loss and waste, while the process of putrefying or of 

 beach-drying is sanitarily offensive. If only 50,000 tons 

 — a low estimate — are annually dried on the beach, the 

 oil thus totally lost is something like 6,000 tons, worth 

 about 10 lakhs of rupees, and if only 2 per cent of the 

 nitrogen is lost by putrefaction and the ravages of 

 maggots and insects, there is a further loss of about 2 

 lakhs. Hence it has been sought to minimize this loss, 

 improve the products, and remove a sanitary nuisance 

 by devising new methods of dealing with the sardine. 



Under the new system the fish (or guts) are boiled 

 in open pans over a fire, and the boiling stuff is then 

 pressed for oil ; the pressed scrap is dried in the sun and 

 forms guano ; in this way, the w^hole of the oil is obtained 

 as a very valuable marketable product, while the fish 

 (tissues and bone) are reduced to a friable mass one-fifth 

 of the weight of the green fish and readily assimilable as 

 manure, w^hile the process is absolutely inoffensive and 

 free from sanitary objection. This process was devised 

 in 1908 by "Fisheries" from the example of the 

 American farmers, etc., and urged upon the public ; it 

 was first taken up in 190S by Mr. U. Choyi of Cannanore, 

 and during the past season was the subject of much 

 experiment in the station, and of commercial work by a 

 number of interested persons. The season began with 

 one and ended with about nine small factories in 

 operation ; moreover, quite a large number of persons 

 have ordered boilers and presses, and it is expected that 

 many more than the above nine works will be opened 

 by the beginning of next season in September. As 

 mentioned above, much of this is due to the propagandist 

 work of my Assistant, Mr. V. Govindan, who rested not 

 in pushing a knowledge of the process, and in demon- 

 strating and in aiding people to obtain plant ; meanwhile 

 useful work also went on at the experimental station. 



II. As produced in the minute factories, consisting 

 of, perhaps, a couple of open boiling pans each holding- 

 half or two-thirds of a ton of fish, and three or four 

 simple screw presses, the oil is dark brown in colour, of 

 strong but not unpleasant smell, and containing a large 

 percentage of stearine or fish tallow. No attempt is 

 made to secure a finer oil ; the boiling mass is scooped 

 out into baskets, allowed to drain for a few minutes, then 

 placed in coarse coir bags and pressed ; the oil and water 



