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CHAPTER VI,

factories are strictly seasonal, and constitute much the most important
 group. The same is true of the great majority of jute presses
and of nearly all the factories shown in this class under others ”. These
include indigo, lac, coffee and rubber factories, factories engaged in
ground-nut decorticating and one or two others. Of the tea factories,
those in North India (constituting over 90 per cent. of the total
number) are strictly seasonal; the South Indian factories work
nearly all the year round. Some factories in this group, and especially
many of the ground-nut decorticating factories in Madras, deal with
more than one product at different seasons. In the second class we
nclude factories falling in groups which are mainly seasonal, but which
include a number of perennial factories. Some groups are mainly
seasonal in one province and mainly perennial in another. The big
group here is the rice mills, which vary from small mills working
short seasons to large and virtually perennial factories. The group
“ others ” includes flour mills, tile and brick factories, ice and aerated
water factories and a few others. As a rule, the season tends to be
longer in this than in the first class and may extend to the greater
part of the year. The third class includes: the essentially perennial
factory industries. The precise number of seasonal factories thus
depends on the definition of “ seasonal ”, and even when a definition has
been adopted, exact figures cannot be given. We deal with the question
 of demarcation later, and can merely attempt a very rough estimate
here. Taking as the definition of a * seasonal ” factory one which
normally works for not more than half the days of the year, we estimate
that, of the 8,000 odd factories at present registered, rather more than
half are seasonal. On the same definition, possibly 300.000 workers
are engaged in the seasonal factories.
General Characteristics.
In the paragraphs which follow, we endeavour to indicate
the mere important characteristics of work in the leading groups of
seasonal factories. The main feature of nearly all the industries is
that the workers are still essentially agriculturalists, and the great
majority live in their village homes. The degree of skill required is
seldom great and the proportion of women employed is fairly large.
The factories are not concentrated. but are naturally scattered over the
areas producing the crops with which they deal. The small-scale factory
is the rule and the large one the exception. The workers are generally
quite unorganised and wages tend to be low.
Cotton Ginning and Pressing.
As the table indicates, cotton ginning and pressing factories
form much the most important group. These factories are all strictly
seasonal and are found mainly in Bombay, the Central Provinces, Madras,
the Punjab, the United Provinces and Ajmer-Merwara. The length of the
working period varies, being little more than 2 months in some areas,
and running at times to 7 months in others. Cotton is ginned
in some provinces in India in every month of the vear: in North