t 493 ] 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 



I,AC. 



T3ESIDES tea, coffee, indigo, India rubber, vanilla, car- 

 damom, cinnamon, round pepper and oranges, Euro- 

 pean planters in India have tried more or less successfully the 

 culture of silk and lac. Bee-culture has not prospered as the 

 imported bees from Italy ate far more sugar than could be 

 reasonably supplied to them, and the different varieties of 

 Indian bees have been found too wild for domestication and 

 artificial rearing. The subjects of silk and mulberry had 

 been treated by the author in a separate Hand-book, and of 

 planting subjects lac alone remains to be treated. 



796. Lac is a resinous incrustation formed on the twigs 

 oi palas, bar, gular, the peepul, arahar, phalsa, baer y babul , 

 croton and other trees and shrubs, by an insect (coccus lacca) 

 belonging to the natural order Hemiptera, nearly allied 

 to the cochineal insect. There are more than one species of 

 lac insects. In October or November the inoculation of trees 

 with this insect should be done. Twigs encrusted with the 

 resinous nests of the insect are cut up into small bits, put in 

 mosquito net bags and hung up in different parts of the trees. 

 The minute red coloured larvae of the coccus lacca escape 

 from their eggs and crawl about in search of fresh sappy twigs. 

 When satisfied, they become fixed and form a sort of cocoon 

 by excreting a resinous substance. The male cocoon is ovoid 

 in shape, the female circular. For about two and a half months 

 the insects remain within their cocoons in a lethargic state, but 

 structural changes have been accomplished by which they 

 have reached the mature or imago condition. The male 

 escapes from the cocoon by backing out at the ventral open- 

 ing. The female has also become mature, i>ut since it is 



