796 rROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



"Madras, along with the quantity consumed in the country, which is in 

 no sense a neghgible quantity, it will be found that the total annual 

 production of lac in India and Burma is well over 170-200 million lb. 

 'This quantity is raised annually, when the insect has bean subjected to 

 ill and drastic treatment which, if not efiectual in its total extinction, 

 has lowered its vitality U) such an extent that it may be said to be 

 the progeny of degenerated parents which are not as yet free from the 

 "baneful effects of processes which are antiquated as well as effete. If 

 one looks at the methods adopted for collecting the yearly produce, one 

 is struck with the profound vitality displayed by the insect and I think 

 it is its prolific fecundity which has saved it from total extinction. The 

 cultivators now have recourse to measures of collection such as were 

 adopted by their forefathers centuries ago. But the times have changed 

 considerably. What was once a paying item has ceased to be such. 

 "What was once eagerly sought after is now discarded. The introduction 

 ■t)f aniline colours has done much to bring about this change. But as 

 the lac cultivator is illiterate, and lives in remote corners where ideas of 

 modern developments do not reach him, he persists in adopting old 

 and antiquated methods of collection. The lao-dye has ceased to be an 

 article of commerce, and attempts are made to obtain resin which is as 

 much free of the colouring matter as is possible to obtain. But the 

 lac cultivator, irrespective of these changes in the commercial world, 

 still continues to collect lac before swarming has taken place, with the 

 result that the larvse are killed outright by exposure of the lac-bearing 

 branches to the heat of the sun. The result is that the healthiest and 

 most virile larvse are killed oft, leaving behind stragglers which are 

 not so vigorous as they should be. In a count made at Pusa of larvae 

 of Zizt/phus jujuba lac, it was found that 52 days after establishment, 

 25' to 30 per cent, of them had failed to establish themselves and to 

 produce resin. Later on, the percentage was found to increase until 

 barely a fourth of the number had been able to reproduce itself. If 

 material in various places is examined in this light, it will be found that 

 in places even a larger percentage fails every year to establish and sub- 

 sequently to reproduce itself. This is no doubt one of the causes of the 

 short supplies so much complained of by the shellac-manufacturers 

 from time to time. If, however, the lac cultivators are informed of the 

 mischief they are doing unconsciously, I am sure they will improve 

 their methods and will begin collecting the material after the larvae 

 have swarmed out. No doubt much could also be done by the manufac- 

 turers. If they will adopt the practice of paying the cultivators on the 

 proportion of resin to lac-dye in a sample, the cultivator would soon 

 modify his ways and would adapt himself to changed circumstances. 



