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One of the most practical subjects and one which can 

 especially be taught to youth is net-makiu^. At present 

 this is practised on the primitive lines of village cloth- 

 weaving ; even more primitive indeed, for village weaving 

 possesses hand-looms while the net-makers have none, 

 but squat on the beach and slowly make their nets by 

 hand. The increasing demand for sardines for manure 

 and other fish for food leads to an increased demand for 

 nets, and I have had painful experience of the extreme 

 difficulty of getting nets, while the fishermen occupy 

 many months in making their own. My Personal 

 Assistant, Mr. V. Govindan, often brought this to notice 

 on the West Coast, and while travelling in Scotland and ' 

 Ireland he discovered and brought to my notice that 

 net-making looms worked by hand are available and are 

 in regular use ; they have been supplied to the Govern- 

 ment Fishery school at Baltimore (Ireland) and are 

 exported to the Colonies, etc., and I have myself 

 inspected a net-making factory in Cornwall where 

 pilchard, herring and mackerel nets are being made 

 on six or seven hand-looms. On consideration of the 

 various looms I have selected those made by a manu- 

 facturer at Bridport (Dorset) (a very well-known centre 

 of net-making by power-looms), who made the hand- 

 looms which I saw in Cornwall and have obtained 

 through Mr, Govindan, who has especially studied this 

 itefn of the industry and has visited several factories, a 

 pro forma invoice of his looms. The cost of one loom 

 will be ^170, and with accessories and packing, etc., 

 about ^200. A loom will, within reasonable ranges, 

 make varying sizes of meshes, e.g., between 36 and 64 

 per yard, so that two looms would supply all needs, but 

 at present I only ask for one. The maker will not only 

 give Mr. Govindan free and full instruction in working 

 the machine, but also in re-assembling it from the 

 packing cases, and in dealing with anything that may go 

 wrong, for which purpose not only will every part be 

 clearly numbered and marked, but the loom will be 

 taken to pieces and re-assembled until Mr. Govindan is 

 thorouohlv conversant with it ; three or four weeks will 

 be advisable for this tuition, and this is one of the 

 reasons for my having recommended an extension of his 

 deputation till 31st March. Any further aid we can get 

 from experts in the cotton-weaving mill in Calicut. 



