48 
Indian Forest Records. 
' VoL. I. 
commenced to be gathered when the northerly winds set in in November, 
and the gathering continues till January or February. The hot weather 
harvesting of the crop begins with the setting in of the south-westerly 
breezes in April and lasts till June. The latter, though not so plentiful, 
is a better crop in value than the former, realizing as much as R5 
per maund more. The crop on the banyan (Ficus bengalensis), however, 
is an exception. Its cold weather crop is both more plentiful and 
valuable than the summer crop. In order to secure a supply of lac for 
the following year, some of the incrustation, containing of course the Hve 
insects not yet fully developed, is left on the branches of the trees at the 
time of gathering. The period when the insect is likely to be ready for 
swarming out of the incrustation is well known to the gatherers, and 
about a month or so before this most of the produce is collected, while 
the remainder is left behind on the branches to form a nucleus for the 
succeeding crop. Those insects left on the trees swarm out and 
cover the tender branches in January and July for the two crops re- 
spectively.” 
Cultivation of lac . — “ It is during these months that it is possible to 
extend the area under lac by artificial means. Small branches, covered 
with the incrustation, are cut off and transferred to tender and succulent 
branches of other trees, in perhaps a totally different locality where lac 
does not exist. In making the transfer care has to be taken to place the 
cut-off branches, bearing the incrustation, on the crowns of the trees in- 
tended to bear lac, in order that as soon as the young brood swarm out 
they may find young and tender shoots to attach themselves to and may 
not all drop off on to the groimd. 
“ In consequence of the increased value of the summer crop and in 
order to secure a more plentiful supply then, a larger proportion of the 
incrustation is often left on the trees in the cold weather than is gathered, 
which was the case this year (1896).” 
Amount of lac collected . — “In the forests, north of Hyderabad, each 
babul tree, it is computed, yields 7 to 15 seers. The trees on which the 
insect is found are of all sizes, varying from 1 to 6 or 8 feet in girth ; but 
the insects confine themselves to the young and tender branches only of 
the trees. One can generally tell a lac-bearing tract, because of the 
ground underneath each tree being strewn with cut-away branches, the 
lac from which has been removed. 
“ The banyan yields the largest quantity of lac, one to two maunds 
per tree, sirus gives one to one and a half maunds, and her about the sanae 
