CRAFTS.

Kolhapur crafts are only of local importance. The chief crafts are, working in gold and silver, copper and brass, iron, stone, lime, earth, glass, wood, and leather; the weaving of coarse cotton cloth and woollen blankets; oil-pressing; the making of paper and perfumes.

GOLD AND SILVER.

Goldsmiths are found in almost all market towns, and every large village has an hereditary goldsmith or potdar to test the coins paid as land revenue. Of the total 1200 families about one-third, besides working as goldsmiths, till land. Of the eight divisions, Ahir, Deshasth Devang, Konkanasth, Lad, Marwari, Rajput, and Vidur goldsmiths, the Deshasths and the Konkanasths are the most skilled. Except a set of tools a goldsmith requires no capital; the raw gold and silver are supplied by customers. On every rupee weight of the ornaments made, for silver work goldsmiths are paid 1d. to 6d. (⅔-4as.) and for the best gold work and jewelry as much as 8s. (Rs.4). In the city of Kolhapur some rich bankers employ goldsmiths on daily wages to make ornaments for sale. In this way ornaments worth about £10,000 (Rs.1 lakh) are yearly made and sold at a profit of five to ten per cent. Goldsmiths have fairly steady work all the year round. They work about eight hours a day, from six to ten in the morning and four to eight in the evening. The women do not help the men, but boys when about twelve years old begin to learn the work. Goldsmiths are a well-to-do class. A first rate worker earns about 2s. (Re. 1) a day or £36 (Rs. 360) a year, a middling worker Is. to 1s.to 1s. 6d (8-12 as.) a day or £18 to £27 (Rs. 180 - 270) a year, and a poor worker 6d. (4,as.) a day or £9 (Rs. 90) a year.

COPPER.

Coppersmiths or Tambats and Kasars, of whom there are about seventy families, are found in a few large towns. They require a dead stock worth £2 to £5 (Rs. 20-50). At Kolhapur the metal dealers bring copper and brass sheets from Poona and Satara and occasionally from Sangli and sell them to the local smiths at 10½d. to 1s. (7-8 as.) a pound. Of these raw sheets coppersmiths make water-jars, mugs, and cooking vessels and sell copper vessels at 1s. 3¾ d. (10½ as.) and brass vessels at 1s. 2¼d. (9½ as.) the pound. During the fair season coppersmiths work ten hours a day; during the rains, owing to the cost of coals, their work is dull. To sell their stock they move from village to village and attend fairs during the dry season. On the chief Hindu festivals and on the Amavasya or the 30th of every month coppersmiths stop work. Owing to large imports of ready-made vessels from Nasik, Poona, Rajapur, Satara, Shahapur, Shirala, and Terdal, the craft is not prosperous. Coppersmiths earn 10½d. to 1s. (7-8 as.) a day. Copper and. brass vessels are also brought for sale by Bogars or Jain workers.

IRON.

Blacksmiths or Lohars and Ghisadis or tinkers of whom there are 940 families, are found in almost all villages. Besides these Dhavads and a few carpenters also work in iron. At Kolhapur Jain, Bohora, and other Musalman dealers bring bars and sheets of iron from Bombay by Chiplun and sell them to local Lohars and Ghisadis. The chief iron articles made are spoons, hatchets, sickles, and sugar-pans or Kahils, which fetch 1¼d. to 2 5/8dr (5/6 -1¾as.) the pound. Steel is sold at 4½d (3as.) the pound. The services are in constant demand throughout the year. During the fair season their chief work is mending field tools. Except on big holidays and on every Amavasya or no-moon day when they do not work, blacksmiths work nine to ten hours a day. The women and children help in working the bellows. Blacksmiths earn a daily wage of 1s. 3d. to 2s. (Re.⅝-1). In villages where they chiefly mend field tools, blacksmiths are paid in grain, about sixty pounds (6 paylis) a year. During the fair season Ghisadis move from village to village and mend field tools. For this they are paid generally in grain at a lower rate than Lohars.

STONE.

The chief stone workers are Patharvats, Beldars, and Khandars. Beldars and Khandars are quarrymen and earn 6d. to 9d. (4-6 as.) a day. Rubble fetches 6s. to 10s. (Rs.3-5) the hundred feet and other stone 1½d. to 4½d. (1-3 as.) the foot. The Patharvats dress the stone and earn 1s. 6d. to 2s. (Re. ¾-1) a day. The best dressers are the Musalman Patharvats of Kolhapur who make excellent ornamental carving. Besides these, Maratha and Musalman Gavandis or masons build with stone and mortar or mud and earn 1s. to 1s. 9d. (8-14 as.) a day. Stonecutters work eight to ten hours a day. The women do not help the men, but boys when about twelve years old begin to learn.

LIME.

Lonaris make lime in a kiln which is a circular hole built about ten feet above the surface of the ground. The surrounding walls are of stone and mud. At the bottom which has a hole, they place a layer of firewood, then a layer of kankar or lime nodules mixed with charcoal, and again a layer of firewood. The wood is kindled, and after eight or ten days when the whole is thoroughly burnt, the contents are taken out, separated from the charcoal, and sprinkled with water. The lime is ready for sale, and fetches £2 to £2 8s. (Rs. 20-24) the khandi of a hundred cubic feet.

EARTH.

Kumbhars or potters of whom there are about 200 families, make earthen pots, tiles, and bricks. They are Marathas, Kanada Lingayats, and Pardeshis of whom the Pardeshis chiefly make bricks. The chief raw materials are clay, horsedung, ashes, stable refuse, and of fuel firewood and cowdung cakes. The clay is generally dug out of the fields for which the Kumbhars pay rent, but they are allowed to take river-bank silts free of charge. Till about ten years ago (1872) Kumbhars used to get clay horsedung and stable-refuse from the State tables on giving about 4000 earthen pots a week. Since 1872 this practice has been stopped, and the horsedung and stable-refuse of the State stables are sold by public auction when the Kumbhars buy them. The potter takes about thirty-six pounds (1½mans) of clay and mixes it in water with half the quantity of horsedung and as much of ashes. The mixture is kneaded with the hand and then trodden with the feet. This is done twice and the process takes two hours. Of the potters' tools the chief are a wooden wheel worth about 2s. (Re. 1); three pieces of babhul or khair wood, each worth 1⅛ d. (¾a.) one four inches long, another three inches, and a third two inches; a stone four inches long and two inches broad having a handle let in; and a stick to turn the Wheel. To make the wheel a flat piece of wood is cut into a circular form of about eight inches in diameter and a small flat circular stone having a hollow in the middle is fixed in the centre; six thin sticks are inserted as spokes in the piece of wood which serves as the nave. Afterwards three hoops are tied to the ends of the spokes with a thin rope and the circumference of the wheel is loaded with a mixture of clay and goat hair to make it heavy. A stout wooden peg is buried in the ground all but about nine inches. A pit, is filled with water and the wheel is placed on the peg, which rests in the hollow of the stone fixed in the nave. The potter them places about five pounds (2½ shers) of prepared mud on the wooden nave, and turning the wheel by a stick fixed in a hole made for the purpose in the rim, makes the wheel whirl at a great pace. The potter then takes a piece of wet cloth in his fingers and the required form is given to the mud, which is moistened with water during the operation. By continual handling turning and applying fresh mud, the pot is enlarged and strengthened and the requisite finish of shape is given. The pots are then dried and their outsides rubbed with red earth found at Bid, Adur, and Koparde and polished by rubbing with strings of smooth kanjka and sometimes with kate bhovra seeds besmeared with oil. The pots are then baked in a kiln with rubbish. At the bottom of the kiln some rice husk and cowdung cakes are spread, and the pots are then imbedded in regular rows among the husk and cakes which are also plentifully heaped over the pottery. The kiln is set on fire in the evening. By about four next morning the whole kiln is on fire, and after the husk and rubbish fuel is consumed the pots are taken out. The chief earthen vessels are pots to fill water called budukulis, deras, ghagars, and moghas, round pots or kundales, saucers or parals, cups or jams, 'coverings for pots or jhaknis, chilims or smoking pipes, and mandans. Of these mandans cost 1s. to 1s. 6d. (8 - 12 as.) each, deras 4½ d. to 6d (3- 4 as.), kundales and ghagars ⅜ d. to 1 ⅛d. (¼ -¾a.), and others ⅜d. (¼ a.) and less. Tiles are of two kinds cylindrical and triangular. To make cylindrical tiles twelve bullockloads of clay, two headloads of horsedung, and two headloads of kiln ashes are mixed together in water and reduced to thick mud. One man prepares the mud, another gives the lequisite quantity to be placed on the wheel, and the third turns the wheel and prepares the tiles in the shape of a hollow cylinder tapering towards one end. These cylinders are about seven or eight inches long and about three inches in diameter. While wet, two cuts are made with a piece of stone or wood on each side of the cylinder, leaving it joined together on the upper or lower end. When dry the cylinders are baked in a kiln. As the tiles are made of red earth no red solution is applied. Baked cylinders fetch 3s. to 3s. 6d. (Rs. 1½ - 1¾) for every five hundred. When used, the cylinders are longitudinally divided into two parts. Three men make 300 cylinders or 600 tiles a day. To make triangular tiles sixteen bullockloads of clay, three headloads of horsedung, and three headloads of kiln ashes are mixed together in water and kneaded in the same way as in making cylindrical tiles. The mixture is turned into flat triangular pieces of the required size and allowed to dry a little. Each piece is placed over an oblong wooden mould having its upper side convex and tapering towards the end. The mould is then drawn through the mixture leaving the tiles on the ground which are afterwards baked. Triangular tiles fetch 2s. 6d. to 4s. (Rs. 1¼ - 2) the thousand. To burn a thousand large or small tiles fuel worth 1s. (8 as.) is required.

Potters' work is brisk during the fair season and dull during the, rains. Generally on Mondays and specially on the Mondays of Shravan (July-August) and on Shivratra or the dark 13th of ' Magh (January-February) potters do no work. The women help the men bringing clay and mixing it with horsedung and ashes. About ten families of Kumbhars work in iron, making large sugarpans or kahils and buckets. These earn a daily wage of about. 1s. (8 as.). Some potters make earthen pictures and sell them at the fairs.

GLASS.

The only glass bangles locally made are at Padli about three; miles from Kolhapur. The workers arc ten or fifteen Marathas, who either bring raw glass from Bombay or locally collect broken bangles. In making bangles the large blocks of glass are first exposed to heat, and water is poured over them to reduce them to-small pieces, which are then placed on five small earthen dishes over the mouth of a circular furnace divided into compartments, and heat is applied from the inside of the furnace. A large cover is placed over the dishes, leaving an opening at each dish. After the heat has been continued for about six hours, the glass begins to melt, and the glassmaker sits with his face towards the furnace on a blanket or any other non-conductor of heat. He dips the point of a stick in the melted glass in the paral or saucer before him, and with both hands turns the stick till the glass forms into a small ball. The stick is then placed on a cross stone, and the worker keeps patting it with a flat piece of wood until it is perfectly round. A gentle blow is then given to the stick, which shivers the ball into a ring and the ring is enlarged by inserting a flat piece of wood. The ring is then passed to an earthen mould and is turned round to the requisite size by means of an iron spindle which is fixed in it. The process must be performed with great speed. When the whole mould is covered with bracelets they are removed The bangles made are of inferior quality. The banglemakers sell their bangles to Musulman dealers called Manyars and to Hindu dealers called Kasars. As better bangles are brought from Bombay Miraj and Poona, the craft docs not thrive.

WOOD.

"Wood-work is carried on in most large villages. Most of the workmen are Sutars who chiefly work to order. Of the raw wood teak is brought from Bombay or the Haliyal timber store in Kanara, and jack, mango, jambhul Syzigium jambolanum, khair Acacia catechu, kinjal Terminalia paniculata, and nana Lagerstraemia parviflora timber is brought from the local forests. During the fair season, carpenter's work is brisk, and for ten months they earn 9d. to 2s. (Re. 3/8 - 1) a day. The women do not help the men. Some of the carpenters are clever wood-carvers, and at Potgaon they make good cradles. Village carpenters mend ploughs and other field tools and are yearly paid in grain.

LEATHER.

Tanning is carried. on in almost all villages by Dhors. Village Mhars generally flay the hides which the Dhors buy. Hides dried in the sun are useless. In tanning the hide is macerated in limewater to separate the hair, the fat, and the fleshy parts. After the hide is well soaked, the hair is scraped with a scraper or sip and the fat and fleshy parts are removed with a knife or rape. The hide is then washed in a running stream and soaked for nearly three days in a solution of three parts of babhul bark and one part of myrobalan water. To tan the hide thoroughly the soaking must be thrice repeated. The hide is then tied into a bag and hung up filled with a stronger solution of the babhul bark and myrobalan water. In this state it is left in the sun for seven days to dry and on the eighth day it is washed in a stream and dried. The hide is then pakka or well-tanned. According to length, breadth, and thickness hides fetch 1s. to 17s. (Rs.½-8½). Tanners require a capital of about £2 10s. (Rs. 25). Tanned hides are sold locally. Except on Mondays tanners work from morning to evening. The women help in fetching water and in pounding the babhul bark and myrobalan berries Each hide yields the tanner a profit of about 6d. (4 as.) The competition of Chambhars has lately reduced the profit of Dhor tanners.

WEAVING.

Weaving goes on in towns and most large villages. The chief industries connected with weaving are the weaving by Devang and Lingade Koshtis of coarse cloth or khadi, large and small waist-cloths or dhotars and panchas, women's robes or lugdes with or without silk borders, and loincloths or rumals; the weaving by Musalman Momins of turbans and kachas or thigh-cloths; and the weaving by Sangars of blankets. Of 3102, the total number of weaving looms, 2444 belong to cloth weavers, 2238 to Hindu Koshtis, and 206 to Musalman Momins; and the remaining 658 belong to Sangars or blanket-weavers. Of these looms 688 are in Alta, 654 in Gadinglaj, 422 in Karvir, 397 in Shirol, 350 in Ichalkaranji, 236 in Panhala, 179 in Kagal, 86 in Bhudargad, 58 in Bavda, and 32 in Vishalgad. Besides these, seventeen looms in the Kolhapur jail factory weave all sorts of cloth including towels and table cloths. Of cloth weavers the Koshtis chiefly use the coarse and strong hand-spun thread which is bought locally and the Momins use the better and cheaper steam-spun thread which is brought from Bombay. Of 2238 looms owned by Koshtis, 1008 use coloured thread and 1230 use white thread. Coloured thread is chiefly used in weaving women's robes. Black thread is obtained locally; it is generally brought from Nilari dyers and sometimes white thread is given to them to be dyed black. Red thread is bought from Lingayat Bangars who bring it from Chikodi, Gokak, and Sirgaon, and sometimes from Bombay. Of the cloth woven by the Koshtis a pair of dhotars or waistcloths for men, each about eighteen feet long and three feet broad fetches 3s. (Rs. 1½); a pair of panchas or waistcloths for boys, each about nine feet long and 2½ feet broad fetches 1s. 3d. (12 as.); a silken bordered lugde or woman's robe about twenty-one feet long and three feet broad fetches 6s. 6d. (Rs. 3¼); an ordinary robe about 19½ -feet long and three feet broad fetches 4s. 6d. (Rs. 2¼); and a loincloth or rumal about 3¼ feet long and the same broad fetches 4½d. (3 as.). Of the clothes woven by the Momins turbans are twenty to ninety feet long and fetch 6d. to 5s. (Rs.¼ -2½), and thigh-cloths or kachas are seven to thirty-six feet long and fetch 6d. to 1s. 9d. (4-14 as.). Weavers earn £1 10s. to £3 10s. (Rs. 15-35) a month. The hand-made cloth woven in the State is all used locally, and some comes from Nipani, Ramdurg, and Vadgaon. Of late, imports of machine-made Bombay and Manchester cloth have greatly reduced the number of hand looms.

BLANKET WEAVING.

Of 658 looms used by Blanket-weavers or Sangars 155 are in Shirol, 151 in Gadinglaj, 100 in Alta, ninety-nine in Karvir, thirty-eight in Kagal, thirty-three each in Bhudargad and Panhala, twenty-three in Vishalgad, and thirteen each in Bavda and Ichal-karanji. At 1½ pounds (2 mures) the rupee the Sangars buy the worsted thread from Dhangars or shepherds who both tend the flocks and spin the thread. Before it is woven, the thread is cut and sorted to the required length and stretched. A paste made by boiling dried tamarind seeds in water is then applied in the open air with a brush to the worsted thread to make it smooth and straight. Blankets about ten feet long and three feet broad fetch 2s. to 4s. (Rs. 1 - 2); they are in great local demand, especially among husbandmen, shepherds, and labourers.

OIL-PRESSING.

Oil-pressing is an important industry employing about 500 families. Oilmen or Telis are of four divisions, Lingayat or Paneham, Kare or Kala, Maratha, and Pardeshi. Of these Lingayat Telis are the most numerous. The chief oilseeds locally grown are safflower or Kardai, niger-seed or korte or karla, earthnut or bhuimug, and brown hemp or ambadi. In extracting oil from these seeds safflower, which yields most oil, is generally mixed with other seeds. As most niger-seed goes to Bombay, it is not largely pressed. Brown hemp does not yield much oil, but is pressed chiefly for its oilcakes which it yields largely. Besides from these four seeds, oil is pressed to order from sesame, mustard, and linseed. Oil is also sometimes pressed from dry cocoa-kernels, but most cocoanut oil comes from outside the State. Of these eight kinds of oil, the oil pressed from safflower, niger-seed, earthnut, and brown hemp is used both for burning and cooking. The sesame oil is used sparingly for burning and cooking but it is chiefly pressed for perfumers who mix it with scented oils. The mustard oil is used in preserving pickles and as medicine. When required for medicine garlic is usually mixed with the mustard seed in extracting the oil. The linseed oil is locally vised by painters, but most linseed now goes to Bombay. The cocoanut oil is chiefly used in burning and in anointing the hair. To yield twenty-six pounds (1 man) of oil 180 pounds of safflower are required, 110 pounds of niger-seed and of earthnuts, 320 pounds of brown hemp, 100 pounds of sesame, 140 pounds of linseed, and forty-eight pounds of dried cocoanut kernel. From the various quantities of oilseed, besides yielding twenty-six pounds of oil, safflower, niger-seed, earthnut, and linseed each yields sixty pounds of oilcake, brown hemp 192 pounds, sesame thirty-six pounds, and cocoa-kernel eighteen pounds. Mustard-seed which is rarely pressed, requires thirty pounds of the seed to yield two pounds of oil. When mixed with other seeds, to extract twenty-six pounds (1 man) of oil, ninety pounds of safflower require 160 pounds of brown hemp and sixty pounds of niger-seed, and forty-five pounds of safflower require eighty-four pounds of earthnut. In these mixtures, when mixed with brown hemp, safflower yields 144 pounds of oilcake, and when mixed with niger seed or earthnut it yields sixty pounds of oil cake. Besides from these seeds, in the west of the State oil is pressed from the seeds of the karanj Pongamia glabra and in Alta from tobacco. In some villages the wives of husbandmen press small quantities of oil from castor seed or erandi, hart-pea or karad kungoni, Mexican thistle or pivla dhotra, and from the angular leaved physic-nut or mongli erandi. Of these the castor oil is used both in burning and as a purgative, the pivla dhotra oil as ointment for skin diseases, and other oils chiefly as medicines.

The oilmill in general use in Kolhapur is simple. It consists of a wooden trough, which holds the seeds, and a wooden cylinder about four feet high fitted right in the centre of the trough with a heavy cross beam on the top in a standing position, one end of which rests about a foot from the ground. A semicircular block of wood is attached to the lower part of the trough with a piece of wood projecting and forming a right angle with the upper beam at the end nearest the ground. On this piece of wood a large stone is placed and communication with the upper beam is effected by means of ropes playing on a pulley, and as the ropes are tightened and the block rises the pressure of the cylinder is increased. A bullock blindfolded is yoked to the upper beam. The bullock goes round the trough, and by the revolving of the cylinder the seeds are crushed and formed, into a mass, and by the pressure of the cylinder the oil is squeezed out and falls to the bottom of the trough, while the residuum forms into a solid mass round the sides of the trough as oilcake. An oilmill costs £2 (Rs. 20) and holds thirty to forty pounds of oilseed.

In some villages a hand oilmill is used which consists of a flat stone about five or six feet square with a hole in the centre, in which. a stone pestle is made to fit upright. The seeds are put into the hole and the pestle is turned with the hand. In the handmill the oil rises to the top and runs out over the sides into a pot.

As on Mondays and on important holidays the mill is not worked at all and on market days it is worked only for half the day, the Teli or oilman works the mill on an average for twenty-four days in a month. Most mills work for eight months in the year. During the rains only those oilmen who have capital enough to lay in a stock of oilseeds press oil. The oilman works the mill for eight hours a day. Except brown hemp which takes three or four days, the oilman generally extracts in one day twenty-six pounds (1 man) of oil from most oilseeds. It may be roughly estimated that twenty-six pounds (1 man) of oil which generally fetch 5s. to 6.s. (Rs. 2½-3) pay the cost of the oilseed, and the oilcakes worth 1s. to 1s. 6d. (8 -12 as.) remain as the oilman's profit for one day. At this rate the earnings of an oilman during his eight working months average £15 to £20 (Es. 150-200). Out of this about £4 (Rs.40) go as food of the bullock and £1 (Rs. 10) as reserve to meet the occasional cost of a new mill or bullock, leaving £10 to £15 (Rs. 100- 150) as the net profit of working one mill for eight months. The outturn of all the local mills is roughly estimated at about 9200 tons worth £12,000 (Rs. 1,20,000). The late imports of kerosine oil which is now largely used by the people have not materially affected the oilman's profit as a considerable quantity of the oil locally pressed is sent to Bombay by Chiplun, Rajapur, and Vengurla for the oiling of machinery. This oil is chiefly exported by local dealers who buy it from oilmen. To the people oil is generally sold by the oilman's wife from house to house.

PAPER.

Kolhapur has four paper mills owned by Malis, Musalmans, and Rajputs. Each mill employs on daily wages about six Musalman workers called Kagdis or Kagzis. Two mills work on the owners' capital and the other two on borrowed money. The paper made in  Kolhapur is coarse, but strong and glazed. Sacking which is the chief raw material, is brought from Belgaum, Kagnoli, and other places. About ninety-six pounds (4 mans) of sacking are cut into small pieces and plunged in limewater for a night. It is then reduced to a pulp in a machine called dang which consists of a heavy wooden lever with a heavy wooden pestle. The lever is fixed by axles on two upright posts driven into the ground. At the end of the pestle nearest the ground two heavy iron-teeth are fixed, each weighing about ten pounds, the whole weight of the pestle being about fifty pounds. The object of this apparatus is to pound the fibrous material into a pulp to effect which two men are employed in alternately raising the pestle and allowing it to fall with a heavy blow on a stone slab 2½ feet square firmly fixed in the ground with a terraced floor round it. Three men are employed to work the dang, two at the lever and one to keep the sacking between the stone and the pestle. From the tedious motion of the pestle fourteen days are required to reduce ninety-six pounds (1 mans) oil sacking into a coarse pulp. The pulp is then washed in a river pond, by placing about twelve pounds (½ man) in a piece of dangri or coarse cloth gathered at the corners and tied to the waists of two men. These men stand in the water up to the waist, and by continually stirring the pulp bring all dirt and impurities to the surface, and carefully remove them. To wash ninety-six pounds (4 mans) of pulp takes three hours. The pulp is then brought to the land, and the water is allowed to drain off, after which about ½ pound (¼ sher) of carbonate of soda or papad-khar and two pounds (1 sher) of lime are added. It is again pounded in the dang for three days for about ten hours each time. After which it is again washed and two pounds (1 sher) of country soap and two pounds (1 sher) of lime are added. Four men are now employed to tread the pulp on a terraced floor for several hours. It is then made into large lumps and left for four days to bleach and putrify, and on the fifth day it is again for the third time put into the dang which it leaves this time in the shape of a thin pulp. The bleached and putrid mass is now put into a lime cistern filled with water, four feet square and four feet deep. The mass is stirred with a bamboo, and the process of paper-making begins. The gelatinous mass is received on a mould called khasi which consists of a wooden frame three feet long 2½ feet broad and 1½ inches deep, with cross wooden bars at intervals of three inches. Over this frame is placed a matting called a chhapri made from the blades of kavas grass woven with horse hair. Over this matting another thin frame of wood is fitted close to the mould this second frame being used to keep the stuff on the mould, and to limit the size of the sheet. A man now sits with the mould in both hands on the edge of the cistern, and inclining the mould a little towards the cistern, dips it into the cistern, and lifts it again horizontally giving it a shake to distribute the stuff equally over the mould. This is repeated three or four times until a sufficient quantity of the pulp settles on the mould. The matting is then taken off the mould, and placed on a terraced floor called baksar or paksar. On depositing it on the baksar the side on which the paper is formed is turned towards the floor and pressed with the hand to squeeze out the water, after which- the matting is carefully taken up and the sheet of paper remains deposited on the floor. Sheet after sheet is then taken off and laid one over the other in a pile, until the pulp in the cistern is exhausted. The pile is then introduced between two stout boards, over which a couple of heavy stones are placed and a man keeps stamping on the board with his foot to squeeze out the superfluous water. The sheets are then carefully separated one by one and plastered to dry on the house walls which are in the first instance washed with white earth and water. As the water is absorbed the paper dries and falls to the ground. The paper at this stage is called rast. It is then again hung in the sun for a short time to dry, after which it is made into a large pile, and pressed with great force to render the sheets flat and smooth. The paper now requires finishing by being sized and polished. The size used in Kolhapur is made of rice gruel mixed with powdered turti or alum which is laid on both sides of the paper with a brush and allowed to dry in the sun on a rope. It is then polished by placing it sheet by sheet on an even board and drawing over it smartly a smooth flint stone or shell until it is glazed. It is then cut and the edges are made even. After the paper is cut it is counted into quires or dastas of twelve sheets each, folded and packed into gaddis or folds of ten dastas. At Kolhapur three kinds of paper called vahicha or for books, kharchi or for ordinary use, and rasth or inferior, are made of different sizes strength and finish. The vahicha paper is eighteen inches long and twelve inches broad and a gaddi or fold of ten dastas, each having twenty-four sheets or pans, fetches 5s. to 6s. (Its. 2½-3). The kharchi paper is fourteen inches long and twelve inches broad and a gaddi or fold of ten dastas, each having twelve sheets or pans, fetches 1s. 6d. to 1s. 9d. (12- 14 as.). The rasth paper, used as wrappers, is neither sized nor polished and a fold or gaddi of ten dastas, each having twelve sheets or pans, fetches 1s. to 1s. 3d. (8-10 as.). Paper is made in separate buildings as workhouses. The workmen work ten hours a day and are allowed twelve holidays in the year. The women and children help the men in sizing and drying the paper. Each mill yields a yearly outturn worth £75 (Rs. 750) of which £42 (Rs. 420) go in wages and £33 (Rs. 330) remain as profit. Of the total yearly outturn of paper worth £300 (Its. 3000) in the four mills, about £270 (Rs. 2700) worth of paper is locally used, £200 (Rs. 2000) in the State offices and £70 (Rs. 700) by the people; and the rest worth £30 (Rs. 300) goes to Miraj and Sangli. Since 1854 when there were eighteen paper mills employing 666 workers in all or thirty-seven for each mill, paper-making has much declined, chiefly owing to imports of better and cheaper European paper.

PERFUME.

Four kinds of perfumery, scented powder called abir or buka, scented sticks called agarbattis or udbattis, frankincense oil or udel, and dentrifrice or datvan, are made by Musalman and Lad Atars, To make scented powder about three pounds (120 tolas) of the dried flowers of ghonesari, nakla a fragrant substance apparently some species of dried shell-fish, and pavh Pogostemon heyneanum, all costing about 2s. 6d, (Rs. 1¼), are reduced to a fine powder by being beaten in a stone mortar with an iron bar. This powder is then sifted through a cloth of loose texture, the coarser grains being again ground, beaten in the mortar, and sifted. In the process about one-fourth of the raw materials goes as waste. To two pounds of this fine powder is added a paste made by mixing in equal parts three ounces (7½ tolas) of spirit of frankincense, the essence of sandalwood, and rosel or spice grass oil, and ¹/₆₀ th ounce (¹/₂₄th tola) of musk, which are all reduced to paste by being beaten in a mortar. The whole is again crushed in the mortar with a crowbar. The result is abir or buka which fetches 3s. (Rs. 1½) the pound. To make scented sticks or agarbattis 1¼ pounds of bahhul charcoal and one pound of gavla powder a fragrant drug, kachora or dried root of the Curcuma zedoaria, tagar or the flowers of the Tabernac monta-nacoronaria, frankincense, nagarmotha or a sweet-smelling grass Cyperus pertenuis, and sandalwood are reduced to a fine powder in the same way as in making scented powder, about one-fourth the quantity being wasted in the process. The mixture is then reduced to a paste by being beaten in a mortar. Small pieces of thin sticks are then coated with this paste. To give superior quality to the sticks musk is mixed in the paste. Scented sticks fetch 4s. to 6s. (Rs.2 - 3) the pound. To make udel, oil is drawn from frankincense and mixed with sesame oil. To make tooth powder eight sub-stances, catechu, myrobalans, sulphate of copper or more-hut, wild myrobalans or bibha, avalkati or dried berries of avla Phylanthus emblica, Cassia buds or nagkeshar, sulphate of iron, and powdered clove or lavangchur are separately ground into coarse powder, mixed together, and pounded. Perfume-makers require a capital of about £4 (Rs. 40). For four months from September to January the work is brisk and they earn 1s. (8 as.) a day; during the rest of the year the work is dull and they earn 3d. to 9d. (2 - 6 as.) a day. On every sale of 2s. (Re. 1) they make a profit of about 6d. (4 as.). Of late, owing to perfumery being imported by local dealers from Bombay and some Musalmans coming to sell these perfumes from Bombay and Miraj, perfume-making is not at present a thriving industry.