March i, 



1884.J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



613 



FIBRES. 



Sir, — A correspoudeut in one of your issues a sliort 

 time back (signing his letter "X.") desired to know 

 the percentage of fibre that might be obtaiucd from 

 the liavt'3 of the pine apple plant. 



As I have at various times conducted experiments 

 on plants in Ceylon yielding fibres, I found the out- 

 turn from aloe and pine-apple to be about 75 per cent; 

 the latter requiring to be gently handled owing to tlie 

 delicate nature of its fibre. 



I shall be happy to render "X." any further in- 

 formation he may require on this subject on his com- 

 municating witli me direct, either by personal inter- 

 view or by letter. 



The following are extracts from one of the reports 

 of fibres 1 sent to England : — 



Aloe. — No. 1 sample worth £31 per ton. 



,, — J, „ *-- 17 ,, 



Pine Apple. — The pine-apple fibre is very pretty, 

 and, if it could be got in quantity to sell here (in 

 London) at £35 pf r ton, it would soon make a market 

 for itself at a much higher price ; but spinners will 

 not alter tlieir machinery for working it unless quantity 

 could be guaranteed. — X. Zeto. — Local "Times." 



JAPAN CAMPHOR . 



The American Consul at Nagasaki, in his report to 

 the Washington Government on the trade, &c., of the 

 country for last year, gives the following interesting 

 information on Japan camphor : — 



The manufacture of camphor is an important in- 

 dustry on the island of Km Shiu (Kew Shew.) 



From the port of Nagasaki there were exported in 

 the year 1882, 15,186-18 piculs, valued at 227,792 

 dollars. A picul is 133J pounds. From other por^s 

 of the island not yet open to foreign trade, a laii; ■ 

 quantity was shipp°d by native merchants in nati% e 

 vessels to Shanghai ia China, and Hongkong, whence 

 it finds its way to In'lia and England ; little or none 

 of it is exported to the United States. The camphor 

 tree grows abundantly all over tliis portion of Japan. 

 It is found alike on high elevations aud in the valleys 

 and lowlands. It is a hardy, vigorous long-lived tree, 

 and flourishes in all situations. Many of tliese trees 

 attain an enormous size. There are a number in the 

 vicinity of Nagasaki which measure ten and twelve 

 feet in diameter. The ancient temple of Osuwa at 

 Nagasaki is situated in a magnificent grove of m,aDy 

 hundred grand old camphor trees, which are of great 

 age and size, and are still beautiful and vigorous. I 

 am told that there are trees in other places in Kiu 

 Shiu measuring as much as twenty feet in dimueter. 

 The body or trunk of the tree usually runs up twenty 

 and thirty feet without limbc, tlien branches out in all 

 directions, forming a well proportioned, beautiful tree, 

 evergreen and very ornamental. The leaf is small, ellip- 

 tical in shape, slia;htly serrated, aud of a vivid dark- 

 green colour all the year round, except for a week or 

 two in the early sprint', when the young le.ives are 

 of a delicate tender green. The seed or berry grows 

 in clusters and resembles black currants in size aud 

 appearance. The wood is used for many purposes, 

 its fine grain rcnderitig it especially v.xluable for 

 cabinet work, while it is nsnd also for ship building. 

 The roots make excellent kuccs for .ships. 



I have sent many seeds of the camphor tree to the 

 United States, in the hope of adding to our own 

 arboiiculture. In the manufacture of camphor the tree 

 io necessarily destroyed, but, by a stringent law of the 

 land, another is planted in its stead. The simple 

 method of manufacture employed by the natives is as 

 follows ; — The tree is felled to the earth and cut into 

 small pieces, or, more properly speaking, into chips. 

 .\ large metal pot is partly filled with water, and 

 i-Uced over a slow fire. A wooden tub is fitted to 



the top of the pot, and the chips of camphor wood are 

 placed in this. The bottom of the tub is perforated, 

 so as to permit the sterm to pass up among the chips. 

 A steam-tight cover is fitted on the tub. From this 

 tuba bamboo pipe leads to another tul), through which 

 the inclosed steam, the generated camphor, aud oil 

 flow. This second tub is connected in like manner 

 with a third. The third tub is divided into two com- 

 partments, one above the other, the dividing floor 

 being perforated with siuall holes, to allow the water 

 and oil to pass to the lower compai tiiieiit. The upper 

 compartment is supplied with a layer of straw, which 

 catches aud holds the camphor in crystal in deposit 

 8S it passes to the cooling process. The camphor is 

 then separated trom the straw, packed in wooden tubs 

 of 133J pounds each, and is ready for market. After 

 each boiling the water runs ofi' through a faucet leaving 

 the oil, which is used by the natives for illuminating 

 and other purposes. — Indifjoand Tea Planters' Gazette. 



COFFEE-PLANTING IN THE BAMBOO DISTRICT 

 OF COOKG. 



Of all our British possessions, Ceylon long ranked 

 first as the great coffee-producing colony. It has now 

 lost all clam to this distinction. About ten years 

 ago there was a great and sudden rise in the price 

 of cofi'ee, which caused an unusual flow of money 

 into the island. Laud fetched a hundred per cent 

 over its real value, and an unhealthy spirit of specul- 

 ation was engendered. In due course the usual re- 

 actiou set in. Prices fell ; and as leaf disease and 

 abnormal seasons came on apace, all phinters whose 

 business had not been conducted on a strictly com- 

 mercial basis were speedily brought to ruin. 



The proviuce of Coorg is little known outside the 

 Presidency. It was favoured with no idflux of money 

 beyond the legitimate proceeds of its trade, and there 

 was thus no field opened for speculators. Grown, as 

 it is, under the grateful shade of fig, jack, and other 

 forest trees, the Coorg C'fl'ee enjoys a comparative 

 immunity from leaf disease and other pests. The 

 seasons have generally been productive of a good or 

 fair average crop ; in short, the prosperity in Coorg 

 is attributable to the absence of leal disease, abnormal 

 seasons, aud over-speculation, while the ruin in Ceylon 

 has been in proportion to the intensity of these con- 

 ditions. 



The object of this paper ia to point out that Coorg 

 oilers a good field for a crrtaiu number of young 

 men possessed of enterprise, good health, and a small 

 capital. There is still a limited quantity of "waste 

 laud " available, and there are always a few estates 

 partially or wholly opened out ottered for sale. The 

 present should be a particularly opp'irtune moment 

 for .icqiring land, as it is probable that thirty estates 

 and upwards, the property of the chief proprietor of 

 the district, will shortly be ottered for sale in one 

 block or individually. 



Coorg is situated in the western Ghats. Teilicherry, 

 on the west coast, is sixty miles distant, and Mysore, 

 the railway terminus for the east coast, is the same 

 distance from the heart of the planting district. It 

 is expected that a railway through Coorg will soon 

 connect Mysore with the west coast, when a gre.at 

 impetus will be given to planting operations. The 

 climate is healthy and pleasant, and not subject to 

 great extremes of heat and coM. The general elev- 

 ation is 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Good sport can be had, 

 both with gun and rod. Almost every wild thing, 

 from an elephant to a snipe, may be shot, and there 

 ar.? miles of good mahseer ruus on the Cauvery, 

 Barapolly, aud other rivers. There may be about two 

 hundred European residents, most of whom are con- 

 nected with the plautiug ioterest. 



