BARILLA INDUSTRY OF THE PANJAB 



BARILLA 



INDIAN 

 SALTWORTS 



revolutionised the world's necessities and demands for the salt. At the present 



moment were tho available lands not only of Coromandel but of all similar 



mitaMe tracts in India to be devoted exclusively to the production of barilla, 



i-.iliiiMy could not supply a tithe of the present demands for sodium car- 



Panjab 

 Produc- 

 tion. 



vat 



L-, 



Powell (Pb. Prod., 180S, i., 86) gives an instructive account of the 

 luirilla industry of the Panjab. Very little of importance has since been written 

 on this subject and the following abstract may, therefore, be takon from that 

 -" Tho process by which this substance is prepared is carried on during 

 the month of Optober and three following months. The plant after being 

 cit down is allowed to dry. The next step is to dig a pit of a hemispherical 

 . about 6 feet in circumference and 3 feet deep. One or more vessels with 

 les perforated are inverted and placed in the bottom of the pit, the holes being 

 iosed until tho alkali begins to flow, when they are opened by a stick previously 

 arranged for that purpose. The dry plants are gradually burnt, and during the pro- 

 cess a liquid substance is found to run down into the inverted vessels. After this 

 has taken place, the residue is stirred up by means of a flat piece of wood and kept 

 iul over for three or four days till it cools. Care must be taken not to allow 

 water to get to the molten liquid, otherwise the whole mass would blow up. 

 tho inverted vessels will be found a pure form of khdr aajji (sometimes called 

 (pot) aajji) and in the bottom of the pit an impure form containing a mixture 

 ashes." 



In the Dictionary more recent papers are reviewed. The Deputy Commis- 

 sioner of Multan says that in that district the plants are collected in January 

 d February. He then observes thai the land on which barilla-yielding plants 

 w was in 1883-4 leased for Rs. 7,907. The Settlement Report of Shahpur 

 istrict contains an interesting account of the barilla industry in which it is 

 ,ted that the farming of the monopoly fetches upwards ot Rs. 8,000 a year, 

 e quantity of aajji manufactured is said to be about 10,000 maunds. In 

 ontgomery and Jhang the khdr (or. khangan khdr) plant is natojryion fecurtmm, 

 id this is supposed to yield the finest quality of aajji ; the inferior qualities 

 believed to be made from the various species of land, of which the gora land 

 the best (sMinni /*/). 



In Sind the plant that yields the best aajji is said to be known as lani. This 

 >ws wild all over the province and springs up spontaneously after a copious 

 r all of rain. The process of manufacture pursued in Sind differs from that 

 described in connection with the Panjab in the circumstance that earthen pots 

 lota) are not employed. The industry flourishes most at Kutchi in Khelat, 

 here over 5,000 maunds are annually prepared. In Shikarpur a like quantity 

 made, and in Thar and Parkar about 3,000 maunds are annually turned out. 

 There seems also to exist a fairly extensive manufacture of sodium carbonate 

 Aden from the so-called Aden Balsam (f K>nrti<i n mil flora). 

 The publication of the article " Barilla " (in the first volume of the Dictionary) 

 to a correspondence on the subject of a possible extension of the industry. 

 1888 the Madras Government asked the assistance of the Director of Agricul- 

 in the Panjab. The result was that Mr. J. R. Drummond, then Deputy 

 mmissioner of Karnal, was invited to draw up a report on the Panjab salt- 

 rte actually in use in the manufacture of barilla, and this was furnished to 

 Madras Government. After considering the information procured from 

 ious sources, the conclusions arrived at by the Government may be put 

 us : 



1. It was cheaper and more convenient to obtain sodium carbonate from 

 ali deposits in the soil (such as the well-known dhobi'a earths of various parts of 



Presidency) than to burn saltworts and manufacture barilla. 



2. The imported pure salt could be had at such a low price that it was 

 ubtful whether either method was likely in the future to compete suc- 



"ully. 



Indian Saltworts. 



The following may be given (in continuation of the observations under 

 Alkali Soils R6h, p. 51) as an alphabetical enumeration of the better known 

 saltworts of India, in which all those that might be successfully tried in reclama- 

 tion of reh efflorescence have been shown, as well as those actually employed in 

 the manufacture of barilla. 



Arthrocnemum Indicum, Moq. The jodu palang, machola, ghuri, chil, umari, koia~ 

 pipail a native of the salt marshes of Bengal, Madras and Bombay. 



Khdr Sajji. 



Multan. 



Montgomery 

 and Jhang. 



S j n(1> 



Extent of Trade. 



Aden. 



Madras Opinion. 



List of Chief 



D.E.P., 

 i., 328. 



113 



8 



