PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 793^- 



its way into the interior and is exported chiefly to India along with 

 Burma lac. The country as a whole has great possibilities of develop- 

 ment, and if properly worked, is likely to yield large quantities of stick- 

 lac which could be utilized for the manufacture of seed-lac or shellac. 

 Next to Assam, the Central Provinces and Bihar and Orissa, Burma 

 bulks large and is capable of producing half, if not more, of the normal 

 requirements of the country. Lac from Burma is used largely in Madras 

 for dyeing silk and to some extent wool. Tlie foodplants of the lac 

 insect are PithecoJobnan, Cassia, Zizyphus, Dipterocarpus, Shorea ohtusa, 

 Schleichera, Albizzia, Tamarindus, Butea, Ccesalpinia, Dalbergia ovata 

 and Xylia. 



Central India. Lac in some quantity is also collected in the Native 

 States of Eewah, Nagod, Maihar, Chhattarpur and Pannah. Attempts- 

 are also being made at Eutlam and Gwalior to grow lac, but how far the 

 experiments have been successful is not known. In Eewah considerable 

 quantities are collected in the forests and worked into shellac in the 

 factory at L'maria. But since last year the out-turn has fallen off consi- 

 derably, due no doubt to the intensive system of collection practised 

 in the previous years. 



From the above it will be seen that lac is found in most of the pro- 

 vinces of India and that in the majority of cases no attempts are made 

 to grow the insect on its foodplants. Whatever quantity is found to 

 grow on the plants is collected and sold to the nearest dealer in stick-lac. 

 In the majority of cases the collection is done by aboriginal tribes who 

 inhabit the outskirts of forests. These people barter lac for salt, cloth 

 or trinkets or such other small luxuries of life. The hania or the local 

 dealer collects the local produce and sells it to another merchant who 

 sends it either to Mirzapur or to Calcutta. The actual producer has no 

 dealings with the manufacturer and the result is that the major portion 

 of the profits is appropriated by the middleman. From the above it 

 will also be seen that the greater portion of lac brought for sale is collect- 

 ed as it is found growing on its foodplants and that no attempts have 

 been made to cultivate the insect on scientific and business lines. That 

 the insect can be propagated and its range of distribution extended 

 has been amply demonstrated in various localities and full details for 

 propagating it are given in the Bulletin on the " Cultivation of Lac 

 in the Plains of India," (Eevised edition. Agricultural Eesearch Institute, 

 Pusa), If the hnes of work laid down therein are followed, it vnll be 

 found that localities where Palas {Butea frondosa), Schleichera trijuga 

 and Zizyphus jujuha plants abound, could be utilized for the production 

 of lac. The result will be that plants which have ceased to be of any 

 economic value now will yield fairly good returns on the amount 



