PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 1075 



Although the principle of " catch and kill " is applicable in many cases 

 -n-ith successM results, recent experiments have proved that it is hardly 

 of use in the case of sugarcane and rice just mentioned. In sugarcane 

 " dead hearts " have been found to be caused by various agents which 

 Are not got rid of simply by the removal of the shoots with " dead 

 hearts,"' and in fact this remedial operation has a retarding effect on the 

 crop. Similarly removal of rice plants with dry ears has been found 

 to be hardly helpful to the standing and of doubtful utility to the futiu-e 

 crop. When we come to verify our own recommendations we find that 

 they do not always possess the merits we claim for them. Recommen- 

 dations based on general impressions and imperfect knowledge of the 

 pest are bound to be vague and even useless and not applicable to all 

 <5ases and localities. These remarks apply to most of the insects we 

 have to deal with. This defect is due to imperfect study which 

 again is ascribable not to inefficiency of the experts who have made 

 -the recommendations but to want of facilities. 



The constituents of the Agricultural Economic Entomologist in 

 ■India have absolutely no knowledge of insect life. To them a cater- 

 pillar is an insect which is born and dies as such. The moth or the 

 butterfly resulting from the same caterpillar is a separate insect taken 

 to be born and to die as the moth or the butterfly. This ignorance 

 of insect life is not simply confined to the imeducated classes, but is 

 equally prevalent among the educated classes also. .Moreover, the 

 maj ority of the cultivators own only a few acres of land which is scattered 

 in small plots, often half or even one-third of an acre in area or even 

 less. And in addition to this, they are proverbially poor. Any measure 

 of insect control involving an outlay of expenditiu-e is either inexpedient 

 on accoimt of the scattered nature of the plots under cultivation or 

 beyond the means of the cultivator. But although totally ignorant of 

 the elements of insect life, the Indian cultivators owing to the accu- 

 mulated experience of ages have in many cases evolved methods of 

 cultivation best adapted to the successful growth of the crops which 

 are liable to be seriously affected by insects or fungal diseases. Take 

 for instance the " wilt disease " of tobacco at Rangpur, which the 

 writer had the opportunity of investigating from the entomological 

 point of view. The soil is turned over frequently with the hand plough. 

 The cultivators believe that they are removing the extra moisture 

 from the soil by this operation, but really they conserve moisture by 

 preparing a sort of a surface mulch. Scientific investigation corroborated 

 the same process to be efficacious to a great extent against the disease 

 as the germs are frequently exposed to the sun and are thus killed. 

 Similarly in the " Koleroga " disease of betel-nuts in Mysore, the people 



