May 1, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
733 
usually weighed) 233,540 hundredweiKht va'ued at 
$667,775, In amount this did uot equal the imports 
in 1890 whea 255,955 hundred woigLt was imported 
but the value fxoeer'eri by mo.e than $70,000 the im- 
ports of any previous yeev. The fjllowing table I 
bLows the annual imports eicco 1867: 
Geaphite impokxed into the United States 
from 1867 to 1892. 
Unmanufactured 
, — ■ ^ Manufac- 
Quantity. 
Value. 
tured. 
Total 
cwt. 
S 
June 30, 18G7. 
.. 27,113 
54,131 
51,131 
C8.. 
.. tiS.'jiU 
149,083 
149,083 
69 
351,004 
351,004 
270,124 
VO. 
.. 80,7i'5 
269,291 
833 
71. 
.. 51,62H 
136, ?C0 
3,754 
139,9.11 
72. 
.. 9',3!il 
3.9,030 
329,1 3 J 
73. 
157,5)9 
548,61-1 
382,f'91 
518,613 
74. 
. .111,992 
38-',i9 
To. 
.. 46,493 
122,0)0 
12iV- 0 
76. 
.. 6ls5f9 
150,709 
17,6u5 
168,314 
77. 
.. 75,361 
iO 1,630 
ICOdl 
i22,72i 
78. 
.. 60,244 
151 7 7 
16.91 9 
171,666 
79. 
. . 6d,*;62 
164,0 '3 
24,637 
188, 6-5 J 
8u. 
..109,a08 
278,022 
29.il4l 
300,963 
81. 
..160,9:^7 
381,966 
31,674 
413,t40 
81. 
..150,421 
363,^35 
3b9,:.7i 
83. 
..154,893 
361,949 
21,721 
38<,670 
84. 
..144,086 
2e6,:<93 
1 ,863 
288,25!) 
85. 
..110,4*2 
20;, 228 
207,22ci 
ce. 
.. 83,368 
161.111 
lt4,l 11 
33i,62i 
87. 
..168,841 
331,6/1 
Dee. 31, 88. 
,.184,013 
3-53,990 
8.)3,99j 
89. 
...177,^81 
3;8.u67 
378,057 
90. 
..25,5,965 
594,746 
594,740 
9i. 
..212.360 
555,030 
555,08u 
92. 
...233,540 
667,775 
667,775 
SUPPLEMENTARY OR AUXILIARY CUL- 
TIVATION FOR INDIGO, TEA AND 
COFFEE PLANTERS. 
Owing to a variety of reaBong, the prcdaction of 
shellac and cognate preparations has fallen off i j 
recfciit years and it is a commodity of considt-rrble 
valaa, for vfhich there is a steady demand. ThertaTon 
of the reduced production of Shellac is that the yield 
of Stick Lac, from which artich) it is manufactnrtd has 
been very greatly curtailed of late years in the chief 
producing di^trict8 of this country, viz. the Central and 
Bsetern Provinces, the Cliattisgurh plateau and tho 
Obnttia Nsgpore ttrcitories. The result is a consider- i 
ab'e and in all probhbiii'y, a permanent enhancement 1 
in the price of Shell: c, especially of the finer marks; and 
in this coLncction we would urge upon all our planting 
friends thut a ver> profitable opening for a supplement- 
ary income is a their disposal. It is not our pro- I 
vince to ( laborate in detail on the reason for the | 
•hort yield of Stick Lx, further than to saythatthe 
opening up of the Bengal-Nagpore Railway and the | 
enormous clearings of jungle lauds consequent thereon, 
coupled with the great tide of emigration of coolies | 
from these jungly tracts to the tea districts for many 
years, are the chief causes of the reduced outturn of 
Stick Lao; for these jungles yielded it and these 
jungly coolies used to attend to the propagation and 
collection of the ineeot product. 
Wliat we would point out for the benefit of our 
plnutin.^' frends — whether in Indigo, ? tea or coffee — is, i 
that there is now a incst benefioial and easily-worked 
undertaking available for them all, mthoitt anij appreciu- 
ble out/an oj capital, nn opet&iion easily conducted, and 
one which from start to finish can be carried out witboat 
detriment to their ordinttry operatioos. All work lequirtd 
for the propagation and collection of Stick L>tu comes 
on «t the planters' slack times, and the Labour they 
wi lil t have to detatch frrm their onrreu' work ia 
niicroscopio »a compared with the rtiults to be ot- 
tainei*, for the Lao itsect is the grent worker and 
the rtal producer of thst ccnimodity. In these 
ilnys (;ood Stick Lao is worth from UIO to liHO per 
iiiatind, aocordirg to quality, and there in Hlv>a\s a 
luady market tor it and ouo good s^cd Kounum 
trie h»H been ku jwn to give 15 to '.'5 aon n of H'.itk 
Lac juiiuallj . 
As the plant which produces Urhur Dhal is a favou- 
rite with the Lac insect, Indigo planters might turn 
their atterjtion to its production with advaatage, 
for the period of growth of the Urhur plant is of 
quite BufficioLt durhtion to enable thtm to get off 
to get off a c;op of Stick Lao each 3 ear, and the 
dtrpo.'it of the insect anJ its operaliouB do nut in auy 
way reduce tie yitld of Dial from the plant. A 
small portion of each year's yield of Stick Lac would 
have to be retained for the propagation purpose* of 
the following yenr's crop of Lao. There are waste 
lands in Neversi Pergunnalis where the Bibo l tree 
and the Peas exi t iu oousiderable numbers and over 
a tousiderable srfa, atd on thesa the Lac insect 
thrives; and it would well repay Indigo planters to 
arrange for the prtduction of Stick Lac npou all 
such as are in their respective i eighbourhoo(!3 and in 
their control. For in these days of progress in obemi- 
cbI science an I the atlention thot is being give'i 
to the production of a mordant that will supplant 
Indigo in the markets of the world, it is an ad- 
vantage to Icok ahead a little and prep<re for 
any great aUerati;n that ojay take place, and 
Ii digo planters are the meat likely to h> affected by 
any great changes or discoveries in chemistry. 
Most tea and coffee plantations require a certain 
amount of shade, besie'ej which, generally speaking, 
they have a substantial area of surplus lucds and we 
wish to shew them how, by making an intelligent 
use of their bhade requirements and thiir surplus 
1 inds, they are in a position to inaugurate a mo*t 
profitable supplemoijtary or auxiliary in'instry, and 
one which entidls the de'achmeut of very litUe labour 
from their ordinary occupa ions. There are certain 
wild trees such as the KoO:)Um, the Blair, the bastard 
Teak, the Babt ol, and the Peas, oti which the Lao 
insects thrives, and with the exception of the fiist 
meLtioned the^ are all tcuml in abundance in 
most jungle or waste tracts. The first mentioned 
discriplioj of tree is not 30 common, nor so gene- 
rally found in juiij^le trao's, but the Stick L ie pro- 
duced from it is the finest quality and goes to make 
the finest marks nf orange Shellac. The Koojum is a 
large •nd very cleia tree which gives a fair amoant'd 
shade. It ia somett ing liko the Sisoo in size nnd 
appearance, is easily grown, is of rapid growth, and 
requires but litt'e care when once planted, and the 
annual yiel.l of Stick Lao from it is a moist one such 
as the tea and cofifee pant loyes, and where it is uot 
indigenous and dees uot at present ex st it would 
be a most profitable undertaking to plmt it oui for 
frhade purposes, and in all waste or jungle lands. 
For the benefit <f those of our planting friendi 
who are not conversant with the subjeor, we may 
moctiou that S ick L c and its resultant pro- 
duct is not a gum ns it is usually or commer- 
cia ly called. Ii is the product of a minute injeot, 
the coccus Jicus and is cota;)"'e I of a mateiial which 
the said inseot builds up round its young for protec- 
tion. The coccus Jicus depo;ito its egis on the finer 
twigs and leaves of the tree it affects, and an orange 
colored aohstauce exudes from the inaect with which 
it proceeds to cover its eggs — this incrnftation is 
Stick Lac of commerce. This peculiar exudation is 
evidently intended as a protector of the egi;s and the 
small maggot batched therefrom ; it probably also 
serves aa feed for the maggot in its first stage. The 
Lac is arranged neatly in cells slightly differing in 
forrii from honeycomb. The insect dcee all the 
work and tho small branchra and twigs enoruited 
with this Bubstaooe are broken off by the ooUeotor 
when matare, or about twice a year : a email 
portion must be left in ench tree from whieh the 
inseot will escape and propagate and build np 
fiirthLr supplies. Once nttoduced the only labour 
required for the production of Stick Lao is for ths 
purp-'ses of ooUectiou. To pofagate 00 fresh or 
unusiJ trees or shrubs, a'l that is needed i.^ to lake a 
few twigt l ea ii'g the eg^s or maggots of the insect at 
a peri.nl hef< r« it escnpei from the cells of fjac built 
rouni it, aod tie these on the unused or unimpri govti d 
; tr^^t*, «nil wlieu the maggot eicapen it will erit' laloug 
I t 10 due t» i>;8 and oduiiiiucoa its o(>0' iiti 'UD wilLkUl 
