152 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VIII 
The existing Kangra Forest Division includes the small areas of 
Government Forest in Hoshiarpur district. It is proposed to divide 
the whole division into two, and a Forest Officer may then be posted to 
Hoshiarpur. In this case the Forest Department will be able to 
study the question of lac cultivation in more detail than has been 
possible till now. If sufficient trees occur in Government Forest, the 
demonstration of scientific cultivation and the provision of clean 
brood-lac to private cultivators at reasonable prices will undoubtedly 
stimulate the industry and prove of considerable profit to the Depart¬ 
ment. 
Bombay Presidency. 
In Bombay Presidency proper, lac is at present of very little 
importance. Small quantities are grown in Khandesh, the Dangs 
and the Panch Mahals, and in adjoining territories of Baroda and 
other States, but the total amount grown is unimportant. 
Sind, however, produces lac on a scale of considerable import¬ 
ance to the trade. It is mostly grown in the two districts, Hydera¬ 
bad and Karachi, on both sides of the lower Indus. Sind is usually 
considered one of the hottest and dryest parts of India. This 
being so, the occurrence of lac there must be regarded as somewhat 
of an anomaly. A suggested explanation is that on the lower Indus 
sea-breezes during the hot weather do much to reduce the severity 
of the climate. No definite reason can however be assigned without 
careful local investigation. 
Another curious fact about Sind lac is that it is mostly grown 
on the Babul tree, which, except sporadically in the Punjab, is found 
nowhere else in India as an important lac-host. Possible explana¬ 
tions of this have been discussed in Chapter II. Lac is also grown 
on Prosopis spicigera , Zizyphus Jujuba , Albizzia Lebbek, Tamarix 
gallica and Ficus species, but these are all of comparative unimport¬ 
ance compared with Babul. The methods of propagation, cultiva¬ 
tion and collection are much as in other parts of India, but the times 
of swarming are somewhat later. 
The principal contractors and dealers are :— 
Akhund Hassanali of Matiari, Hyderabad 
Rewachand Permanand of Hyderabad 
Gobinbax Hassomal of Hyderabad 
Sajan Mohamed Hashim of Matiari 
[15?] 
