Paet I. ] 
Stebbing : Note on the Lac Insect. 
31 
Until recently no lac cultivation was undertaken in the forests of the 
Western Circle. Experiments have now, how- 
4. United Provinces. , j • .li. o- • • 
ever, been commenced m the feiwalik Division, 
in the neighbouring district lands of which lac cultivation is undertaken. 
These experiments are being carried out in the Western Range and are 
to be introduced into the Eastern Range also. Seed-lac is being propa- 
gated on a certain number of Butea frondosa trees. 
No royalty has yet been realized by Government on this product. 
The trees locally used by villagers are Butea frondosa. Ficus religiosa, 
Albizzia Lebbek, and Acacia Catechu. 
Mr. Hobart-Hampden, Director of the Imperial Forest School, and 
formerly in charge of the School Circle to which the Saharanpur Division 
belonged, forwarded the following note on the subject : — 
“ The villagers below the forests in the eastern part of the Saharanpur 
Division cultivate lac on Butea frondosa in their fields and I proposed 
this in the Pathri forest (13,000 acres of nearly solid Butea). If success- 
ful it would be, in my opinion, excellent to try it on Butea, Khair, Kusum, 
and other trees in the parts of the Saharanpur hills which are inaccessible 
for timber work, but which must be fire-protected, as protection to the 
canals down country, among other things. The Range Officer of Barkela 
Range has tried it on a tree near his head-quarters and found it spread 
well. ” 
In the Eastern Circle, with the exception of Bimdelkhand, no lac is 
artificially raised in the forests. It occurs to some extent in both the 
Bahraich and Rumaon Divisions although the area over which it exists 
is unknown. 
In the Bahraich Division an annual contract is sold for about R50 
per annum in the Motipur Range, the contractor making his own arrange- 
ments for the collection. It exists here on Butea frondosa and Ficus 
religiosa. 
In the Kumaun Division the Conservator states that lac occurs 
naturally here and there in the miscellaneous forests of the Bhaber, 
chiefly on Butea frondosa trees. The right to collect it is sold to con- 
tractors together with numerous other minor products for a lump sum. 
In the Bundelkhand Division the area of forest land from which 
lac is collected is 38,025 acres. It is reserved forest situated in the 
extreme south and south-east of the Lalitpur Range in the Parganas of 
