13 



at Candeish, Poona (in 1839) and Belgaum (in 

 1859 and 1863) had also been recorded. These 

 occurrences suggested that it ^might still be 

 discoverable in these localities, but inquiry in 

 Bombay did not afford any hope of such being 

 likely. , 



Poona. — In the absence of Mr. (i. Keatinge, 

 the Director of Agriculture, his Deputy, Mr. T. 

 F. Main, gave us access to certain official records. 

 Mr. H. Mann, the Principal of the Poona Agri- 

 cultural College, brought under notice a report 

 by a member of his staff relating to the action 

 of a scale insect, Diaspis echinocacti, on prickly- 

 pear. 



Professor J. B. Knight placed at the dis- 

 posal of the Commission . his reports on the ex- 

 perimental feeding of Opuntia to stock in the 

 Poona area> In his company, visits were made 

 to the Experiment Station of the College, and 

 to the Government Farm at Kirknee, where 

 these trials were being carried out; and also to 

 Mr. A. Norton's farm' at Dhond, where prickly- 

 pear had been utilised to a considerable extent 

 as a cattle fodder, the incident having received 

 notice in the Indian and Australian Press. 



Professor G. A. Gamie, who is the Imperial 

 Cotton Expert, was interviewed regarding the 

 use of prickly-pear as a soil fertiliser. 



The prevalent cactus at Poona was found 

 to be 0. nigricans. In one locality there was seen 

 another Opuntia, which was evidently a more 

 useful fodder plant.* 



Belgaum. — In this district O. nigricans 

 occurred commonly, and was regarded as a 

 nuisance by the agriculturists. Nopalea cochineli- 

 fera was also found in the neighbourhood. No 

 sign of insects or disease affecting prickly-pear 

 was noticed here. 



Mr. L. Napier, the Deputy Conservator of 

 ForestSj stated that he was not aware of the 

 preseijce of any natural enemy of 0. nigricans, 

 nor of the alleged occurrence of the wild cochineal 

 in. that region. In regard to utilisation fifty or 

 sixty years ago, he stated that the only use made 

 of it was as a hedge plant, except under stress of 

 circumstances when the fruit was eaten by man 

 and beast. The difficulty of preparation and a 

 conservative distrust of a new method of feeding 

 cattle were the chief obstacles to its employment 

 as a-' stock f'c<d4er;-'.' ;]EIe uijentioned that when' pnce,, 

 the'^plant had obJ4iiied a firm hold in the, forests 

 in the district, no steps were taken to subdue it 

 on account of the prohibitive cost. 



Mr. R. S. Mudakattee, of the Forestry Ser- 

 vice, also rendered assistance. 



Dhar.war.— The Collector, Mr. B. Maconochie, 

 informed us that prickly-pear was regarded as a 

 pest in the district, and was especially prevalent 

 at Nargand, to the south. He also wrote : " As 

 far as I' know, we, in India, have no results of 

 any value to communicate; no means of removal. 

 is practised beyond the primitive one of cutting 



* This prickly -pear is to be seen growing in the yard 

 of the Police quarters adjacent to the officer of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Poona. Here it forms a lofty bush, 

 but' ho iniibations of flower or fruit ^ere noticeable on it 

 when, examined. It is evidently the Opuntia decwmana 

 dealt with by Burkill (1912, pp. 314-5), who expresses the 

 opinion that it is identical with Roxburgh's Cactus cUnensw. 

 It may be here pointed out that the latter received it from 

 'Dr. James Anderson, who, after having obtained it from 

 China and propagated it in his nopaby at Madras, had 

 distributed it widely in 1788 (vid. " Letters to Sir Joseph 

 Banks," 1789, p. 15). 



and burning ; and as to economic use, it has been 

 employed to a limited extent as a subsidiary 

 cattle fodder in time of famine, but it requires 

 careful preparation for which the Indian ryot 

 has no inclination or aptitude." 



The Deputy Collector, Mr. G. R. Balehundri, 

 made available certain information contained in 

 reports, and submitted specimens of the cact,i 

 naturalised in the district, these being determined 

 as 0. nigricans, Nopalea cocliinelifera, and Cereus 

 pterogonus. Inquiry failed to bring to light the 

 occurrence of 0. monacantha or of the wild 

 cochineal or other insect affecting any of the 

 prickly-pears there. 



Bellary. — It was in this part of the Madras. 

 Presidency that A. Sabhapathi, in 1876-7 and 

 1891-2 had carried out some feeding experimeht&w 

 with stock during periods of famine. 



Mr. G. F. Paddison, the district Collector, 

 rendered considerable service in placing at our 

 disposal all the available official information 

 relating to prickly-pear, and brought under notice 

 the local Opurttias, 0. nigricans and 0. ditlenii,, 

 which were prevalent in some places and might 

 be seen growing commingled. He also com- 

 missioned one of his officers, Mr. M. R. 

 Ekambiiah, to accompany us. No natural enemy 

 was known to him or was detected by us while 

 there. 



Ountakal. — It had been our intention to 

 travel from Guntakal to the Kurnool country 

 lying to the north-west, where cochineal insects 

 had been obtained in 1865 and subsequently,* but 

 it was found impracticable. 



Anantapur. — A visit was paid to this town 

 since it was reported that prickly-pear had been 

 destroyed there at about the same time as at 

 Kurnool, but no information was available from 

 the Collector or his officers regarding the occur- 

 rence. 



Bangalore (Mysore State). — On arrival here, 

 it was found that Sir Hugh Daly, the British 

 Resident, who is also the Chief Commissioner of 

 Coorg, had kindly arranged for assistance bein^^ 

 afforded us in Coorg, in the event of our visiting 

 that State, but this we found impracticable, in 

 view of the limited time available. 



- Dn L. C. Coleman, Director of the Mysore 

 Dep6,rtment of Agriculture, Bangalore, placed at 

 our disposal reports — some of which are quoted 

 above — relating to the methods adopted by the 

 Mysore Government for coping with the prickly- 

 pear problem. He also suggested employment 

 of the plant for manurial purposes, though in his 

 publication on "Green Manuring in the Mysore 

 State "t he had not mentioned the utilisation of 

 Opuntia in this way. 



The collection of prickly-pears in the local 

 Botanical Gardens, in charge of Mr. G. Koum- 

 biegel, was examined, but neither disease nor 

 injurious insects were found. 



In our further investigations in Mysore we 

 were accompanied by the Assistant ilycologist, 

 ]\Ir. Venkata R^^u, for, whose services avc arc 

 indebted to Dr. Coleman. 



Mysore. — It was here that cochineal insects 

 had been formerh' established on an acclimatised 



* Indian Museum Notes IV., 1899, p 212. 



t Bull. 1, Dept. Agric, Mysore, Bangalore, 1912. 



