and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



605 



shells, scales, bones and ivory substitutes; (5) 

 glue, isinglass and sponges. The total value of 

 the annual product of these throughout the 

 world roughly approximates $45,000,000, of 

 Which the United States contribute $11,000,000. 



Some of the most extensive fisheries of the 

 world have been conducted for the purpose of 

 supplying the oil-markets. Whale oil was one 

 of the first of all oils to achieve commercial im- 

 portance, and for over a century whale fishery 

 ranked as one of the principal industries of 

 America. The seal fisheries of Newfoundland, 

 Norway and other Northern countries are de- 

 pending for their prosperity on the oil obtained 

 from the thick blubber underlying the skins of 

 the animals. In the various cod fisheries the 

 rendering of the. livers into oil for medicinal as 

 well as for technical uses is a source of great 

 profit. 



All varieties of aquatic oils deposit a solid 

 fat or grease known as "foots" or 

 " stearine," somewhat similar to the tal- 

 low of sheep and oxen. This is obtained 

 in the process of refining the oils, and the 

 yield sometimes reaches 20 per cent, of the bulk 

 of the crude oil. It is sold for a few pence per 

 pound, and is used as a substitute for tallow 

 from sheep and oxen in sizing yarns, as emol- 

 lient in leather dressing and for various other 

 technical purposes. 



Bleaching the various marine oils produces a 

 semi-solid fat known as 'spern-soap,' 'whale- 

 soap,' 'menhaden-soap,' according to the variety 

 of oil treated. This material is used in smear- 

 ing sheep, washing fruit trees, and soap manu- 

 facture. In fighting the mosquito-blight of tea 

 it has been found by Mr Hutchinson that certain 

 soap solutions are the most efficacious remedies 

 known. It would appear that soap made entirely 

 from fish-oil is probably one of the best for des- 

 troying the peBt in tea gardens. 



Fertilisers are made from shells, non-edible fish, 

 especially the menhaden, and waste portions 

 of edible species. The quantity of such fertilisers 

 produced annually in the United States approxi- 

 mates 420,000 tons worth $2,120,000. This is 

 capable of great increase especially in the quan- 

 tity of waste fish employed. Fish is used as 

 a manure on the Malabar Coast and the plant- 

 ing districts of Wynaad and Mysore, but hither- 

 to no such industry has been established in 

 Bengal. The refuse fish from the " Golden 

 Crown " might be worked up in some central 

 factory dried and mixed with mineral compounds 

 to form an excellent concentrated manure for 

 all kinds of crops. 



Leather is made from the skins of practically 

 all species of fish, but they usually rank as 

 novelties among fancy leather dressers. Seal 

 leather is produced in large quantities, averag- 

 ing in value one and a half million dollars a year. 

 The hide of the beluga or white whale is one of 

 the best of skins for leather purposes. It is 

 sold as porpoise leather, and probably $200,000 

 worth is marketted annually. Among the 

 aquatic skins used to a less extent may be men- 

 tioned porpoises, sharks and alligators, all of 

 which are procurable on the Bengal littoral or 

 in the Bay, 



Glue-manufacture provides an outlet for the 

 profitable use of much waste in dressing fish 

 allied to the cod. The material was formerly 

 discarded as useless, but now tens of thousand 

 dollars' worth of glue for postage stamps, court 

 plaster, adhesive labels, for sizing straw hats 

 and textile fabrics are manufactured from fish- 

 skins. The product is said to be much stronger 

 and more durable than glue made from the 

 skins of mammals. At present it may be pre- 

 sumed that every pound of fish-glue used in 

 India is imported, while excellent material is 

 available in the seas surrounding the peninsula. 



Isinglass made from the sounds or swim- 

 ming bladders of sturgeon, hake and cod 

 is used largely for clarifying fermenting 

 liquors. A crude form of isinglass, we 

 understand, is prepared by fishermen on 

 the Orissa coast, but there is an opening for 

 a larger industry where a refined article should 

 be manufactured by some simple process. 



These are a few directions for extending the 

 fish industry which might be followed by the 

 new Fisheries Dapartment of the Government of 

 Bengal. It will be impossible to compete with 

 temperate countries in their large enterprises, 

 but in the matter of useful products, as fish oils, 

 isinglass and fertilisers a commencement might 

 be made during the present cold weather when 

 climatic conditions are more favourable than 

 any other time of the year. — Capital, Nov. 12. 



TROPICAL PRODUCTS OF FIJI. 



And Rubber Cultivation. 

 The Acting Colonial Secretary at Suva, in his 

 report on Fiji for 1907, recently published by 

 the Colonial Office (Annual Reports No 580), 

 states that the cultivation of sugar, copra, and 

 green fruit (chiefly bananas) at present forms 

 the staple agricultural industries of the Colony. 

 There are six sugar mills in operation in the 

 Colony. The total area of land under cane 

 cultivation is estimated at 39,464 acres, from 

 which 584,686 tons of sugar cane were produced 

 in 1907. The area under coconuts is estimated 

 at 28,634 acres ; but this represents European 

 cultivation only, no returns of the area culti- 

 vated by natives being furnished. The total 

 quantity of copra (the dried kernel of the coco- 

 nut) exported during 1907 was 11,290 tons, 

 valued at £182,788. The area under bananas and 

 pineapples was 3,477 acres, but this does not 

 include native cultivation. Considerable areas 

 of bananas are cultivated by natives, who sell 

 their produce to European agents for shipment. 

 An inspector of fruit was appointed in January, 

 19u7, whose duty it is, under the Fruit Export 

 Ordinance, to supervise the fruit export trade. 

 A considerable improvement in the quantity 

 of fiuit exported has resulted from this ap- 

 pointment. 



There is stated to be a good opening in Fiji 

 for the cultivation of such minor products as 

 hemp, ginger, limes, spices, tobacco, &c. The 

 cultivation of rubber has hitherto hardly been 

 attempted, but the results obtained at the ex- 

 perimental stations, and on at least two planta- 

 tions, indicate that this valuable product can 



