434 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



quently does some damage, but for tlie first time this year the damage 

 done by it has become serious." 



In the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces the pests were 

 noticed for the first time in 1913 when they appeared late in the season 

 and did some damage to the standing crop of rice. The following year, 

 i.e., 1914, they appeared early and over a much larger area. They did 

 considerable damage to the paddy crop in the Bilaspur and the Kaipur 

 Districts of the Central Provinces. 'The damage done by the hoppers 

 was so serious that the Commissioner of the Division, Mr. H. M. Laurie, 

 I.C.S., wrote :— 



" I have been touring in the Mungah Tahsil of the Bilaspur District^ 

 and I find much complaint of havoc caused in respect to the heavier 

 kinds of rice by the insect ' MaJio ' or ' Mahor ' concerning which 

 you have already made some inquiries. The Deputy Commissioner- 

 does not think that the damage in the MungaU Tahsil has in any village 

 exceeded four annas, but I am not quite sure about this. I am inclined 

 to think that in some villages in which ' Mai ' or ' Garhuna ' Dhan 

 constituted the bulk of the rice sown the damage may have arisen to 

 eight annas, or in some cases even more. A loss of four or six annas in 

 these kinds of Dhan will, according to my behef, be found to be a 

 matter of fairly common occurrence even in the Mungah Tahsil. The- 

 damage done in the Janjgir Tahsil is said to be greater than in Mungah. 

 There is complete unanimity of opinion that this pest is absolutely 

 new in the experience of the Chhattisgarhi cultivators. Not even the- 

 oldest inhabitant has seen anything hke it before " 



In order to get an idea of th'e damage done by the hoppers in one 

 single year one had to visit the localities and he would have been struck 

 with the havoc caused by the leaf-hoppers. Not only was there no grain, 

 but the fields were left unharvested, as they were not worth doing so. 

 By the attack of the hoppers the straw had become insipid and rancid 

 and as such was not eaten by the cattle which were in bad condition. 

 It was fortunate that the pests broke out in a mild form during the 

 following year (1915) otherwise the condition of the people as well as the- 

 cattle would have been very miserable. In this connection Mr. D.. 

 Clouston, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Southern and Eastern Circle, 

 Central Provinces, wrote on the 16th June 1915 : — 



"... it appears to jiie, however, that in the event of the pest 



doing as much damage as it did last year, it would be highly advisable 

 to consider whether it is not necessary to appoint a larger entomological 

 staff for the pioneer work. Even if the pest should fail to spread 

 beyond the confines of Chhattisgarh, we still have in that DiAdsion alone- 



