136 



temperate climate ; ( 2 ) that the average haemoglohin content of 

 the blood is normal; (3) that the number of leucocytes (white 

 corpuscles), is slightly increased; (4) that the average blood 

 pressure does not show any difference from that of normal chil- 

 dren in temperate climes.- — Agricultural A'Czcs. 



THE INDIAN OIL PRESSING INDUSTRY. 



That the oil-seeds industry is one of the important industries 

 of this country will be realized when it is seen that in the Bom- 

 bay presidency (inclusive of Sind) alone there are nearly 4,000.- 

 000 acres — not 400,000 as mentioned in the government resolu- 

 tion on the reports — of these seeds under cultivation, and the 

 value of the export trade in 1912 amounted to over 520 lakhs of 

 rupees. The chief seeds from which oil is extracted in the coun- 

 try are the cotton-seed, ground-nut, castor-oil seed, rape-seed, 

 linseed, poppy-seed, and mowra-seed. Linseetl alone is exported 

 from India to the value of over 420 lakhs in a year, while the 

 value of mowraseed exports reaches 240 lakhs, castor oil-seed 

 123 lakhs, rape-seed 92 lakhs, ground-nuts 92 lakhs and cotton- 

 seed 73 lakhs. The importance of the oil-seed industry to the 

 country is thus apparent. But, as every one knows, instead of 

 these seeds being pressed in this country and the oil exported to 

 western countries. India has been exporting the raw material in 

 large quantities, allowing the oil to be pressed and refined outside 

 the country, thus losing a source of immense profit. The Bom- 

 bay Presidency imported vegetable oils to the value of nearly six 

 /lakhs of rupees in 1912-13 — oils which, if the necessary facilities 

 had been forthcoming, could have been manufactured locally. 

 The indigenous oil-pressing industry in this presidency is an old 

 one, as everywhere else in India, and, though the methods may 

 be crude, it plays an important part in the econoiuy of the coun- 

 try. Mr. Pandit calculates the total daily output of the ghanis — 

 the indigenous oil-pressing machinery — at 155 tons. He also 

 thinks that the trli — the native oil man — will be able to hold his 

 own for a long time to come, in spite of the introduction of power 

 machinery from the west. Mr. Pandit, however, says that the 

 economic condition of the workers is generally far from satis- 

 factory, chiefly on account of the high prices ruling in the land. 

 — Indian Agriculinrist. 



Do not waste feed on un])rofitable stock. It is only when the 

 returns show a profit over cost of ])r()duc(i()n and keep that birds 

 should be retained. 



Cockerels to be fattened for the market should be fed well 

 from the first, and crnifined in a small space. They will be 

 profitable only when turned off in the .shortest possible period. 



