7 3 
Part I] Lindsay and Harlow:: Lac and Shellac 
Garnet lac is usually of inferior quality containing io to 12 per 
cent, of rosin and has also to be ground before use. The principal 
marks quoted by Messrs. Moran & Co. are— 
< 0 > < 8 > 
The consumers of shellac in the U. S. A. have advocated the crea¬ 
tion of a definite series of official grades of shellac, to which manu¬ 
facturers should be asked to approximate their marks. This proposal 
does not meet with the approval of the better class manufacturers in 
India as the individuality of their marks would be lost and with it 
the premium now paid for consistent quality. Further the specula¬ 
tion in shellac, now confined to TN and Standard I, would be 
extended to all grades. The larger the number of private marks 
manufactured, the less is the tendency to speculation. No true 
speculator dare now offer a high grade shellac unless he has the full 
quantity actually in his godown, in which case the business is scarcely 
speculative ; for he has only one source of supply, namely, the actual 
manufacturer of the particular grade. If the standards of high grade 
shellac are official, any one will be able to manufacture them and 
the speculator will be tempted to gamble in them. 
Prior to 1914 the actual cost of TN manufacture was about 
The costs of manufacture. 
Rs. 7 per maund, but since the war prices 
have risen considerably and the following 
may be taken as about correct:— 
Rs. a. p. 
Crushing, sifting and washing to convert the stick-lac into grain-lac 180 
Cloth for bags ... ... ... ••• 280 
Thread for bags ... ••• ••• ••• 040 
Labour (at the fires) ... ... ••• ••• 3 0 0 
Charcoal ... ... ••• ••• ••• 180 
Orpiment ... ... ... ••• ••• 040 
Soda for boiling bags ... ... ••• ••• 040 
Fuel for boiling bags ... ... ••• ••• 040 
Total ... 980 
The cost of manufacturing TN is therefore about Rs. 10 per 
maund. It will be noticed that no account has been taken of 
overhead charges or of interest on capital. The bulk of the TN is 
