up to shore in live-wells, chests, or cars, secondly, by 

 properly treating dead fish (a) on the boat, {/?) on the 

 way to market, (c) in the curing factory, proper curing, 

 viz., by perfect cleanliness, rapidity, thoroughness, and 

 by novel methods such as smoking, pickling, etc., being 

 especially aimed at. 



Little could be done to the end of 1908 beyond 

 repairs and the starting of salting and smoking arrange- 

 ments, since everything was novel and the place of 

 course a blank ; also the north-east monsoon and the two 

 months' tour with the " Margarita" on the West Coast 

 intervened. Advance has, however, been made in 

 various directions. 



A beginning has been made in investigating the 

 proper treatment of fresh (not cured) fish on the way to 

 market or to the consumer, so as to ensure (i) that it 

 shall arrive at its present market, especially inland, in 

 good condition, (2) that the markets or areas served shall 

 be considerably extended. This is perhaps the most 

 difficult of problems in a country possessing a fully 

 tropical climate ranging roughly from yo° F. to 100° F. 

 with slight variations on either side, and yet poor both 

 in the material assets which simplify the question in the 

 West, such as wealth and high prices, cheap ice and coal, 

 short journeys and rapid transport, and a^so in the 

 possession of moral assets such as business enterprise, 

 technical knowledge, educated public tastes and opinions, 

 sanitary regulations, and so forth. The problem is how 

 to get wholesome, untainted, fresh fish to market, even in 

 Madras but more particularly inland, without ice as a 

 rule, at low cost, and in large quantity. 



As regards sea-coast markets it is merely a question 

 (a) of keeping the fish alive to shore, (S) of cleaning and 

 treating dead fish at sea ; this has been adverted to above 

 as waiting the large boat and live-car. As regards 

 inland markets it is the above//;/.? further conditions. In 

 the matter of refrigeration it means better packing and 

 better arrangements on the railway ; without refrigeration 

 it means thorough cleanliness and careful packing, and, 

 for distant markets, the slight use of simple, innocuous 

 preservatives. The investigation of this problem has 

 just begun at Ennore ; thoroughly cleaned fish are being 

 packed in various ways and kept in a closed chest as they 

 ought to be in a railway van, and compared with others 



