6 BEPORT ON THE DISEASES OF SILKWORMS IN INDIA 



Japan. Perhaps, scholarships might be given to assist those desir- 

 ous of widening their outlook and increasing their knowledge. 



The question o! centralization. The idea of an Indian Silk 

 Institute with a Central Seed Supply Station is extraordinarily 

 attractive, and one which I would fain declare myself in favour 

 of, but the more I see of Indian sericulture the less feasible the 

 scheme appears. I am not in a position to pass any opinion on 

 the commercial side of the question —it might possibly be advan- 

 tageous to have a central organization connected with dyeing, weav- 

 ing, etc. — but at the outset I must declare emphatically against a 

 central seed supply station. No one central station could ever 

 supply efficiently all India with seed. Of course, such a supply 

 could not be for the ryots — that would be an absolute impossibility 

 — it would be a source of seed for the different provincial sericul- 

 tural departments to draw on, but even so the conflicting interests 

 of the various provinces and districts concerned, the great variety 

 of seed that would have to be kept going, the difficulties in arranging 

 adequate supplies to satisfy the demands from widely separated 

 parts of India at the correct times, the practical impossibility of 

 selecting any place for such- a station that would be suitable for 

 all varieties of worms and within easy reach of any part of India, 

 are only a few of the objections that rise in one's mind when the 

 idea is considered. In any case it is obvious that a single station 

 would be useless — -it would be folly to have all one's eggs in one 

 basket. Some unforeseen accident might destroy a large part of a 

 crop, so that at least two stations would be required, some distance 

 apart, to lessen the danger from this possibility. And when two 

 stations, why not more ? Each district would doubtless want 

 one* 



And here we come to the real fundamental objection to centra- 

 lization. India is too vast a country — its diversities of conditions 

 are too great — -its requirements too varied. A central seed supply 

 station to be adequate would have to have a section devoted to the 

 demands of each silk district, and for such a section to be really 

 successful it ought to be in that district. There is no reason what- 

 soever why a central station should be called into being to supply 

 disease-free seed. That can be produced in each district for its 

 own use probably much better and cheaper than in an all-India 

 concern. 



Owing to the present state of public finances I believe that 

 only the most urgent expenditure should be undertaken. The 

 important thing tq^o at present is to attempt to eliminate disease 

 as much as possible and to improve rearing. Until this is done 

 or until money is more plentiful, it is most unprofitable to spend 



