February i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



577 



nch, it was obriousiy impossible to adjust two rollers to 

 travel with that nicety. The result was that the machine 

 (lid not scrape the fibre, and it was found that, as the 

 supply ot" wat^r was inci-eased, the condition of the fibres 

 turned out improved. Tliis was entirely confirmed by what 

 Mr. Haworth said; he pointed out that they put the fibre 

 into a stream of running water, which softened the gnxa 

 and carried it away. This gum was of a remarkable 

 character.* One Saturday in September, Mr. Greig had 

 broken up in his machine a large quantity of fibre, there 

 being a close murky atmosphere. The fibre was placed in 

 a shed, and remained there until Monday morning, and 

 on the Monday morning the mass, as high as that table, 

 was like a lare mass of isinglass glued up togeth(-r with 

 the fibre in it, nothing could be done with it, and it had 

 to be thrown away. That showed the absolute necessity 

 of attacking the stem the instant it was cut, with a running 

 stream of water to carry the gum whilst it was iu its natural 

 state. It was then easily attacked, but let it wait or dry 

 in any way, then the difiiculty commenced and increased. 

 The colour of the fibre also darkened in proportion with 

 the delay in removing the juice. Mr. Greig's machine con- 

 sisted of two rollers with scrapers, but there was another 

 machine from America which was not tried, which broke 

 the stems in a somewhat similar manner to this machine 

 of Mr. Smith's, only there was no water employed, and 

 hence it failed. The excellency of this machine was in its 

 simjilicity and in the appUcation of water. The jet of 

 water held up the mass of stems to the beaters; the in- 

 stant the beater scraped oft the bark, and all that adhered 

 te keep the mass together, the fibres got separated, and 

 they were so fine that they fell through, and into the film 

 of water, leaving only the agglomerated portion to bo , 

 worked upon by the beraters, thus the fibi-es are cleaned 

 all round, while in the hand process they are only cleaned 

 on upper and lower surfaces. That was a kind of self- 

 adjusting sensitive cushion, and on its results the machine 

 depended. 



The vote of thanks having been carried unanimously, the 

 proceedings terminated. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



3[AURITIUS : THE SUGAR rN'DTJSTEY. 



To give an idea of the importance of the sugar indus- 

 try iu Mauritius, we append a passage of an article which 

 appeared the other day in the Planters' Gazette: — "Ac- 

 cording to the latest authorities the cultivation of sugar- 

 cane iu JIauritius occupies approximately 117,048 acres of 

 land, out of a total area of 432,GS0, and secures employ- 

 ment to Gl,()43 labomers, all of Indian extiaction, out of 

 an Indian population of 246,S21 individuals. The sugar- 

 hou.'ies amount to 170, but lately they were more numerous. 

 The decrease of their number is due to tins circumstance, 

 that many owners on the brink.of ruin have wisely deemed 

 it expedient to incorporate themselves into Joint Stock 

 Societies as nmch as possible, and fused their establish- 

 ments into central ones imder the general name of 'Sugar 

 Estates Companies.' These have proved to work very 

 satisfactorily. Out of the gi-cat quantities of raw sugar 

 manufactured in this island, the majority has been sold 

 for exjiorUition, which has entertained an extensive com- 

 mercial business abroad. The following figiues show, in 

 round numbers, the annual average quantity exported, bj- 

 decennial periods, from 1812. It will be seen that the in- 

 crease was progressive and steady, except for the last ten 

 years, in which the quantity was a little below that of 

 the preceding decade ; a fact due, no doubt, to the disjis- 

 trous effects of hurricanes which are rmited in these re- 

 gions :— In 1M2-2!. 3,348 tons; 1822-31, 20,4.'*5 tons: li<32-41, 

 32,246 tons; 1842-51, 49.799 tons; 1S52-61, 108,974 tons; 

 1862-71. 113,7t)2 tons; 1872-81, 11 1,840 tons. The annual 



♦ ■\Vhcu the experiments with Mr. Greig's machine were 

 ( Michided, all the rollers, &e., were found to be thickly cov- 

 ered with a very hard varnish, so hard, that it could oiily be 

 taken oft by a chipping chisel. It had the appearance of lac. 

 The .analysis of this dry juice gave as follows: — "The juice 

 contain.s 62 per cent, by weight, of .oxalate of lime; and, be- 

 sides this, some alumina, oxide of iron, and other mineral 

 matters which dissolve in hydrochloric acid, the re.sidue, in- 

 soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid, consists of colouring and 

 resinous matter, and forms 2-5 per cent by weight of the dry 

 juice."— H. H, 

 74 



average value yielded by the sugar exported during the 

 last ten years amounted to E28,933,492. I have no data 

 by which to determine with accuracy the consumjitiou of 

 sugar in Mauritius, but I think it may be fairly fixed on 

 an average at about 17 kilos per head per annum, wbich 

 estimate will appear very hberal when contrasted with the 

 consumption of sugar in France, which stands as follows: — 

 From 1SI2 to 1816 it was of 500 grammes only, and has 

 graduallj' increa,sed and reached iu ls69 the sum of 8 kilos. 

 But iji Great Britain it is reported to have been much 

 more considerable, namely, from 8 kilos in 1840 it would 

 have raised to 24 kilos in 1870, and to 26 kilos in 1875." 

 — Adelaide Observer. 



NARDOSTACHTS JATAMANSI, THE SriKEN^VED 

 OF THE ANCIENTS. 



Tinien, some fifty years ago. Dr. Forbes Royle was 

 Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at Saharanpiir. 

 the hillmeu of Garhwal were wont to bring d(twn the roots 

 of Nardostachys for sale in the bazars at the foot of the hills. 

 On one occasion Dr. Eoyle obtained several pinnids of 

 the freshly dug root from Xagnl, a village situated at the 

 foot of the Himalayas about five miles N. E. of Dehra. 

 These roots were planted partly at Sahar:mpuT, partly at 

 McLssoorie, and one of the former which vegetated dming 

 the cold weather is figured on Plate 54 of Dr. Kojle's 

 well-known Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayan 

 Mountains. Another figure on the same I'late is that of a 

 natural plant from the hiUs, and is an excellent represent- 

 ation of the plant as it is foimd in its ri'al habitat. 



Nardostachys Jatamansi, DC, which belongs to the natoi-al 

 order of "\^alerianece, grows in the alpine Himalaya at elev- 

 ations above 11,000 feet, Vedarkanta, Shahna, and Gos.sain- 

 than being among the localities mentioned by Royie. On 

 the high ridge separating the Jumna valley from that of 

 the Ganges, it is qvute common, and has been found by 

 the writer far above the hmit of forest vegetation, between 

 I2,0CH) and 13,000 feet. It is also common tlm)ughout 

 Tihri-Garhwal at suitable elevations. 



In Dr. Royle's time we are told that " the roots of 

 Jatamatm, no doubt the Spikenard of the ancients, were 

 brought down in large quantities from the Himalayas to 

 the plains, whence they me distributed over everj- part 

 of India, being highly esteemed as a perfume, and for 

 their uses in medicine.'' Xow-a-days this export has almost 

 ccised, at any rat« from Tiliri-Garhwal. I was given to 

 understand that the Rajah of that State had imposed a 

 tax on the article, and that it no longer paid for the 

 trouble of digging it up an'l carrying it many days' march 

 to the bazars and entrepots along the base of "the hills. 

 At the present day the root is chiefly brought to Naji- 

 babad in Bijnor, but even there the annual imports do 

 not exceed twenty mauuds. From Najibabad it finds its 

 way to Delhi, Saharaupur, and other places ui the north 

 of India. The retail price in Saharaupm- and Dehra is 

 about 10 to 12 annas per seer. 



This plant is interesting as being of immense antiquity, 

 and the eminent orientalist. Sir William Jones, has satis- 

 factorily proved that the Xanlos of the Greeks, the Spike- 

 nard of Holy Writ, the Jatamansi of Saiisltrit, the St'mhiil 

 of Persian writers on Materia Medica, ami the Balchur of 

 Indian bazars, are one and the same plrut. 



It has been objected that the fragrance of the Jatamansi 

 is not such as to warrant the probability of its having 

 been highly esteemed by the ancients, but Dr. Royle justly 

 replies that " it is both incorrect and ui jjhilosophical to 

 infer the tastes of another time and country from tholio 

 of the age and place we live in. In the instance before 

 us. however dis.'fgreeable it may be to sone, there is no 

 dordjt that the Jatamansi is highly esteemed in the pre- 

 sent day throughout the East, both as a perfume and a 

 stimulant medicine. Indeed, from the numl'T of complaints 

 enumerated in Persian authors, for which it is said to be 

 a cure, this root may lay claim to the title of a true jmii- 

 plmnnacon ; and with respect to the fragir.nce, I consider 

 that of the true Jatamansi to be far from disagreeable." 



The root, when thoroughly dry, has in my opinion a 

 distinctly pleasant, though rather strong, sci nt, and I shall 

 be glad to receive any information rcgardiii;; its value with 

 the European perfumers, and whether it i:- employed by 

 them iu the prepaiation of any of the numerous perfumes 



