rROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 73L 



his shop in which 10 maimds of grain were spoilt in the first year and, 

 if kept on for the second year, as much as 30 maunds were spoilt, while- 

 one equally old behind his shop was reported to spoil only 3 or 4 maunds 

 even if the grain was continuously kept for two years. With age the- 

 khatti seems to become drier and therefore less grains are spoilt in them 

 but they were reported to be more liable to attack by insects. In some- 

 of the khattis which were about 100 years old it was said that there- 

 was hardly any increase in weight due to moisture, but on the other 

 hand the grain at the top up to a depth of about two to three feet was 

 damaged by insects, leading to a decrease in weight of about 2 or B 

 maunds. The insects were reported to work always from the top 

 do^vn wards. In large khattis holding, say, 1,500 or 2,000 maimds, on, 

 account of the larger bulk of the grain the damage is comparatively 

 small. But, as it is easier to get customers for small quantities, the 

 ordinary dealers prefer khattis of smaller capacity. The exporters 

 prefer larger ones. Of course, the longer the grain is kept, the greater 

 is the damage, more in the second year and still more in the third 

 year. 



The khattis may be said in some respects to occupy the same position 

 as the Country Elevators do in the United States of America and Canada. 

 Sir Thomas Price, in his " Keport on the Storage and Handhng of Grain 

 in Europe, United States of America and Canada," says : — " The Country 

 Elevators are the buildings [capacity 50 to 20,000 tons and built of 

 wood ; p. 21] studded all over the country adjacent to Railway Stations 

 and usually on Railway ground, to which grain is brought by the farmers 

 to be sold or stored until ordered to be sent forward by rail to a flour 

 mill or to a Terminal Elevator, there to be either further stored till dis- 

 posed of or shipped by sea, lake, canal, river, railway or other means 

 of communication " (page 6). Also the elevator " is the ware-house for 

 grain, designated by a registered title, inspected and hcensed by the- 

 State, and under the more particular supervision of the City Board of 

 Trade. Grain must be weighed and classified before going into its 

 bins and once there it is as easy to deal in it in the market as it is to 

 transfer money in a bank from one account to another. The ware- 

 house receipt for it is negotiable ; to all intents and purposes it is the 

 grain itself " (p. 39). The khattis are not as systematized as described 

 here. They are situated in large grain centres to which the farmers 

 bring their produce usually for sale. The dealers store the grain in 

 them and the grain stored in them may pass through several hands before 

 being actually emptied out and disposed of. Necessarily some rules 

 and conventions have arisen for the working of the khattis. Thus at 

 Ghaziabad there is a special class of men called Chamars who do the 



