746 ntocEEDiNGS op the third entomological meeting 



Experiment XII. 

 To see if grains sealed with carbon bisulphide lose their germinating 

 power two varieties of wheat, viz., Pusa No. 6 and Black-awn, were 

 used and kept in stoppered glass jars which were further sealed with 

 paraffin wax. 



20th May 1916 . . 1. Black-awn, 1 lb. sealed with CSa- 



2. Pusa No. 6, 1 lb. sealed with CS^. 



3. Black-awn, 1 lb. sealed without CSj. 



4. Pusa No. 6, 1 lb. sealed without CSj. 



28th November 1916 . All the jars opened and the grains aired and sunned. 

 There was profuse smeU of CSj in the jars treated 

 with it. 100 seeds of each were set out for germina- 

 tion. In (1) and (2) none germinated. All germinated 

 in (3) and 88 in (4). 



Experiment XIII. 

 It will have been observed in the foregoing experiments that in 

 many cases there was an increase in the weight of the grains stored 

 when they were not damaged by insects. This was due to the variations 

 of moisture in the atmosphere. Unless the vessels are airtight or 

 rather impervious to air the grains absorb moisture. In this experiment 

 all the grains were stored with naphthaline, two of them being in 

 air-tight glass stoppered jars and the rest in glass dishes with loose 

 covers which would allow air but no insects to get in. (See Table on 

 page 747.) 



Experiment XIV. 

 Germination had not so far been satisfactory in the case of wheat 

 stored under sand. In order to ascertain definitely whether sand itself 

 had any injurious effect this experiment was made with the variety of 

 wheat knoAYu as Black-awn, 8,000 lbs. of which was obtained from the 

 Pusa Farm in April 1917 for carrying on the next experiment. After 

 being harvested the wheat had lain in the Farm godown for a few days 

 when apparently it became infected, as will appear from the records 

 of the experiment. At the time of storing Tribolium castaneum 

 beetles could be observed in the wheat. But no attempts were made 

 to clean or fumigate the grain as the aim was to determine the efiect 

 of sand both in this and the next experiments. On 4th April 1917, 

 before starting the experiments, two lots of 100 wheat grains each were 

 placed for germination and within a week 93 germinated in one lot and 

 85 in the other. For this experiment six pounds of wheat were placed 

 in three glass stoppered jars (Plate 122, fig. 2), 2 lbs. in each on 1st 

 May 1917. 



