CHAPTER IV. 
Cultivation. 
There are two broods of lac annually and each gives a crop of 
stick-lac, one in the hot weather or early 
The lac crops. rains from the winter brood and one in 
the cold weather from the summer brood. Kusum lac, however, is of 
much finer colour and quality and somewhat later in maturing than 
that on other trees ; and hence its two crops have received separate 
names and are treated as separate crops by the trade. There are thus 
annually four crops of lac :— 
Baisakhi or Batri 
Katki or Rangeen 
Jethwi 
Kusmi, Nagoli or Aghani 
... The summer crop from all species except 
Kusum. 
... The winter crop from all species except 
Kusum, 
... The summer crop from Kusum. 
... The winter crop from Kusum. 
Originally the terms Kusmi and Rangeen were used generically to 
denote both crops from the Kusum tree and both crops from other 
trees respectively, but they are now reserved for the winter crops 
only. The names Baisakhi, Katki, Jethwi and Aghani are derived 
from the Hindi names of the months in which the crops are collected, 
Baisakh (April-May), Katik (October-November), Jeth (May-June), 
Aghan (November-December). The name Rangeen is derived from 
Rang (colour) and is used because the Katki crop is usually dark 
coloured. The derivation of the words Batri and Nagoli is not clear. 
The Baisakhi- crop is usually bigger and better in quality 
than the Katki crop, but there are exceptions to this rule. The 
important exceptions occur in Bhandara and neighbouring districts 
in the south Central Provinces and in the Ghont area in Damoh 
and adjoining districts in the north of the Central Provinces. The 
reason for these exceptions is not clear. Nor is it known why the 
Kusmi crop, i.e., the winter crop from the Kusum tree, is always 
better than the Jethwi or summer crop, while the reverse is usually 
the case with other trees. Peculiarities of climate, soil, host and labour 
conditions appear to be the likely causes, but information is insuffi¬ 
cient even for speculation. 
[26] 
