February, 1912.] 



121 



MISCELLANEOUS USEFUL PRODUCTS. 



LAC CULTURE AS AN INDUSTRY" 

 FOR CEYLON. 



By N. Wickramaratne. 

 (Deputed to study Lac Culture at the 

 Research Institute, Pusa.) 



In a letter to the Secretary of the 

 Ceylon Agricultural Society, Professor 

 Dunstan, who had been reporting on 

 samples of lac produced in Barada State 

 from the rain tree {Pithecolobium saman) 

 suggested that lac culture might with 

 advantage be introduced into Ceylon in 

 view of the fact that all the principal 

 reads were lined with rain trees. This 

 led to a considerable amount of corres- 

 pondence on the subject between the 

 Secretary of the Ceylon Agricultural 

 Society, the Government Entomologist, 

 and the Imperial Entomologist of India, 

 which finally resulted in a decision to 

 send an Agricultural Instructor to the 

 Agricultural Research Institute and 

 Agriculturl College, Pusa, for a training 

 in lac culture. Having been selected for 

 the purpose, I left Ceylon on the lOch 

 September and reached Pusa after a 

 tedious railway journey on the 18th. I 

 immediately reported myself to the 

 authorities, and began my studies which 

 included a month's practical work in the 

 field and a course of lectures by Mr. 

 Misera, the lac expert, who is first Assis- 

 tant to the Imperial Entomologist. At 

 the end of the course I passed the exami- 

 nation held on the 19th October entitling 

 me to a certificate which I hold. I would 

 take this opportunity of expressing my 

 thanks to the authorities at Pusa for 

 their courtesy and kindness to me as the 

 first Ceylonese student sent to the 

 College. 



It is interesting to note that the word 

 Lac is derived from the Sanscrit 'laksha;' 

 a "lac" meaning 100,000 and refers to the 

 large number of insects that emerge from 

 brood lac, 



Lac. or Shellac of Commerce, is a resi- 

 nous substance produced by a species of 

 scale insect (Tachardialacca) which lives 

 on the tender branches of certain trees. 

 These insects suck the juice of the bark 

 aDd secrete the resin. In harvesting lac 

 the branches with resinous incrustations 

 are removed from the trees and the resin 

 is scraped off. This is washed and graded 

 for export. Lac is used in the manufac- 

 ture of varnishes, paints, lithographic 

 inks ; in the preparation of gramophone 

 records, in electrical works, and in nu- 

 merous other way 9. 

 16 



The residual water in which lac is 

 washed contains a dye which was at one 

 time very highly valued as a red colour- 

 ing matter, and reckoned the chief pro- 

 duct of lac collection. But since the 

 discovery of synthetic dyes it has greatly 

 depreciated in value. 



In 1868-9 Rs.790,655 worth of lac-dye 

 and Rs. 1,168,739 worth of shellac were 

 exported from India. In 1897-8 the export 

 of lac-dye was nil, and the export of 

 shellac was valued at Rs. 11,935,957. The 

 present estimated value of lac annually 

 produced, is, according to the Imperial 

 Entomologist, nearly six crores* of rupees 

 and there is room for very large exten- 

 sion of cultivation before the market 

 will be glutted by over-production. 



The systematic cultivation of lac was 

 begun in India only comparatively lately. 

 Before that, lac was a forest product. 

 Brood lac is now sent out from the Agri- 

 cultural Research Institute, Pusa, to 

 various parts of India and elsewhere, and 

 the demand for the services of trained 

 hands is on the increase. It is satisfac- 

 tory to find it authoritatively stated 

 that at its present price lac is a remune- 

 rative industry, that the present prices 

 are the lowest for eight years, that there 

 is a steady demand and a limited source 

 of supply, and that the price is likely to 

 remain at least where it is probably to 

 advance. The present low market rate 

 is considered to be due to special causes 

 such as overstocking or cornering. 



The methods of obtaining lac in India 

 are three, namely :— 



(1.) By collecting whenever the trees 

 which bear natural lac yield a crop, 



(2.) By inoculating standing trees with 

 brood lac and afterwards collecting the 

 lac from them. 



(3.) By inoculating trees specially 

 grown for the purpose. 



The following are some of the trees 

 best suited to lac cultivation in India; 

 and as they are found in Ceylon they 

 might be similarly used here :— 

 Indian Sinhalese Botanical 

 Name. Name, Name. 

 Kusum Kon Schleichera trijuga 



Palas Karanda Butea frond osa 

 Ber Masan Zizyphus jujuba 

 — Ingasaman JritheceLobium 



saman 



Kon lac is considered the best, and the 

 tree is a heavy yielder. Karanda and 

 Masan 9tand heavy pruning which is 

 necessary for the production of new wood. 



* A crore = 10,000,000. ' 



