11 $ 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Voi. .VIII 
Kanhai Lai Onkar Nath. 
Rameshar Prasad. 
Munshi Md. Ali. 
These men are also mostly manufacturers or interested in fac¬ 
tories, of which there are three large (30—40 stoves each) and eight 
smaller. There are also five small factories and one large one in 
Kotalpakaur. A large quantity of stick-lac is exported to factories 
in Calcutta and elsewhere. 
The hilly portion of the centre of the SontHal Parganas forms a 
large Government Estate—the Damin-i-koh (the “edge of the hills”) 
—and in this there is opportunity for Government action in the 
supply of brood-lac and in demonstrating to neighbouring zamindars 
up-to-date methods of propagation, pruning and collection. Lac is 
already grown in this area largely by Paharias, and the Forest Depart¬ 
ment collects a royalty of Re. 1-4-0 per maund of lac sold in the 
bazaars. The cultivators are generally heavily indebted to the maha- 
jans who supply them with brood-lac and take two-thirds of the 
crop. Government has tackled the difficult problem of indebtedness 
by establishing throughout the Damin-i-koh grain golas from which 
seed is advanced to the tenants and recovered with reasonable inter¬ 
est at harvest time. With this machinery already in existence, much 
might be done to set the lac industry on an improved footing. The 
local Forest Department might be responsible for the production and 
distribution of brood-lac, against which recoveries of cleaned stick-lac 
would subsequently be effected. A start might be made at Hiranpur 
and Amrapara. 
The Government Forests, and the whole of the Damin-i-koh, are 
said to contain numbers of Kusum trees, but it is very doubtful whe¬ 
ther the numbers within a reasonable area are sufficient to make it 
worth while attempting to introduce the cultivation of lac on them. 
They have not been cultivated up till now and success is doubtful 
owing to the unusual climate. An experiment would, however, be 
interesting and would give useful data even if it did not actually 
succeed. At present the raiyat does not realize the value of Kusum 
as a lac producer, and many of these trees are cut for sale as timber 
and firewood. 
The Dumka Palas area is wholly outside the Government Estate 
An area containing Palas trees near Dumka might be acquired and 
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