Part I. ] 
Stebbing ; Note on the Lac Insect. 
55 
traders who buy up the local produce imported into the towns. So 
that the points raised (by Mr. Stebbing) can be answered as follows : — 
(a) The people do still gather the lac before swarming. 
{h) If there was any demand for colourless lac at the foot of the hills 
the people would very soon learn to wait till after the 
swarmingj as it would pay them better. 
(c) The experiment woidd, I think, be easily made ; the lac here is 
cultivated on trees below the level of the pine trees, about 
3,000 feet.” 
[d) In Native States. 
Lac is said to be produced largely in the forests of the States of Ali 
I Bombay UdepuT, and Deogad Baruja. The 
chief lac-yielding trees are Ficus religiosa, 
Butea frondosa, Zizyphus jujuba, and Schleicher a trijuga. 
2. Central India and Raj- Rewah and Nagod are the two chief lac- 
putana. producing States of Central India. 
In Rewah the cultivation has been pushed to a very great extent, 
with the result that a net revenue amounting to no less than 2 to 4 lakhs 
a year is obtained. The Butea frondosa upon which ^gths of the lac is 
cultivated has been made a royal tree, and its felhng is prohibited. The 
remaining lac collection is done from Schleichera trijuga. Lac collec- 
tion takes place both from the forests and the district lands outside. 
Rewah is far ahead of other States in this work. 
In Nagode the lac cultivation is confined exclusively to the Butea 
frondosa. This State is under British supervision and the industry 
has recently been developed on good lines. No restrictions have been 
enforced against the felling of Butea frondosa trees in the fields. A 
net revenue of R6,000 per annum is now obtained from the industry 
in this State. 
In both States they confine themselves to propagation after the rains 
(September 15th to October 15th), finding apparently that the insects 
are less hable to suffer from frosts than from heavy rain and prolonged 
breaks in the early monsoon in June. This period is for the Butea fron- 
dosa. The season for propagation on Schleichera trijuga is later. The 
produce is always sold by the Forest Departments of the States in the 
crude condition. In several States efforts are now being made to estab- 
lish or extend the industry, but matters have not progressed far as yet. 
