T44 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN , VOL. XIII, 



replaced month by month with profit. It is. however, to be remem- 

 bered that the Government cannery is not, primarily, out for 

 profit ; it has alw^ays been mainly a place for experiment, demons- 

 tration, and instruction, nor has it entered the market competitively. 

 The ascertainment and publication of the best methods, products, 

 and qualities, and the training of an expert staff, have been its 

 chief duties. 



In a purely business cannery there is no loss on experimental 

 work or plant, a minimum permanent staff is kept, and all labour is 

 dispensed with when not actually needed for operations ; hence 

 larger profits. 



If to ordinary canning are added subsidiary lines of work for 

 spare periods or even days as indicated above, profits may be raised 

 considerably higher. 



240. It is to be recollected that the canning industry in this 

 country while suffering under disadvantages such as imperfect 

 means of capture, careless treatment and delay in boats, a tropical 

 climate and absence of ice and refrigeration, ignorance of unskilled 

 labour and want of experts, the need for importing material, etc., 

 as mentioned above, has also its advantages in the shape of cheap 

 fish and buildings, the comparative cheapness of freight, packing 

 and other charges in importing merely tin plate instead of vast 

 masses of filled tins, a' moderately protective duty, a (potential) 

 abundance of the best oils, and labour which is cheap if not so 

 efficient as in temperate climates. Hence there are opportunities 

 of reasonable profit for men of the country who are prepared 

 thoroughly to learn the industry on its technical and business sides, 

 to practise it personally, intelligently, energetically and above all 

 conscientiously, and to be content with moderate profits based on 

 actual cost and not on comparative prices, for it is on the capture 

 of a large, moderately priced market rather than on competition 

 in a narrow high priced market, that sound profits depend. 



Profits in a commercial factory depend mainly upon the manage- 

 ment, its honesty, skill, and efficiency. 



F. A. NICHOLSON, 

 Honorary Superintendent, 

 20th September 191 9. Government Fisheries. 



