GRAIN CONSERVATION 121 



of mankind I refer of course to the use of 

 underground pits, constructed of earth, rock, or 

 masonry. 



Unfortunately. I have not time to say as much 

 upon this interesting topic as I should like to do, 

 but I wish to put before you some facts with regard 

 to the practice as it exists on the one hand in India 

 and on the other in Malta. 



Thirty-one years ago Mr. E. C. Cotes published 

 a memoir on the Wheat and Rice Weevils in India 

 (1888), in which he brings together much valuable 

 information collected from native sources. I select 

 the following quotations from the evidence : 

 " Wheat stored so as to be practically air-tight is 

 said to be free from the attack of weevils. The 

 method which seems to have been widely adopted 

 in India is as follows : Holes are dug in the ground, 

 or round buildings of mud are erected, the floor 

 and walls in each case being lined with chaff or sand, 

 and the grain covered with a layer of the same 

 material, the whole being covered in with closely 

 packed earth. Wheat so stored for three years has 

 been found, on opening, to be quite sound." 



" Natives do not care and do not bother their 

 heads about weevils, knowing that in their air- 

 tight pits underground nothing will attack the 

 grain." 



"The only method to prevent destruction of grain 

 from the weevil is to make the granary air-tight." 



