Having done so, they are allowed to manufacture on their own account in the same manner as under the excise system.
The figures in the margin show the extent in the two factories which is worked under each of these three systems. The Jagannáthapuram factory is within Cocanada municipality and that at Penugudúru is near that town. In both of them, the salt is made by the ordinary methods. The pans are supplied with brine from channels connecting with the sea or tidal creeks, and not from brinepits- At Jagannáthapuram a steam pump is used for lifting the brine, and, at Penugudúru, picottahs. The soil at Penugudúru is nearly all of a clayey description, and is sandy in only a very few parts. The result is that the salt made there is dark in colour and rather dirty. That made at Jagannáthapuram is also darker than usual. In both places, however, the quality is good and the salt has the commercial advantage of being rather light, which, since salt is bought wholesale at the factories by weight and retailed in the bazaars by measure, renders it popular with the dealers. The Jagannáthapuram factory used to be worked entirely by the Oriental Salt Company, Limited, which endeavoured, by the use of certain patent processes, to purify the local product so as to enable it to compete in the Calcutta market with 'Liverpool' salt. The attempt failed and the company was voluntarily wound up at the end of 1904. The factory is now worked, under a lease running for 20 years from January 1889, by Messrs. Hall, Wilson & Co., who have been recognized as receivers on behalf of the debenture-holders in the company.
| Acres. | Cents. | |
|---|---|---|
| Jagannathapuram, excise | 127 | 8 |
| Penuguduru, excise | 669 | 87 |
| Do. , monopoly | 77 | 8 |
| Do. , modified excise. | 88 | 18 |
The salt made in the two factories is largely consumed within the district itself. Out of 780,000 maunds of salt manufactured there in 1905-06, nearly half was consumed within it. The balance was sent to Vizagapatam, Kistna, the Central Provinces and Orissa. The exports by sea used formerly to include large quantities sent to Rangoon; but in recent years cheap salt, mostly from Germany, has reached that town and reduced prices to a stage which leaves no profit on this trade. When the stock of Bombay salt is short, salt is sometimes exported from Cocanada to Calcutta, In 1903-04 about 126,000 maunds were sent there; but this figure is quite exceptional, and the exports by sea rarely exceed 50,000 maunds in all.
The supply of salt to the French Settlement of Yanam is governed by the rules which apply to the other French
