196 



cheaper rates than are now paid for soft pasty fish, rates 

 which will open up a much larger demand aad a wider 

 market, by methods of much simplicity, which I have 

 been studying in actual practice in England. 



14. Apart from the Iresh fish business, moreover, a 

 refrigerating plant is necessary to our developed methods 

 such as canning. It frequently happens, almost daily in 

 fact, that the best catches are made or come to shore in the 

 afternoon, when it is too late to work off more than 

 part of the fish or to get through more than some of 

 the stages of curing or canning. For instance, prawns 

 may come in in bulk at 3 p.m. and it is late before they 

 can even be boiled and shelled while, if left till next 

 morning, they will be stale and sour ; similarly sardines 

 may be only half prepared for canning. Unless there- 

 fore in the absence of a refrigerating plant, I have a 

 night staff and night superintendent I run the greatest 

 risks, and in small industrial factories run for the maxi- 

 mum of profit, manufacturers might often be tempted to 

 use up stale goods rather than incur loss ; hence risk to 

 the public unless I demonstrate that, with a small outlay 

 on refrigeration, goods can be kept over night or longer 

 with complete safety. Again sardines, mackerel, etc., 

 come in in bulk one day and glut the market, while next 

 day there are none at any price. Hence to equalize 

 demand, prices and factory work, a refrigerating plant is 

 a necessity, especially where we are trying to develop 

 modern methods and the potentially great fishing industry. 



15. My method of transporting fresh fish and the 

 need for preserving fish in cold storage for a day or two 

 require a small refrigerating — not an ice-making — plant ; 

 small, because our operations, though on an industrial 

 scale, will necessarily be small ; an ammonia plant of 

 about I ton refrigerating capacity will suffice, and this, 

 delivered and set up, will cost about ^400 (Rs. 6,000) 

 including a small oil-engine, cold storage room, etc. I 

 recommend this for sanction.* 



16. Net-?Jiakin(r. — Our experimental stations are 

 really our future educational institutions where modern 

 processes will be taught to fishermen, curers, students 

 and youth on the lines which I saw so successfully 

 practised in Japan (see " Note on Japanese Fisheries"). 



* 



the 



' A smaller plant costing about £140 has been obtaiaed, chiefly for working 

 " Henderson " process of fish freezing and transport. 



