159 



Letter — from R. A. Graham, Esq., I.C.S., Collector of 



South Canara. 

 To — the Secretary to the Commissioners of Land Revenue. 

 Dated — the 7th April 191 1. 



I have the honour to forward a copy of a letter I have 

 received from the Honorary Director of Fisheries on the 

 subject of the grant of suitable pieces of Government 

 land to persons desirous of engaging in the manufacture 

 of fish oil and fish manure in accordance with the system 

 he is trying to introduce. From a conversation ! have 

 had with Sir Frederick's Assistant, I gather that the 

 chief difficulty in the way of such persons lies in the 

 darkhast rules. There seems to be a future before the 

 scheme if it can get a fair trial on this coast. There is 

 a very large demand for fish manure and constant c^mi- 

 plaints that the fish manure now obtainable contains an 

 excessive admixture of sand ; so that any process by 

 which it can be supplied free from sand ought to deve- 

 lop a considerable trade. The land required for the 

 factories will always be near the sea-shore, and in some 

 cases it may be possible to le'\se convenient plots to the 

 manufacturers without permanent assignment ; but even 

 this may be contrary to the spirit of the darkhast rules 

 and, where the question of assignment arises, the pre- 

 ferences allowed by the rules will frequently prevent the 

 applicants from getting the land they want. I beg, 

 therefore, that the Board will obtain the sanction of 

 Government for the relaxation of the rules in such cases. 



Enclosure. 



Letter — from Sir F. A. Nicholson, k.c.i.e., I.C.S., Hono- 

 rary Director of Fisheries to the Government of 

 Madras. 



To — the Collector of South Canara. 

 Dated — Chepauk, the 29th March 1911. 



You are aware of the large quantities of oil sardine caught on this 

 coast which, after being sun-dried on the sandy beach, are exported 

 mostly to Ceylon and other foreign ports and a comparatively small 

 quantity sent to the planters in South India. This process of manu- 

 facturing fish manure is very primitive ; the oil which is in itself a 

 very valuable conimodity is not only v/holly wasted but, in drying, 

 takes up with it a large quantity of sand (30 per cent, or more) which 

 by no known methods can be got rid of after it once adheres to the 

 fish. Neither sand nor oil are required by the planters, nevertheless 

 they have to pay for them and incur all the incidental charges for 

 transport to their estates hundreds of miles from the coast. More- 

 over, this primitive process is objectionable from a sanitary point of 



