3oo 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1884. 



the silky down of the seeds, but its fibre is too short; 

 a soft 'kind of cloth is. however, made by mixing it 

 with cotton ; paper has also been made from it. Another 

 species, 0. procera, a native of India, Arabia, Persia, and 

 various parts of Africa, possesses similar qualities. It is 

 a much smaller plant, and has white flowers with straight 

 segments. — Treasury of BuUint/. 



MADRAS 



THE CURING OF FISH IN THE 



PRESIDENCY 

 is progressing satisfactorily in the yards, to which 

 salt is supplied at exceptionally low rates. The fol- 

 lowing letter from W. A. Willock, Esq., Acting Com- 

 missioner of Salt Revenue, to the Secretary to the 

 Board of Revenue, dated Madras, 20th May 1S84, 

 eontaii s much valuable information, which we hope 

 may yet be turned to account in Ceylon : — 



I have the honor to submit the information regarding 

 the variations in the proportion of salt used to fish cured. 

 I regret that the fact that it had been called for escaped 

 notice. 



2. These variations are due to two causes — ignorance on 

 the part of the curers of the value conferred on their pro- 

 duce by the use of a liberal allowance of salt while under 

 preparation, and differences in the kinds of fish operated 

 on and the method of curing employed. 



3. As regards the first of these causes, the fishermen evince 

 a great disinclination when they first resort to fish-curing 

 yards tu spending money on what they have hitherto been 

 accustomed to obtain for nothing in the shape of salt-earth, 

 and they, inconsequence, endeavour to perform the oper- 

 ation of curing with the smallest possible quantity of 

 salt : but as time goes on and they find that their fish 

 sells anil keeps the better for the use of a liberal 

 allowance, they treat it less sparingly, and the pro- 

 per; U n rapidly rises. This is shown very clearly by the 

 general' results given in the reports for the half-years end- 

 ing 31st March 1S83 and 30th September 1883. In the 

 statement printed in the former, the two lowe6t rates were 

 (excluding a single operation in South Canara) OSS lb. and 

 ti-67 lb. of salt per mauud of fish in Nellore and Chingleput 

 — two districts in which operations had only just com- 

 menced. The third lowest rate— 12-54 lb— was also in a 

 new. district (the Godavari) while in those in which yards 

 had long been established, Ganjam, Kistna, Madura and 

 Tiuuevclly, and in Malabar, where the experiment had met 

 with great success, it varied from 14 78 lb. to '2072 lb. In 

 the following half-year, while no very great change took 

 place in the proportion in the last-mentioned districts, the 

 rate rose to .14-91 lb. in Nellore and 11-33 lb. in Chingleput, 

 while it was lowest in Vizagapatam (1T04 lb.) — a district 

 which made its lirst appearance on the list. 



4. That differences in the methods of curing adopted 

 may be expected to give rise to enormous variations will 

 be apparent from a consideration of the following two pro- 

 cesses. They are extreme cases, but are both very com- 

 mon. At Caiingapatam, in January last, I was present when 

 a large take of very small fish was landed. They were 

 thrown, just as they were, into large earthen pots, with- 

 out having the entrails removed. Some salt was then 

 thrown on the top and the pot filled with water. After 

 soaking for an hour or so, they were removed and dried 

 in the sun. In another process the fish are cleaned, split 

 open, and, if large, gashed along the sides, and salt is well 

 rubbed in. They are then packed in a hole in the ground, 

 salt being placed between the layers. A mat is laid on top 

 and the mass covered up with earth. Altera day or two 

 the fish are dug up and dried in the sun. and are then 

 ready for use. A heavy expenditure of salt might naturally 

 be expected here. Various modifications of this process 

 are common in the Tiunevelly district, where the propor- 

 tion of salt to fish ranges very high. Another very ex- 

 travagant method is referred to below. In all these pro- 

 cesses, the size of the fish makes a great deal of difference, 

 and the state of the weather and the freshness or other- 

 wise of the take also considerably affect the quantity of salt 

 required. 



5. It is somewhat rash to hazard an estimate at present 

 o what the minimum quantity of salt required to cure 



the average description of fish brought to an average yard 

 really is, but what little experience we have as yet ac- 

 quired would tend to show that from one-seventh to one- 

 quarter of the weight is required, and if abnormal propor- 

 tions of very large or very small fish are cured a little more 

 or .1. little less would he necessary. If this view be ac- 

 cepted as correct ^it is supported boih by general results 

 and individual inquiries), all cases in which more than seven 

 maunds of fish are cured with one of salt may be dis- 

 regarded as merely indicating inefficient treatment, owing 

 to ignorance on the part of the fishermen; and the only 

 yards referred to in G. O., dated 12th September 1883, 

 No. 1,119, Revenue, that would require further notice would 

 be those of Sonnapur and Gan-goli, where the weights of fish 

 cured per maund of salt were 2'8 maunds and 203 maunds, 

 respectively. The Sonnapur yard was one of those under 

 the extra departmental supervision which has been found 

 to work in such an unsatisfactory manner. A few months 

 back, the superintendent was discovered to be so careless 

 and to neglect his work so much that other arrange- 

 ments had to be made for its charge. I have no reason to 

 suppose that any fraud actually took place beyond the 

 pilfering which carelessness would be likely to give rise to, 

 aud the proportion of salt used does not even show that 

 anything of the sort did occur, as it appears that .the fish 

 were rarely weighed, the entries made being merely estim- 

 ates and possibly very incorrect. 



6. The proportion at Gaugoli is capable of a very satis- 

 factory explanation. The process used there is very pecu- 

 liar, the fish being, contrary to the custom prevailing else- 

 where, salted entirely in the shade. The persons who operate 

 are fishermen who come from Kutnagherry, and as the dry- 

 ing power of the sun is not made use of several applic- 

 ations of salt are necessary. 



7. Instructions were issued some months ago directing 

 the institution of experiments in fish-curing by the officers 

 of the Salt Department with a view to introducing im- 

 proved methods of preservation. I regret to say that the 

 officers concerned have found but little time to devot: to 

 work of the sort. The latest reports on the subject have 

 not reached me yet, but I hope to find that success has 

 attended the attempts of some of them. A trade which 

 has displayed such enormous powers of development as that 

 in salt fish has during the past few months, will need but 

 little help and attention to ensure a very great improve- 

 ment in the quantity of the article produced. The re- 

 sults of the past half-year, during which not far short of 

 three lakhs of maunds have been cured, have been so 

 encouraging that the- officers of the department are be- 

 ginning to take great interest in the matter, which is cert- 

 ain to produce most advantageous results in this direction. 

 The great bar to the introduction of improvements at pre- 

 sent is the want of a demand for a superior article, but there 

 are good grounds for helieving that this is rapidly being 

 developed. 



8. With regard to the yards referred to in the Gov- 

 ernment Order under reply, I venture to observe that if 

 my views on the subject of the proportion o< salt re- 

 quired explained above are accepted, the only rates refer- 

 red to which require further notice are those at Baruva, 

 Kamapatnam and Adirampatnam. Information has been 

 called for, but I have no doubt but that extra depart- 

 mental supervision is in fault in the first two cases. With 

 one or two exceptions, where the transactions were very 

 small indeed, these are the only yards at which the rates 

 were suspiciously high. 



9. The loss entailed by buildings being erected and estab- 

 lishments maintained where no fish-curing is done will 

 receive due notice in the next report, but I would ex- 

 plain biiefly at present that this is unavoidable in the ease 

 of new yards {vide also paragraph 4 of Mr. Bliss' letter). 

 The fishing classes are inordinately suspicious, and having 

 peculiar reason to regard the operations of the Salt De- 

 partment with aversion, it takes them a long time before 

 they become accustomed to the existence of a yard and 

 its officers in their midst. Their first feeling is that, if 

 they persistently avoid having anything to do with it, it 

 will at last be removed ; but a large take of fish or other 

 chance circumstance suddenly changes all this and work 

 goes on satisfactorily afterwards. The Canara yards form 

 a case in point. There is not the slightest reason to 

 suppose th.it they will not eventually be as flourishing as 



