APPENDIX. 147 



third time in alDOiit as many year?, and company No, 3 retired. And 

 now the end of Pondicherry knilerie has come, and the machinery is 

 being taken down and conveyed to Bangalore, where it is to be 

 re- erected and worked for cnishing ground-nnt kernels : Bangalox'e 

 has already one steam oil mill, and it has to be seen whether two 



can be made to pay. The complete failure of the several attempts 

 made to work the Pondicherry factory is attributed to vai-ious 

 causes, of which the following are the chief: — First^ the inefficiency 

 of the machinery generally, and of the engine and boiler in parti- 

 cular, which caused an extravagant consumption of fuel to obtain 

 minimum results ; second^ the absence of a practical engineer 

 thoroughly acquainted with oil crushing machinery ; third^ the want 

 of a sufficient working capital so as to purchase the raw material, 

 fuel, &c., in advance, when prices were low; and/owrM, the want of 

 unanimity among the owners. The results, however, were so far 

 valuable; that they demonstrated the fact that the crushing of 

 ground-nut kernels by improved steam machinery of a modern type 

 would yield large profits, provided it was efficiently supervised and 

 economically worked: it was found that the outturn from steam 

 crushing was nearly 4 per cent, greater than what was obtained 

 from native presses, while the quality of the oil was so much 

 superior that it fetched fully 3^ per cent, more in the Burmah, 

 Singapore, and Indian markets. The export of the gi^ound-nut oil 

 trade developed only about 1875, when 9,150 casks were shij^ped, 

 including 1,581 to Bordeaux, 1,036 to Marseilles, 572 to London, 

 207 to Havre, and 200 to Martinique ; but the trade with Europe 

 stopped when Marseilles began crushing on a large scale, and 

 during the last twelve years there have been no transactions. 

 The use of the oil for cuisine purposes is extending every year, 

 especially among all classes of Indians, and particularly with- 

 Indian emigrants working in foreign countries. The 12,000 casks 

 shipped yearly to Burmah and Mauritius are consumed chiefly by 

 Indians, and it is likely that Natal and other places where Indian 

 labour is employed will presently become large consumers. Ground- 

 nut oil is not much used by Europeans, as the taste of the kernel is 

 rather strong, unless properly manipulated ; many native cooks, how- 

 ever, clarify it so thoroughly that it is rendered tasteless, and equal, 

 if not superior, to ordinary olive and salad oils. The process is a 

 very simple on^, but great care and judgment are necessary to insure 



