PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 729 



attacked by the Rice Weevil {Calandra oryzce) in the course of a year. 

 All depends on the accessibility of the insects into the grain. 



On this principle a masonry store-house has been built in the Cawnpur 

 Agricultural Experimental Station especially to preserve the seed for 

 the next season. Bags filled with wheat are piled up to the ceiHng. 

 Care is taken to have a thick layer of bhusa all round the bags on the 

 floor and against the walls and the ceiling. The door is also similarly 

 closed. But grains are said to be affected by weevils in this store, 

 especially those near the door, tlirough which apparently the insects 

 find access. 



Bokhar. From Bihar as we proceed to regions of decreased rainfall 

 of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, the precautions against 

 damp in the preparation of store-houses are dispensed with. In some 

 places in the Benares Division ordinary dwelHng houses of the cultivators 

 are converted into what they call Bokhars in which they store all kinds 

 of grain, such as wheat, maize, pulses, etc. The grain is poured on 

 the floor. Against the walls there is first of all a layer of linseed sticks 

 and then a layer of bhusa. The doors and windows also are similarly 

 stopped and the entire room may be filled ^\^th grain. In some places 

 the bokhar is a room partly underground and partly above ground. 



Khatti. Where the level of the subsoil water is low the bokhar has 

 been replaced by underground pits known as Khattis. Plate 121, fig. 2, 

 shows a diagrammatic section through a khatti. It is a hollow pit under- 

 ground with a narrow round opening at the top about 2| feet in 

 diameter, through which a man can pass. A layer of leaves and bhusa 

 is placed at the bottom before filling in the grains and against the walls 

 a layer of straw is put. When the khatti is full the mouth is closed and 

 plastered with earth level with the surface of the ground. In order ta 

 empty a khatti a man goes in to fill a basket which two men pull up hj 

 means of two thick ropes tied at opposite ends on the rim of the basket, 

 as shown in the diagram. Wheat, barley, peas, gram and maize are- 

 usually preserved in khattis and probably wheat on the largest scale. 



Much of the following details regarding khattis was supplied by Babu 

 Bhulimal Narayan Das, Merchant, sometime Vice-Chairman of the 

 Ghaziabad Municipal Board, ' and owner of 20 khattis, to one of the 

 writers (C. C. G.), who paid a visit to Ghaziabad in March 1918 to see 

 methods of storage on the khatti system. At this place there are 1,200 

 khattis. Their capacity is about 600 to 750 maunds. They are 15 feet 

 to 16| feet deep and their diameter at the bottom is of the same measure- 

 ment. The methods of digging khattis differ from place to place. At 

 Ghaziabad the diameter of the khatti at any point is equal to the depth 

 of this point from the ground-level. In some places, for instance at 



