JVLV 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



49 



ESSENTIAL OILS AND DISTILLED WATERS. 



BY PERCY WELLS. 



Now that the season is approaching for the distillation 

 of essential oils and perfumed and other waters, I desue 

 to call attention to a very simple and inexpensive plan 

 for improving the odour and quaUty of oils, and prevent- 

 ing the decomposition of distilled waters. I have given 

 ,the process a fair trial, and can, therefore, speak confid- 

 ently of its efficacy. The article I use is permanganate 

 of potash, and it should be added to water before it is put 

 into the still only in quantity enough to make it a fabit pink. 

 If any chemist has rose, elder flower or orange flower 

 waters, which are partly spoiled, let him add to them 

 just enough of the salt to give the perraanganat*' tinge, 

 and then distil them, and he will find the products 

 to have recovei-ed their odour and not again change. 

 I have some waters which I treated in this way nearly 

 two years ago, and they are jierfect. I have also redis- 

 tilled oils, adding to the water permanganatt- in the pro- 

 portion of ^ to 1 grain per ounce of oil, and the result 

 has been most satisfactory. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES 

 OF OM.IN, EASTERN ARABIA. 



DATE PALMS — SALT FISH. 



The L^nited States Consul at Muscat has lately issued 

 a report upon the commerce, industries, and resources of 

 Oman, which the Department of State has pubUshed, and 

 called particidar attention to, as "being rendered doubly 

 interesting by leason of its dt-aliug with a district and people 

 very imperfectly loiowu to commercial communities." Oman 

 is a coiuitr}'' situated in the south-east of Arabia, between 

 the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, or Sea of Oman, and 

 forms the central part of the Muscat Dominion. Its agri- 

 cultural products are considerable, but limited in quantity, 

 owing to the uufavourabli' nature of the country for veget- 

 ation. The labour attending production is very great, as, 

 on account of the small annual rainfall, which seldom reaches 

 six inches, the inhabitants have to supply artificial irrigatfon 

 by means of wells and "felegs." In the former case the 

 water i^ drawn up from a considerable depth by means of a 

 bullock, and a leather bucket or bag, which, when emptied 



L into a small reservoir at the sm'face, runs along the channels 



f, prepared for it, to the section to be watered. This system 

 })revaiLs principally on the Batinah coast, whilst in other 

 parts of Oman the "feleg," or conduit system common to 



, Tersia. is to bemet with, though it is generally a monopoly 

 of the wealthy. Tae cultivated patches are usually some 

 distance apart, and where wells can be sunk, in the plains 



*■ of the vicinity of J ebbel Akhdur and in El-Dha-hiveh, the 

 crops are more abimdant, but extensively cultivated tracts 

 of land are unknown. The soil is exceedingly poor, and 

 hard and caked in appt^arance. The cereals, fruits, and 

 vegetables gi-own in Oman, in their resjiective seasons, are 

 as follows: — White and red wheat, gowaree, maize, barley, 

 - small quantities of sugar-cane — from which a very inferior 

 description of sugar is mad.* — dates (of which there are at 

 least forty varieties), mangoes, figs, vegetable marrow, 

 bananas, sweet hmes, lentils, grapes, apricots, peaches, 

 tamarinds, mulberries, quinces, potatoes, guavas, citrons, 

 onions, hmes, oranges, radishes, cucumbers, almonds, plums, 

 spinach, pomegranates, pumpkins, apples, &c. Of tliese, the 

 date is the most valuable, and trees :ire cultivated in every 

 available spot suitable to then- growth. Groves of these 

 date trees extend along the Batinah for a distance of 200 

 miles, but owing, it is supposed, to the saline air nature of 

 the soil, they do not retain their colour. This is not the case 

 with those grown in the Ishmailee and Sharkeyah districts; 

 these are largely grown for exportation, in fact it has been 

 proved that no other description will stand a long sea veyoge. 

 These are pressed into mat bags, on the spot where they are 

 grown, and brought into market on camels, when each bag is 

 carefully cut, examined, weighed, and the dates again placed 

 in bags, before shipment. The same dates, but not pressed, 



■ called '*nuther," are brought loosely in baskets from the 

 interior, and after selection, are packed in ten and fifty 

 pound boxes, and shipped. The Batinah or donkey dates ai*e 

 the cheapest kind, and form the staple food of the poorer 

 classes of the inhabitants. A prolific date tree, under the 

 most favourable circumstances, will produce from two to 

 three hmich-edweight of dates in a season. Date stones, 

 7 



when boiled down with fish heads, old date baskets, and othe^ 

 refuse, is largely used as food for cattle. Pomegranattv"^ 

 and limes are largely exported to India. Rice is not grown* 

 and cereals are only cultivated iu a small degree. Ihe 

 rotation of crops is very imperfectly understood. The t'ai-in 

 implements in use are ploughs, harrows, hoes, sickles, and 

 threshing machines, all of very primitive and rude form. 

 The threshing is performed sometimes with a light kind of 

 flail, but generally a heavy log is drawn over the corn, and 

 cattle are di'iven over it. Manuring is earned out to a small 

 extent only, fish, and cattle litter being the only manure 

 kno^vn. The manufactures and industries of Oman aie in- 

 significant, and with the exception of textile fabrics, "kharak," 

 or dried dates and salt fish are only for home consumption. 

 The most important industry is the preparation of dried 

 dates, called by the Arabs, "bisir," which are largely ex- 

 ported to India, where, uu tier the name of "kharak," they 

 are a necessary ingredient at certain Hindoo festixnties. The 

 variety from which they are chiefly prepared is the "mubsoli;" 

 but the "khuneyzi" is also sometimes employed. The pro- 

 cess observed is as follows: — The dates are picked before they 

 are quite ripe, and put into copper cauldrons, filled with 

 boiHng watei', when they are allowed to simmer for half-an- 

 hour, until a certain quantity of the jviice is extracted; on 

 being taken out, they are put in the sun for two or three 

 days, and continually tmnied they are found to be quite dry 

 and hard, when they are packed for export in mat bags. The 

 house in which the boiling takes place generally contains five 

 or six boilers, capable of holding about five gallons each, and 

 has a chimney about fifteen feet high, to increase the draught. 

 As the water in the boilers extract the juice, fresh water is 

 added imtil it is too thick to be longer used, and it is then 

 put aside to be fermented into hquor. Tlie earthenware 

 iLsed iu Oman is almost exclusively made in the country. 

 There are several potteries at Nakhl, Funja, Rostak, Saham, 

 and Multrah. The potter's wheel is much the same as in 

 other coimtries, a low horizontal wheel being generally used, 

 on the centre or axle of which a lump of wet clay is 

 fasliioned by the hand as the wheel spins. The pots are 

 coloured with Indian red. and biu:nt in a kiln. Toys are 

 also made of clay. Next to agriculture and the date cultiv- 

 ation, the fisheries form one of the most important inihrstries 

 in Oman. The Oman and adjacent waters abound wi^h fish, 

 comprising, among other varieties, the seer, bonita, shark, 

 sword and saw fish, and sardines. Immense quantities are 

 ex])orted, and nearly the whole of the coast population live 

 entirely upon fish. At Muscat, and some places in the 

 Batinah, the fishermen are generally Belooch and Persians, 

 in other parts they are Arabs. During the pilgrim months, 

 the fishermen go to .Teddah to fish, attracted by the high 

 prices prevailing there at the time. The nets user! ;tre the 

 cast and the seine, besides lines and trap baskets. Large 

 quantities of salt fish are sent to Bombay and the Mala- 

 bar coast for consumption and re-export to China. The 

 method of salting practised now in Oman is of the mo.st 

 primitive kind, and entails a large amount of waste. It 

 is estimated that about 2,500 boats and 20,000 persons ai-e 

 employed in the Oman fisheries. As regards the trade of 

 Oman, it is impossible to obtain reliable information re- 

 specting the imports, owing to the manner in wJiich the 

 rfitunis are kept at the Custom-house — the customs being 

 farmed annually to the highest bidder, in whose interests 

 it is to show the smallest returns. It is well known, how- 

 ever, that of late years the trade and popidation of Mus- 

 cat has been declining, owing to the insecurity of the 

 country from the raids made by the Bedouin tribes. The 

 e.iqrorts from the interior of the country are principally 

 brought by caravans to Muttrah, a towm distant about two ■ 

 miles, and are carried from there by water to Muscat, 

 and in the same way the imports are conveyed back, 

 native craft being used for the pm-pose. All supplies from 

 the interior are sold to local merchants at Muscat and 

 Muttrah. — Journal of the Society of AHs. 



AGRICULTURE IN LOWER BENGAT.. 



BY W. S. SETOX-KARR. 



Tire DIFFERENT BICE CROPS — SUGARCAXE — DATES — Ml■•^T.\RD — 

 \'EGETABLE GARDEN'S — INTLEMEXTS. 



I 'must request my hearers to bear in mind that the 

 subject of my paper is not agi'iculture iu India, or even 

 the Bengal Presidency, but in Lower Bengal, and more 



