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be added when received. Fifteen thousand tons of sar- 

 dine dried for manure represent at least 30,000 tons of 

 fresh fish averaeins" larore, medium, and small sardine at 

 45,000 per ton, this means at least 1,350,000,000 fish.* 



4. My point is this ; at present this enormous amount 

 of potential food— either direct food if eaten as fish, or 

 indirect if used as manure for cereals, etc. — is lost to 

 the country qua food ; the money proceeds as received by 

 the fi.sherm(m and local agents, are much too low ; while 

 the export of this mass of merely dried fish deprives the 

 country of a large industry in the preparation of the fish 

 either as good food or as good manure and oil, and in the 

 sending of it through and into the country. The whole 

 business as it is at present and as it seems likely to be 

 conducted is a conspicuous example, as is also the sister 

 trade in oil seeds, of unnecessary and vexatious loss to 

 the country. I blame no one ; I state the fact ; I propose 

 some small remedial measures. 



5. It will be observed that I am obtaining statistics of 

 the dried sardine fertilizer trade through the Sea 

 Customs officers. That is because the great bulk is sent 

 out of the country. Small quantities are dried and sent 

 to Mvsore, to the tea estates on the Nilgiris, and to the 

 Shevaroys, etc. ; a little is occasionally used, more often 

 the guts, for cocoanuts, tobacco, cucumbers, etc., on the 

 coast, but, as shown above, the g'reat bulk goes abroad, 

 either to Ceylon for the tea estates there, or for re-export 

 to Japan. In my note on Japanese Agriculture I have 

 shown not only the enormous aod increasing demand in 

 Japan where they already use a minimum of 134,000 tons 

 annually ; but the price, which there ranges between 

 Rs. no (wholesale) and Rs. 150 (retail) per ton for this 

 fertilizer, chiefly as scrap or dried fish minus its oil, is a 

 sufficient proof of its productive value. As shown in that 

 note, one ton of well-dried whole fish fertilizer free from 

 adulterants such as sand, contains 224 lb. nitrogen and 

 90 of phosphoric acid^ or 10 and 4 units, respectively ; 

 these are the nitrogen and phosphoric acid contents of 

 9,000 lb. of grain, and 12,500 lb. of straw ; in other 

 words, it would suffice for 20 acres of dry cultivation as 



* The total average exports are much larger; in one recent year they weie 

 34,000 tons, representing 85,000 tons of fresh fish. 



