24 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. iVIII 
From the point of view of India it would be a mistake to encourage 
any repetition of these attempts as success might endanger an indus¬ 
try which now gives employment to thousands of regular workmen 
in this country and increases the earnings of hundreds of thousands 
of the poorer cultivators. India is more than capable of supplying 
all the world’s shellac requirements for many years to come, and the 
extension of the industry, called for by the present strength of the 
foreign demand, may well take place on an adequate scale within her 
own borders. The boom in shellac during 1919-20 has aroused 
interest in lac throughout India and the result seems likely to be a 
considerable extension of cultivators. Later chapters show that none 
of the districts which now produce the largest quantities of lac are, 
in any sense of the term, intensively cultivated. Where Government 
action is taken to increase the supply, its object will be more easily 
fulfilled by systematising and intensifying cultivation in areas where 
success is assured, than in attempting to extend it to areas where it 
is not already grown commercially. 
In Chapter I the climatic factors which influence the distribution 
of the lac insect have already been discussed. From the commer¬ 
cial point of view one other factor is of supreme importance, namely 
the quality and extent of communications, and in particular railways. 
A glance at the map of the main area shows that the area is wholly 
situated within the districts served by the Bengal-Nagpur and East 
Indian Railways, south of the Jumna and Ganges. 
The lac markets are mostly situated on railways and the proxi¬ 
mity ofrailways has thus a very stimulating effect on production. An 
excellent example is afforded by the Chattisgarh Feudatory States. 
The States producing the largest quantities of stick-lac are Korea, 
Raigarh and Ranker. These are small States and the only reason 
for their large production is their proximity to the markets at Pen- 
dra, Raigarh and Dhamtari, respectively. Conversely Orissa and Bastar, 
lying between the two B. N. R. main lines, form without exception 
the largest area in India unserved by railways ; and, except for the 
Rajputana desert, the Chota Nagpur-Surguja area lying between the 
B. N. R. line and the E. I. R. Grand Chord is the next largest. 
Both these tracts are of the greatest importance, not only because 
they form part of the main lac area, but further because they contain 
large numbers of Kusum trees, hitherto entirely neglected* The 
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