April i, i8S6.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS'T, 



689 



" SALT FOE THE USE OF CATTLE AND FOB 

 INDUSTKIAL AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. 



Govcrnnieiit of India i-esolutiou offering a liberal 

 rewarJ for the discovery of a satisfactory process 

 for reiulering salt mifit "for hnniau consumption while 

 luavius it fit for cattle, Ac, conmuinicatcd to the 

 Board of Revenue and the Director of Revenue 

 Setllcn\ent and Agricultiu'e ; and ordered to be pub- 

 lislicd in the Fort ,st. Ocoiye Ga-^ctU and laid on 

 the Editor's table." 



Such is the title of a paper we have received 

 front the Government of Madras and in which a 

 vast amount of correspondence is smnmarizctl. 



We ijuole from tbe Resolution of the Government 

 of India as follows : — 



t)ue of the chief objections taken to the salt duties 

 is that, owing to the resulting high prices, cattle are 

 stiuteil in their supply of salt, while nmiiufacturers and 

 agricultarists are required to piiy duty on salt em- 

 ployed in iudustry and agriculture. The attention of 

 the Government of India has been given to the matter 

 for some years iu the hope that an unobjectionable 

 method of freeing from duty salt required for tlie pur- 

 poses above indicated might sooner or later be dis- 

 covered. 



No satisfactory way of effecting this object and at 

 the same time of protecting the State from risk of 

 fraud has as yet been found. The issue of duty. free 

 .salt ou a simple guarantee that it will be used for 

 certain purposes and for no others is, iu the absence of 

 special safeguards, out of the question, while the 

 provision of such safeguards would entail the entertain- 

 ment of establishments at inordinate expense, or the 

 adoption of measures harassing to the sectiong of 

 the public concerned. The only plan which would 

 fully meet the requirements of "the case would be the 

 deuaturalisatiou of salt so as to render it unlit for 

 human cousuniptiou, whilst it remained tit for use by 

 cattle and as manure, or for industrial pm'poBos, the 

 salt not being easily restorablo to an edible condition 

 by any of the methods which could iu ordinary 

 circumstances be employed in India. If salt were thus 

 prepared, it might be freely issued at little over cost 

 price without daufjer to the "revenue. So far, however, 

 all attempts made discover such a process have proved 

 more or leas unisatisfactory iu their results. 



The first" experiment was made in 1.S7G by i\Ir. 

 ^\■ood, then Chemical Examiner to the Goverimient 

 of Bengal, consequent on an application from IMossrs. 

 Burn it (Jo., of Calcutta, for the remission of duty on 

 salt used by them in the manufacture of glazed 

 stoneware pipes and similar articles. i\Ir. AVood 

 reported that ho was unable to find out a pro- 

 cess which fully complied with the conditions 

 laid down, namely, the discovery of an inexpensive 

 nietlud whereby salt may be rendered unfit tor human 

 consumption and can be attain rendered edible only by 

 a process the cost of which wouUl equal or exceed the 

 dutv levied on it. But he suggested an alternative 

 method, namely, the admixture of salt witli coal tar, 

 tile tarred salt being issued to manufacturers of 

 glazed stoneware free of duty, upon a personal guar- 

 antee for its use exclusively iu manufacture. This 

 method was adopted and is still practised, the salt 

 being is.Mied subject to certain special rules framed by 

 the G'lvernmeut of Bengal. The arrangement works 

 satisfactorily on the limited scale on which it has been 

 tried, but constant supervision is required, and tarred 

 salt cannot be used except in pottery manufacture. 



In 1677 Dr. H. Warth was directed to make ex- 

 periments after the German method with some of 

 the refuse salt (pf tbe Punjab mines. A mixture 

 of salt with colocynth (CilrulhiH coloci/iit/nnj, was 

 and another with lignite, oilcake, and cotton 

 seed were tried, bnt the result iu both cases 

 was unsatisfactory, pure salt being easily recovered 

 from the mixtures, .and the experiments were 

 discontinued. Ou application to the Secretary of 

 State for information showiuf; precisely the process 

 of denaturalisition employed in Germany it appeared 

 that salt was isauecl for agncultural purposes 

 in two forme, (1) a coarse powdtr coasisting of a 

 87 



mixture of oxide of iron and Vermouth powdi'r (Artc- 

 »»i.s(« iilj.-^i.itliiiiiii), and (2) blocks for beasts to lick, 

 the salt being mixed w ith oxide of iron and charcoal 

 powder. Salt for manure was mixed witli charcoal 

 dust, ashes, lamp-black, or ordinary soot, in dillercut 

 proportions. These mixtures, though effective in 

 Germany, would not be so in this country where 

 the salt duty is much heavier, and cheaper meana 

 of restoring the salt exist. 



In 1 87D the Government of Madras forwarded an ap- 

 plication I'rom l\Ir. Bartir for permission to use duty- 

 free salt in th(! manufacture of manure. The Ciiiii- 

 missioner of Salt Itcvenne, Mai!ins. referred to tho 

 various [u-ocesses of medicating salt used iu Kraiu-e, 

 and recommended compliance with Mr. Barter's applic- 

 ation, pro vied the salt was first mixed with poudretto 

 in accordance with the French method. Thi^ Bo.ud 

 supported the recommendation of tho .Salt Oommis- 

 sioner, but the Government of India considered that 

 the issue of a mixture of the kind to the jieople of this 

 country was obviously objectionable as leading to serious 

 misapprehension of motives. The proposal was there- 

 fore iie^'atived. 



This objection svoukl not apply in Ceylon, but 

 the objection of the easy recovery of this salt would, 

 we suspect, remain. 



The European methods of medicating salt having been 

 found unsuitahle, and the experiments made in Bengal 

 and the Punjab having proved unsuccessful, the Govern- 

 ment ul India, iu its resolution of the 22nd August 

 1SS3, citeil in the preamble, invited Local Govcrnment.s 

 and private individuals to make careful and systematic 

 experiments lor tbe discovery of .satisfactory process. 

 Various attempts have been made in conipliauce with 

 these instructions, but none of them can be considered 

 completely satisfactory. 



Then follow details of experiments. 



We quote again ; — 



The Oheuiical E.xaminer to the Goverume.nt of Bengal 

 is of opinion that a solution of the problem cannot bo 

 expected under the conditions laid down, wliiili in 

 their entirety are impracticable. This view is concurred 

 iu by the Chemical Kxaminer to the Onvcrnmciit of 

 the Punjab, and in Madras and Bombay it has been held 

 that the problem is insoluble. 



As already stated in the resolution of 22nd August 

 1883, the Government of India still ho]ies that a pro- 

 cess may be discovered which, if not ciimplctidy satisfy- 

 ing all the conditions hitherto prescrihed, ni.ay yet be 

 sutiicient fur practical purpcses. In this view, the 

 Governor-General in Council is prepared to grant a 

 rew.ard not exceeding i;5,000 to the inventor or dis- 

 coverer of a process which will satisfy the main con- 

 ditions. Lamely, (n) that the cost of the process must 

 be moderate, not exceeding about 4 annas a niaund, 

 and (h) the preparation must be such tliat edible salt 

 cannot be easily extracted from it by any of the ordi- 

 nary processes iu use amongst native salt-workers. If 

 several good processes are suggested, the highest reward 

 will be given to the inventor of the process which may 

 appear to Government to be the most satisfactory in all 

 respects, and a smaller proportionate reward will be 

 grantefl for the next best process. 



The details of the attempts hitherto made to discover 

 a suitable method of denaturalisation have been print- 

 ed in the form of a pamphlet, copy of which may bo 

 obtained on application by persons who desire to 

 make e.-jperimenta. 



Meantime it soenia to as, that, if kainit can bo 

 obtained at the present moderate rates, it lias for 

 manurial purposes a great advantage over chloride 

 of sodium in the considerable iiroportion of sulph- 

 ate of potash it contains. 



DON'T DIE IN THE HOUSE 



"Hough on Ivats " clears nut rats, mice, belles, 

 roaches, bed-bugs, ilies, ants, insects, moles, chipmnnkH, 

 gophers. W. E. Smith & Co.. M«lias, Solo Agents, 



