84 
giving two only; moreover the large diameter of the 4 
and 5 ring shells makes them especially valuable and 
when a good proportion of these are present the value 
is greatly enhanced especially if the colour be good as it 
isin Tuticorin shells. Ifthe sections be required for the 
narrow churi form of bracelet as many as ten rings may 
be sawn from one shell. 
Basing our calculation upon an average yield of 3 
ring sections per shell and an average sale price of Rs. 
18 per 100 sections, the labour of sawing the shells being 
paid at the rate of Rs. 1-8-o per 100 rings the profits of 
a member of the combine who cuts up the shells in his 
own factory may be estimated approximately at not less 
than Rs. 174 per 1,000 shells, taking the cost price at 
Rs. 121-9-9 per 1,000, the rate obtained by Government 
for the 1909-10 season’s catch—a price higher by Rs. 22 
than that ruling the previous two years. The following 
rough balance sheet shows how I arrive at this estimate, 
viz :-— 
Cost and expenses per 1,000 shells. 
RS: SAL OP: 
Purchase at Tuticorin ... ee S50 RAGE, EL AG) 
Freight and charges ns 10s 0; 10 
Rail charges and warehouse rent and 
miscellaneous : OF 1603 
Labour—sawing into rings ; 3,000 rings 
at 1-8—o per I00 60 AG <0. 0 
Commission to gee IO per cent. on 
sales... 580 45 0 Oo 
Bad debts and interest Io > per cent, See 45 0 0 
276,310) “0 
Proceeds-— 
Sale of 2,500 rings at Rs. 18 per 100 
(500 sections being rejected as bad)... 450 0 o 
Net profit on 1,000 shells ae el LEAL "0: 186. 
This is equivalent toa profit of 63 per cent. upon the 
total expenditure. 
In cases where it is the second middleman who saws 
the shells into rings for sale to the artisans, the average 
profit is reduced “to about 50 per cent. owing to the 
higher rate he pays for the shells—he has to pay from 
Rs. 150 to Rs. 170 per 1,000 for his shells ; on the other 
hand, he saves on the items of freight and charges which 
