?o6 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1889. 
What ia regarded as an ordinary sample of a good 
Madras salt will analyze thus : — 
per cent. 
Moisture... ... ... ... 1769 
Insoluble matter (-7-4 •;; ;;; JJg 
Sodium chloride ... ... ..92702 
Magnesium do . . . . ... 0'899 
Calcium do ... .. ... 1-301 
Calcium sulphate ... ... ... 4'539 
Of course it would be desirable that all the salts 
save chloride of sodium should be eliminated, but 
that cannot be managed by the present mode of 
manufacture and it remains to be seen if steam 
and other machinery can, at any expenditure 
leaving a profit, produce perfectly pure salt. Mean- 
time a mixture of 6 to 7 per cent of salts of 
magnesia and lime does not appreciably detract 
from the wholesomeness of the Indian and Ceylon 
Bait. Europeans and well-to-do people generally, 
of course, use refined English salt for their tables, 
and into Bengal foreign salt to the amount of 
400,000 tons is imported, of which 300,000 tons are 
from England. The Committee stated: — 
The question of a test to determine the relation be- 
tween the volume and weight of salts was also con- 
sidered. An examination of the table (enclosure No. 2 
of report) showing the weights per cubic foot of the 
forty-one salts analysed for the Committee proves that 
such a test would afford no reliable indication of purity. 
It is true that the best salts are generally heavy; but 
exceptions to this rule are numerous, and good light 
salts and bad heavy ones are not uncommon. 
The Board of Revenue in a resolution of August 
1887 stated :— 
It is unnecessary to recount the history of the 
introduction of the excise system into Madras, as all 
the facts must be fresh in the recollection of the 
Secretary of State and Government of India; it is 
sufficient to say that, owing to the agitation of the 
Salt Chamber of Commerce of Cheshire and Wor- 
cestershire, based on the results of the observations 
of their President taken during a hurried tour through 
India in 1874, a Commission was appointed to make 
full inquiry into the Salt Administration of the Pre- 
sidency, one of the points to which their attention 
was specially directed being the desirability of sub- 
stituting a system of excise for the monopoly which 
then subsisted. The result of the exhaustive investi- 
gation which was held in 1876 was to show that, 
although the Madras salt was in some respects 
capable of improvement, the picture of it drawn by 
Mr. Falk was altogether exaggerated ; certain ad- 
ministrative changes were recommended to which 
effect has since been given, and as regards the question 
of Excise versus Monopoly, the following conclusion 
waB arrived at : — 
" To sum up, then, we are of opinion that there 
are no insuperable practicable difficulties in the 
way of change from monopoly to excise, and that the 
measure is^not likely to prove injurious to the interests 
either of the consumers of salt, or of the Imperial 
revenue. We regard it as the most hoperful meaps 
of bringing about the improvement which is desirable 
in the quality of the salt, and of giving to the Madras 
Presidency the share in the trade for the supply of 
other parts of India and of Burmah and adjacent 
countries which its natural advantages and geo- 
graphical situation should enable it to command. 
We, therefore, recommend that steps be taken for 
the introduction of excise." 
The following paragraph is interesting as showing 
the danger of neglecting certain principles, under 
the license system, essential to the manufacture 
of pure salt : — 
Although the experiments of the committee have 
established the fact that thpre in no absolute relation 
between the weight of a salt and its purity, there 
is no doubt that chemical impurities are more or 
less associated with physical defects and that much 
of the light salt which fiuds favor with the trade is 
of very indifferent quality. This inferiority is due to 
baste and want of oare in the manufacture. The 
brine is let into the pans before it is sufficiently con- 
centrated, and in some few places the use of conden- 
sers has even been abandoned so as to utilise 
the space for crystallizing beds ; hence the large 
quantity of calcium sulphate which is noticeable, 
the bitterns are not removed with sufficient frequency, 
and hasty crystallization under the forcing action of 
residual salts is the rule; henoe the undue proportion of 
magnesium chloride and consequent excess of moisture , 
the deliquescent properties being generally attributable 
to the presence of magnesium salts. Magnesium sul- 
phate is noticeable to a greater extent than formerly, 
probably owing to the scraping commencing in the 
early morning instead of being carried on during 
the heat of the day. Dirt at present in large quan- 
tities owing to hasty scraping. The defects in phy- 
sical properties are mainly attributable to the shallow 
irrigations adopted according to the prevailing method 
of manufacture. As long as the licensees can get 
rid of their salt irrespective of quality, they are not 
likely to devote much attention to improvement of 
quality, as that involves not only trouble, but some 
expense in laying out their pans afresh so as to pro- 
vide an adequate condensing area, and the means of 
discharging the bitterns. As has been frequently 
pointed out the demand is for light salt, and to quote 
the remarks of the Salt Commission (paragraph 360) 
" the same measures which will produce a chemically 
pure salt will also tend to improve its physical qualities, 
i.e., make it heavy," which is not to the advantage 
of the manufacturers, seeing that light salt, owing 
to the fact of its being purchased by weight at the 
factory and retailed by measurement in the bazaar, 
finds most favor with their customers. 
Again ; — 
There has been no attempt to introduce any im- 
provement in the method of manufacture except in 
the case of two European firms who have made a 
trial of steam pumps for raising the brine, Mesi-rs. 
Stuart, Hall and Co. at Karasa near Vizagapatain, 
and Messrs. Best and Co. at Manambadi near Porto 
Novo. It is believed that the experiment has not 
proved a success financially owing to the fact that 1 he 
machinery has not been worked up to its full capa- 
bility ; a much larger area might have been irrigated 
at little additional cost; as worked at present the use 
of steam pumps does not appear to have been pro- 
ductive of any saving of cost. 
The Board calculate the consumption of salt per 
head in the Madras Presidency at 15 lb. per annum, 
and we believe the rate of consumption in Ceylon is 
very much the same. In the report of 1857 it was cal- 
culated that the cost to the oonsumer in Ceylon, with all 
monopoly charges added, waB only Jd per lb. 
or say f d retail price ; so that the annual 
cost per head was 7id, a fair average day's 
wages for an adult male. It is curious to note that 
the commissioners of 1857, estimated the population 
of Ceylon at 1,750,000. If this was an approxi- 
mation to the truth, the population of the island 
has increased by a full million iu the 32 years, 
a little short of the usual estimate of a genera- 
tion. Our inclination is to believe that next 
census will show, a population of three mil- 
lions for Ceylon, or only a little less 
than that of the whole of the great Australian 
colonies. The estimate of 1857 was probably too 
low. We cannot accept the figures supplied to us 
by a friend, who estimates the population at only 
millions, and the consumption of salt at so high 
a figure, deduced from the other, as 17£ lb. We have 
reason to believe he is equally out in his information 
that the average consumption per head in British 
India is less than half th - Ceylon rate. In Indian 
jails, however, 7 lb. per head of salt has been 
found more than sufficient. But let us quote the 
words of the gentleman referred to : — 
" My opinion with regard to the Ceylon salt mono- 
poly in simply this, that although it is objectionable 
in principle, yet it is an unhappy necessity in an 
oriental country. The tax is easily colh ctvA and it is 
not felt by the people. 
