760 



.'EOCEEDIXGS OF THE THIRD EXTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



Mr. Kunhi Kannan, 

 Mr. Ghosh. 



Mr. Robertson- 

 Brown. 



Mr. G. R. Dutt. 



Mr. Fletcher. 

 Mr. Ghosh. 



case of the timber-built store as compared with the mud one and it 

 was proi^osed to test this and compare the efficiency of the two types 

 by building two small granaries, side by side, one of timber and the 

 other of mud, and taking daily temperature-readings in each. These 

 granaries were being built when I was at Tarnab in May 1916 and I 

 left thermometers there for taking the readings but have not heard any 

 more about them. 



Those experimental stores proved a failure as they were not rain- 

 proof. 



Rats do a great deal of damage to stored grains and make holes in 

 granaries. 



If the stores are placed on pillars, off the ground, as these Peshawar 

 timber-built stores are, the damage from rats is eliminated. 



The new rat-proof grain-stores recently erected in Colombo show 

 how the damage done by rats can be nullified. 



In some parts of South Kanara a paste is made of red earth which 

 is mixed with pulses. These are stored in a corner of the house and 

 remain quite exposed. They keep quite well in this way even up to 

 two years. I have seen this myself. 



This method has been tried in Mysore but was not found successful. 



Rhizopertha breeds if the mouth of the bin is plastered over, but, 

 if left unplastered, it does not develop. 



We plastered over the mouths of our motkas and the seed was damaged. 

 If kept in air-tight boxes, maize loses its germinating power. 



In Patiala and the neighbouring districts bhusa [chaff] of gram is 

 placed in a layer below and above the grains and they keep well ; but 

 wheat if stored in this way does not keej). 



If the grains are already infested holes are formed in the grains when 

 the adults emerge. In the method of storage under sand, the sand 

 gets into these holes and renders the atla made out of such grains un- 

 eatable. Also how can insects come out through the cloth ? 



We have experienced the trouble from the sand in the atla in the 

 course of our experiments. The first thing is, why should you allow 

 your wheat to be infested 1 Take it directly from the tlireshing yard 

 and store it under sand and there will be no trouble, as the grain will 

 never be infested. The stirring, which the grain receives at the time 

 of storing, causes the weevils, which may be in it, to leave it and the 

 damage is caused by the weevils which gain access to it afterwards. 

 In actual experiments it has been found that the weevils manage to- 

 get out tlirough the edges when there is cloth. 



The grain may be infested in the field. 



There is hardly any infestation in the fields. , 



