44 



oil is In small quantity, gut and dry into something* over- 

 one ton of marketable fish, or 270,000 at 54,000 per 

 ton. These five tons cost at most Rs. 55, gutting 

 (Rs. 7--8-0), salt (for 2^ tons, at i to 8, Rs. 6-8-0) and 

 labour for drying and storing (Rs. 5), cost Rs. 19, cost of 

 packing 21 or 22 cwt. in date-mat parcels of one hundred 

 weight each, is Rs. 6 ; total cost Rs. 80. This weight will 

 readily sell for Rs. 96, giving a profit of Rs. 16, or 20 

 per cent on Rs. 80. If a rate of nine pies (three-fourths 

 anna) per lb. is charged or Rs. 105 per ton, the profit is 

 very heavy, especially as the whole transaction, from 

 catch to sale, need occupy only a week or less. At this 

 moment (July) ordinary native- cured dried sardines are 

 selling at Cannanore at Rs. 125 per ton, so that curers 

 who can hold over a stock and keep it in good order, 

 earn large profits. To the price obtained for the fish 

 must be added the value of something over 2^ tons of 

 guts, available as manure ; these will dry into something 

 less than one ton, worth Rs. 25 per ton at only 2 per 

 cent nitrogen and 10 per cent, phosphoric acid. These 

 guts, with or without oil, have been generally neglected 

 hitherto in considering profits ; in the villages they are, 

 or till lately have been, mostly thrown away ; at certain 

 seasons they are used, to some extent, for tobacco, 

 cocoanut trees and cucumber crops, but as a rule they 

 are largely wasted, and always contain at least 30 per 

 cent of sand ; when sold they fetch, at most, one anna 

 per basket containing about an Indian maund. The 

 proper utilisation of offal has already been the subject 

 of experiment, but required much more attention both, as 

 an item of immediate profit to the curers, and a general 

 economic benefit. 



20. Reading the above with the report of last year, 

 it is clear that there is good profit in the fish trade if 

 properly organized so as to sell really superior products 

 at a price very slightly above the price of the ordinary 

 cured fish to the immense potential market of people 

 willing to pay such slightly higher price for a good 

 article. Such fish cannot compete in piHce with the 

 native-cured fish in which, for instance, in mackerel 

 Rs. 3 per 1,000 when fresh, they are sold cured at Rs. 4 

 to Rs. 4-2-0 which includes the cost of all labour, salt, 

 and profit, while a superior article cannot be sold under 

 Rs. 4-8-0, though at Rs. 4-120 to Rs. 5 there is'a good 



