
  recalled 
  by 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  June. 
  

  

  The 
  time 
  and 
  money 
  spent 
  on 
  this 
  campaign 
  were 
  not 
  wholly 
  wasted. 
  

   The 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  Agricultural 
  Department 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  know- 
  

  

  