194 



Canning plant is not required as the cannery already 

 possesses a boiler, steam bath, steam cooking retort, and 

 an autoclave, besides experimental plant , any small 

 developments can be supplied from the ordinary current 

 grant for plant. 



9, I therefore suggest that my purchase of the plant 

 mentioned in schedule A at a cost of about ^400 be 

 sanctioned, and that I may be permitted to set it up and 

 work the cannery as an industrial concern.* 



IT. Li^ht airing. — For this I require C)nly small 

 outlay, since I have nearly everything necessary except 

 drying plant. As I have frequently mentioned, the 

 tropical sun is not good for the proper drying of edible 

 fish, at least when whole ; moreover, in the monsoon 

 time fish, prawns, etc., cannot be dried for want of sun 

 so that either it is not worth while to catch them, or, if 

 caught, they go bad for want of drying, while in any 

 case the fishermen get a bad price because the curtrs 

 cannot certainly count on drying them, I have known 

 boatloads of valuable prawns sold for a trifie because 

 the curers would not take the risks due to wet weather. 

 Moreover, in light curing the drying is only carried to 

 a certain stage so that the heat and method must be 

 capable of easy regulation and while partial must be 

 fairly equal throughout the tissues, instead of being 

 on the surface only ; hence the drying plant must be 

 something else than the burning sun. 



Proper driers, in which dryage is obtained by 

 mechanical arrangements, will effect the above reforms, 

 and I propose to set up driers of one or two quite cheap 

 but effective patterns, which may be everywhere copied, 

 and which may especially be set up in the numerous 

 Government " curing yards " for use in common by 

 ticket holders, 



I request sanction to lay out a special sum not exceed- 

 ing ^75 in plant for the drying of edible fish, that is 

 exclusive of a different class of drier for fish-guano. 



12. Pickling. — The only special outlay in this matter 

 is on barrels and coopering. At present I must obtain 

 my barrels from England; they will cost me about three 

 shillings each, and will be sent out in shooks so as to 

 minimize freight ; the staves will be all marked so that 



* Obtained and set up (1915) at Beypore. 



