Miscellaneous Products, 



426 



[November, 1911. 



This change means a vastly increased 

 production, but with this increased pro- 

 duction has come a diminution in price, 

 so that shellac which in 1907-8 was 

 valued at Rs.112 per cwt., in 1908-9 

 fetched only Rs.73 per cwt. Thus it 

 would appear that the production of 

 lac has caught up to the demand, and 

 that any increase in production to be 

 profitable must be accompanied by a 

 decrease in the cost of production. Mr. 

 Stebbing's note would appear to have 

 been compiled before this change of 

 price declared itself, as the author says 

 that " the question of lac cultivation 

 has once again come to the front owing 

 to the remarkable increase in the price 

 of the article, a rise in price which has 

 been a natural concomitant of a de- 

 mand exceeding the supply, attribut- 

 able to the extensive use of shellac in 

 electrical work and in the manufacture 

 of gramaphone records. As far as can 

 at present be judged there appears ac- 

 cordingly no reason why the demand 

 for the product should not continue to 

 increase, and this probability would 

 seem to call for prompt and urgent 

 action, both on the part of those already 

 interested in the cultivation, and of those 

 who, by introducing it into areas in 

 which it is at present unknown, can thus 

 improve the pecuniary value of the lands 

 and add to the prosperity of the ryot." 

 But if the supply of lac has now caught 

 up with the demand, any steps taken to 

 increase its area of production are hard- 

 ly likely to be attended with a large 

 pecuniary return. 



Mr. Stebbing's note is of the greatest 

 interest and value as a complete study 

 of an important natural industry. The 

 illustrations of the lac insect, and of 

 the insects which are injurious to the 

 lac insect, are exceedingly good, and the 

 whole subject has been treated in a 

 clear and methodical way. The author 

 describes the origin and nature of lac, 

 which as is well-known is a resinous 

 incrustation excreted by an insect, and 

 the history and the growth of the 

 industry. He then describes the insect 

 and its life history, the food nn which 

 it lives, and its enemies. He goes on 

 to show how widely the lac insect is 

 distributed throughout the Indian con- 

 tinent, and the variety of different trees 

 on which it exists. A peculiarity of this 

 distribution is that whereas the insect 

 flourishes best on one or more species 

 of tree in one locality, in a different 

 part of the country it will be found to 

 thrive best on other species, even though 

 the trees upon which it does best in the 

 former area may be present in the latter. 

 The author has investigated the distri- 



bution of the insect in the various pre- 

 sidencies and provinces of India, and 

 indicates the trees upon which it thrives 

 best in different localities. After this 

 the method of cultivation and propa- 

 gation is considered. Native methods 

 of cultivation and collection are ex- 

 tremely careless and slovenly, and the 

 cultivation and propagation of the insect 

 on scientific lines has been receiving 

 considerable attention. The insects 

 swarm in February and in the last week 

 of June, the lac being collected during 

 June and from the middle of December 

 to the middle of January, before swarm- 

 ing takes place. About 10 per cent, of 

 the crop is kept as seedlac, special trees 

 being reserved or a portion of the crop 

 being left on each tree. When swarm- 

 ing time approaches the twigs coveted 

 with lac are loosely wrapped in rice 

 straw and are tied on to other uninfect- 

 ed branches. This provision of bridges 

 to enable the swarming larva3 to reach 

 unincrusted branches is of the utmost 

 importance. Nature's method to ensure 

 the continuance of the species has been 

 the production of a very large number 

 of offspring owing to the certainty of 

 large numbers perishiug in the effort to 

 reach suitable feeding places, and man 

 by assisting this operation turns to his 

 own advantage this great profusion of 

 offspring. The author describes the col- 

 lection of lac, its preparation for sale, its 

 treatment in the factory, and the manu- 

 facture of shellac ; lastly, he shows that 

 both in the cultivation and the collec- 

 tion of the lac large improvements are 

 possible. 



DEVELOPMENT OP BEJUOO 

 INDUSTRY. 



Will in Time Develop Great Value 

 for Export— Abundance Available 

 Throughout Islands. 



(From the Manila Bulletin.) 



Bejuco is beginning to enter into the 

 export trade of the Philippines and 

 promises in time to develop a great 

 value for export, while at the same time 

 there are numerous uses to which 

 bejuco is put in the local market. 



The bejuco industry is given notice in 

 '• Reciprocity and the Philippines," by 

 Mr. Harold M. Pitt, as follows :— 



Among the natural products of the 

 Philippines that are beginning to enter 

 into the islands is Bejuco, a vine com- 

 monly known as rattan, which flourishes 

 in most of the forests of the archipelago, 

 and often grows to be from 600 to 700 

 feet long. This vine is split into narrow 



