Vol. III. No. 50. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



93 



MUSK SEED 



Musk seefls are ulitaiiied t'idiii tlie iimsk ot-hro plant 

 (IlibisciiK A/tc'/moxc/iHs) whioh is cultivated on a small scale 

 in some of tlie West Indian Islands. Watt gives tlie following 

 information with regard to musk seeds in his Dictionavi/ of 

 the Ecoiioinir Products of India: — 'The seeds yield about 

 G".5 per cent, of an odorous princi[ile and resin. The former is 

 a light-green, non-volatile fluid, having a strong odour 

 resembling that of musk and amber, hence tlie Arabic name 

 hah-al-inufhk. Owing to their possessing thi.s principle, the 

 musk mallow seeds are used in jierfumery and are known to 

 the trade in Europe as " grains d'ambrette." Piesse in his 

 Art if PerfuniTi/ writes : " .Musk seed, when ground, 

 certainly reminds our smelling sense of tlie odour of musk, 

 but it is poor stud' at best," and lie recommends it only for 

 making cheap sachet powder. According to him the most 

 valuable seeds are imported from Martini(jue'. 



With a view to ascertaining what prospects e.xisted for 

 establishing a trade in musk .seeds, the Imperial Comini.s- 

 sioner of Agriculture coinnuinicated with ilessrs. Burgoyiie, 

 Burliridges ife t"o.. Wholesale and Export Druggists, f)f 

 London, and with Mr. .J. It. .laekson, A.L.8, asking for 

 further information on tlie subject. 



The reply of Messrs. Burgoyne, Burbridges k Co. was 

 as follows : — 'We have the jileasure to advise you that there 

 is a market in London for West Indian musk .seed, and tlie 

 jirice ranges from Is. to Is. ."?</. jier D)., according to quality. 

 It would, however, not be advisable to ship very large 

 quantities, as the market is easily depressed ; but consignments 

 of i to 1 ton are generally disposed of without (.litticulty.' 



Mr. .Jackson obtained the following information from 

 Mr. George Piesse, of New Bond Street, London, whose work 

 on the Art <f Perfumery has already been referred to : — 



' Musk seed finds but small jilace with the perfumer and 

 is not worth its cost, being more a flavour than an odour. 

 Musk seeds are also known as " grains d'ambrette", and I 

 believe that the i)rinciple consumers are the French and 

 Italian manufacturers of vermouth, etc. The seeds are 

 imported from .Java into Juirope througli Holland, from 

 Martini(jue through jrar.seilles, from the British West Indies 

 through the jiort of London, in the proiiortion of about five 

 from .Java, two from Martinique, and one from the Jiritish 

 West Indies. The Java seed is deemed the best and realizes 

 about l.<!. 6'/. to 2.S. per lb., the others about .'?(^. to 6(/. les.s.' 

 It is pointed out by Mr. .Jackson that the trade must have 

 ■changed since Mr. Piesse wrote his book in IS91, where it is 

 stated that ' the most valualile seeds are inqiorted from 

 Martinique.' Another coiTesi>ondent informed Mr. .Jackson 

 that it was 'sus|)ected that musk seed is also used for adulter- 

 ating musk,' and that there is a .steady though limited outlet 

 for it. Several references will be found to sales of this product 

 in Mr. .Jackson's articles on the London spice and drug markets 

 in the AijrlruUund News. (See Vol. II, pi). XI, l^-"), 149, 

 302, 366.) From these it will be seen that musk seed from 

 the British West Indies makes its ajiiiearance in the London 

 market every now and then, in .small quantities, the price 

 •obtained being about \». '2d. \)er It). 



Musk seed oil is reported on by ilessrs. Schimmel &, Co. 

 in their Semi-annual Jie/iorls ; in that for Octol)er 1900 it is 

 stated : ' We shall continue to keep a large stock of this 

 article, so long as musk seed can be obtained in sutRcient 

 •quantity.' 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Inijjerial Commissioner of Agiiculture returned 

 iVom ;i tour of ten days in the Noithern Islands on 

 Friday the 4th. instant in the S.S. ' Dahome. He left 

 on the 7th. instant in the S.S. ' Oruro' for St. Vincent 

 to attend the Agricultural Show and inspect the 

 Central Cotton Factor}' which is expected to be 

 completed, under the direction of Jlr. J. J. Law, the 

 engineer-in-charge, about the middle or end of this 

 month. 



Mr. F. R. Shepherd, Superintendent of the Skerrett's 

 Farm, Antigua, on the recommendation of the 

 (iovernor, has been approved by the Secretary of State 

 for the Colonies to be ])]aced in temporary charge of 

 the Botanic Station and of the Sugar-cane and other 

 experiments in the Presidency of St. Kitt's-Nevis from 

 March (! last. 



As briefly noted in the Ayr'nultunil Neius 

 (Vol. Ill, p. 29), Mr. William Lunt, Curator of the 

 Botanic Station and Agricultural Superintendent of 

 Sugar-cane e.xperiments at St. Kitt's, died somewhat 

 suddenly on January 8 last. 



While a member of the gardening stafT at the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, Mr. Lunt was selected to 

 accompany Mr. Theodore Bent's expedition to South 

 Arabia, which left England in November l^D.S, return- 

 ing at the end of the following April. Mr. Lunt's 

 special work was to collect jjlants, .seeds and specimens 

 for the Kew collections. A full list of the plants 

 collected by Mr. Lunt will be found in the Keto 

 Bullcfii) f(jr 1894, pp. 828-43, where it is stated that 

 the plants collected included twenty-five new species 

 and two new genera. 



In September 1894, Mr. Lunt was appointed 

 A.ssistant Superintendent of the Botanic CJardens at 

 Trinidad, where he remained until October 1898, when 

 he received the appointment of Curator of the Botanic 

 Station at St. Kitt's, with sujiervision of agricultural 

 experiments at St. Kitt's-Nevis and Anguilla. The 

 duties of this latter appointment Mr. Lunt continued 

 to carry out with considerable success until his death. 

 Mr. Lunt was held in high esteem by hi.s colleagues 

 and members of the planting community in these 

 islands, and his removal in the prime of life is a source 

 of deep regret to them and to all who were acc|uainted 

 with him. 



The Supply of Nitrogen to Plants. M.M. 



Bouilhac and (Jiustiniani, in the Compter Kendus, give an 

 account of their e.xperiments in growing buckwheat in a soil 

 destitute of nitrogen, but with which had been incorjiorated 

 certain algae and bacteria. The.se latter speedily enriched 

 tlie soil to such a degree that the buckwheat nourished, and 

 its analysis showed a large percentage of nitrogen, though, as 

 we have said, the soil was originally destitute of that 

 ingredient. The matter is in the experimental stage purelj', 

 but there are great liojies that the resources of science will 

 shortly place at the dispo.sal of the cultivator sources of 

 nitrogen at a cheap rate. {(Jardenerii' Chronicle, January 

 16, 1904.) 



