32 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTTTRAL RESEARCH 



years ago as possibly feasible. The chief defects of the 

 present methods are (i) the considerable time required in 

 order to obtain the refined product, (ii) the amount of fuel 

 used is greater than it should be, (iii) a serious loss of 

 nitrate occurs, (iv) much of the refined saltpetre is of low 

 quality, (v) the colour of the refined saltpetre is often 

 brown instead of white, (vi) refining is often interrupted 

 during the rains period. 



After working on a laboratory scale, an apparatus was 

 constructed which would deal with a maund of crude salt- 

 petre per charge, and this was worked daily at the Allaha- 

 iDad Exhibition. It was in charge of Babu Jatindra Nath 

 Mukerjee, who has carried out the whole of the experi- 

 mental work connected with the process. The process is 

 successful in largely eliminating the defects enumerated; 

 nearly nine-tenths of the potassium nitrate in the crude 

 saltpetre is obtained during the day as a white refined 

 saltpetre of over 90 per cent, purity; no water has to be 

 evaporated, and the process is independent of the weather. 

 The other fraction of the potassium nitrate, which is not ob- 

 tained by this process, remains in the muds and can be ex- 

 tracted by present methods. 



The process created a great deal of interest among the 

 refiners who visited the Exhibition, but there is naturally 

 a considerable difference between entertaining an interest 

 and actually replacing the present methods by a somewhat 

 costly machine, and no definite opinion can be formed as to 

 whether the new process will be adopted until it has been 

 tried on a reasonably large scale, so as to form an accurate 

 idea of the actual cost of working it. A proposal is at pre- 

 sent under consideration to erect the plant at a refinery in 

 Behar. A Bulletin has also been written on the subject. 



Education. — There are two students from the United 

 Provinces and Bengal, respectively, at present undergoing 

 training, and another is to come from Travancore State. 

 There are also two probationary assistants who have re- 

 cently joined this section, who are in the position of stu- 

 dents. 



