5* 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VIII 
some unscrupulous landlords took advantage of the ignorance of their 
lessees to eject them from areas leased, which they were easily able 
to do since the leases had been irregularly executed. The lessees 
are now more circumspect and are registering their leases, A curious 
form of lease was discovered in the Chattisgarh Division. The lessee 
is a monopolist, and agrees to a minimum purchase rate with the 
cultivator. The latter, however, is not compelled to sell to the 
monopolist, and if he wishes to dispose of his lac elsewhere must 
pay this minimum rate to the lessee. The result is, that the cultiva¬ 
tor is encouraged to sell to the monopolist, for, if he sells to anyone 
else, he has to pay a fine ; while the lessee must offer reasonable rates 
or the cultivator will take his lac elsewhere. Some land-owners, 
notably the zamindar of Khujji (Drug district), are taking up lac 
cultivation on their own account and have been realizing very 
handsome profits. It is hoped that this method will extend, as it will 
lead to more stable production. At present it is chiefly confined 
to Mahomedan landlords, as high caste Hindus are deterred by 
religious scruple from following suit. 
Sufficient has been said to show that the smaller landed pro¬ 
prietors, who constitute the majority, take but little interest in lac 
cultivation, save to secure from their tenants as large a share as 
possible of the profits of cultivation. So much has this been the 
case, that, during settlement operations, instances have occurred where 
tenants have cut down the trees in order that they may not be 
recorded. This has caused alarm among manufacturers, but no 
permanent harm results, as the trees coppice, and in a few years are 
ready to grow lac again. The demands of zamindars undoubtedly 
have a serious effect on the production of stick-lac, particularly when 
the market is low or falling. As education spreads, it will undoubt¬ 
edly be realized that a careful and definite settlement of lac rents is 
conducive, in the long run, to careful and profitable cultivation. The 
lenient and far-sighted policy adopted throughout the Government 
Estates of Bihar and Orissa will, it is hoped, be adopted in their turn 
by neighbouring zamindars. 
As regards Government Forests, serious attention has hitherto 
been paid to lac only in those of the Central Provinces. There, the 
usual practice was to lease lac areas to contractors. Sometimes the 
leases ran for as long as three years, but recently they have been 
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