800 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



Mr. Kunhi Kannan. 

 Mr. Misra. 



All this material requires to be worked over by an expert Coccidologist. 

 Cross-inoculations also require to be tried. 



Has the host-tree anything to do with the quality of the lac ? 



Yes ; to a certain extent. Palas lac is the best. We find lac-insects 

 on all sorts of all plants and, as far as the host-plants are concerned, 

 they are pests ; but as it produces lac, we call it a useful insect. 



To me it seems that the first necessity is the determination of the 

 sper^ies concerned before any cultural work is undertaken. 



We have the material for that as soon as we can find someone to under- 

 take the work. 



43.— THE PUSA EXPERIMENTS ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF 

 MULBERRY SILKWORMS. 



By M. N. De, Sericidtural Assistant, Pusa. 



(Plate 128.) 



As a result of the war the silk industry has shown signs of revival, 

 both as regards its value and quantity. New mulberry plantations 

 and rearers have come into existence and they are getting more money 

 by rearing silkworms than by cultivating other crops. It remains to be 

 seen whether the condition of the silk industry in India will improve 

 or revert to its original position. 



Multivoltine mulberry silkworm races are cultivated in Bengal, 

 Mysore, Kollegal and Assam. The price of cocoons and the cost of 

 cultivation are less in the above places than in any other country. This 

 advantage is counterbalanced by the inferiority of the yield of silk of 

 the Bengal and Assam races. The yield of the Mysore race, which 

 is reared in Mysore and Kollegal, is superior to the yield of the 

 Bengal and Assam races. The yield of this race as well as that of the 

 races of Bengal and Assam can be improved by careful selection if con- 

 tinued for a long time. We are attaching more importance to hybridiza- 

 tion than to selection as our surrounding conditions are not suitable 

 for rearing silkworms throughout the year ; besides, it is the quickest 

 way to modify and renovate a race. 



It seems generally admitted that the multivoltine races of India 

 have degenerated. European races of silkworms have been improved 

 by selection and hybridization and are producing about more than 

 double the quantity of their past yield, whereas our races are giving 

 slightly more than three-fourths of their past yield. Long continued 

 in-breeding inadvertently practised by careless rearers and rearing 

 under unhealthy conditions, with leaves of scanty nutritive value, are 



J 



