Part I] Lindsay and Harlow : Lac and Shellac 12 i 
There are no Government Forests in the lac area and as culti¬ 
vation is mostly on Palas, it is usually met with, not in homestead 
but in waste lands. The zamindar is sometimes considered to own 
the right of cultivation, but in many cases tenants have succeeded 
in establishing a customary right. Where the zamindar’s right is 
established, he usually grants small leases for cash or for a share of 
the produce. Cash leases are usually for long terms, nine years 
being a common period. Produce leases are of two kinds. If the 
lessee is a Kamia practically a serf of the zamindar) the custom 
is for the landlord to provide the brood and finance the business. He 
takes all the crop except one-eighth which the Kamia receives as 
his share. On the other hand the better class of tenants are naturally 
able to hold out for better terms, and their lease is usually on a basis 
of three-fourths of the yield to the zamindar and one-fourth to the 
tenant, the brood being provided by the zamindar or cultivator accord¬ 
ing to their relative business acumen. Cash rents have become more 
popular of late years particularly with absentee landlords. 
Lac is usually collected by Baiparis, but zamindars have realized 
the profit to be made on this side of the business and some of them, 
particularly where produce leases are common, take the whole of the 
lac and credit the cultivator with his share against his land rental or 
against advances of grain or other commodities. 
The stick-lac finds its way eventually to Chatra market or to 
Imamganj (Gaya district), Ranchi or Jhalda (Manbhum); there are 
smaller markets at Hunterganj and Sherghati. With so much of the 
produce marketed outside the district it is impossible to say how much 
is grown within it. In a good year the Chatra market probably deals 
with 20,000 maunds Baisakhi and 10,000 maunds Katki. It is quite 
impossible to estimate the crops from Kusum, but they may easily 
be of considerable importance. 
Some lac from this district also finds its way to Daltonganj, 
Lohardaga and Hazaribagh. 
The largest cultivators of the district are :— 
Irshad Ali Khan, of Bhadia (Gaya district) 
Khirodhar Sahu of ghatra 
Mither Nichaundhia of Amarut (Gaya) 
Doman Nichaundhia of Chatra. 
[121] 
