t>ART I] Lindsay and IIarlow : Lac and Shellac 155 
Jadunath Das, Faridpur. 
Ashutosh Tewari, Sherpur. 
No Government action is proposed in this area as cultivation 
appears to be based on sounder principles than elsewhere. The 
Pakaur area will benefit from any action taken in the Sonthal Parganas 
and the Bankura area from any in Manbhum. 
Calcutta is an important manufacturing centre, the largest 
machine manufacturers having their factories there. They are :— 
Messrs. Angelo Bros., Cossipore 
J. C. Galstaun, Esq., Calcutta. 
A considerable stick-lac market exists in Calcutta for the supply 
of these factories. The bulk of this lac has, however, already passed 
through one or other of the up-country markets, except the Assam 
and Burma lac, of which these factories take'almost the whole supply. 
Being the shellac market of India, Calcutta is very convenient as a 
site for lac factories, but on account of the high price of labour, 
distance from the stick-lac centres, and high humidity which 
necessitates special precaution against the blocking of stick-lac and 
shellac, it cannot be recommended. 
Assam. 
The position of lac in Assam is unique in that it is not, as else¬ 
where, a forest product, but is grown chiefly on a field plant, Arhar 
Dal. Assam has a large rainfall and considerable falls occur during 
the hot weather months, especially in the hills, so that Arhar, which 
is an annual elsewhere in India, persists for several years, and is able 
to bear a crop of lac. Certain forest trees also produce lac, notably 
Ficus religiosa (Pipal) and Ficus infectoria (Pakri), but the bulk of 
the Assam lac is grown on Arhar. The distribution is mainly in the 
hilly tracts, and it seems as if the plains are too humid for lac 
cultivation. It may be 
seen well distributed on the hills in the 
territories of the Raja 
of Rambrai (Khasi 
Hills). The following 
areas produce lac and 
yields:— 
the quantities given 
are normal average 
Maunds. 
Khasi and Jaintia Hills 
... 
15,000 
Garo Hills 
... 
... 9,000 
Nowgong district 
... 
... 7,000 
Kamrup „ 
... 
... 3,000 
Sibsagar „ 
... 
1,000 
Total 
[ 155 ] 
35,000 
