310 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Skptembeb 25, 1915. 



WEST INDIAN BAY OIL. 



The article which follows appeared as an editorial 

 in the Perfumery and Essential Oil Record for 

 August 1915. It conveys an appreciation of what is 

 being done in the British West Indies to increase the 

 production of bay oil of good quality and makes use- 

 ful suggestions concerning its valuation ;m<l uses 



Subject matter before us on bay Leaves and oil provides 



i I for reflection in a number of directioi - First, as is 



well known, we have during the last few years earnestly 

 urged, as a general principle, the extension of aromatic plant 

 cultivation in parts of the world where climate and soil lend 

 themselves to suitable propagations. Bui this broad advc- 

 ,m, \ (.! a wise policy has been conditioned, directly or implic- 

 itly, by considerations of present sources of supply of, and the 

 ruling market conditions in, any particular oil under consid 

 eration. Now this propagation propaganda, because it in a 

 measure accords with their preconceived ideas, has engaged 

 the attention of agricultural authorities in some of the West 

 Indian islands, particularly in respect of bay leal. The 

 excellent quality of the Porto Rico bay oil and rum needs no 

 extolling, and they find a large consumption in the United 

 States. Again, during comparatively recent years a grow- 

 ing trade in bay rum, notably with Central America, 

 has been developed in the Danish island of St. Thomas, 

 due partly to the good supply of hay leaves from the 

 sjhbouring island of St. -Ian (no leaves being grown 

 in St. Thomas), and partly to the low import duties on 

 rum and alcohol in the latter island, lint, as Mr. W. C. 

 Fishlock, the Agricultural Instructor at Virgin Islands, in 

 a brochure alluded to in the Perfumery and Essential Oil 

 Record, December 191 1. stated, there appears no reason why 

 the British West Indian islands should not participate iii the 

 oil trade if handicapped by fiscal conditions from joining in 

 the hay rum industry. Baj trees ol the proper variety are 

 found in Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica and Montserrat among 



other islands, and the agricultural officials there have in late 



years taken steps to free both the leaf and the oil from the 

 treless collection and distillation formerly 



imparted t<i them. The Government experimental plot- and 



attention to distillation have led to more extended cultivation 

 in some "I the islands of the right kind of trees (Pimenta or 

 .!/, ,. md there has also been a proposal for Gov 



ernmenl certification of the resulting oil. 



lining made distinct advance towards the production 

 of the oil in a we!l rj manner, and in view of a marked 



disposition (notably in Montserrat) to plant considerable areas, 

 tic- agricultural officers are naturally concerning themselves 

 keenl) with the possible outlets for the potential increased 

 production. To avoid overproduction is a first consideration, 

 especially in the case of an oil a1 pn practically for 



bay rum. As a source of eugenol, bay oil, as 



we pointed out last month, could not compete with clove and 

 ,-in,, . mid it is obvious that it would have to find 



employment in other directions. Having regard to its 



delightful fragrance, we thin! liderabl extension of its 



,,-e could he fo nd in soaps and other toilet articli , and we 

 hop British makers giving it a fair trial. 



Am ther aspect of the question which enters into the 

 commercial considerations of the i.'olonial planters is the 



valuation of the oil. To purchase hay oil solely on phenol 



| a ,,ot ei, to the honest producer ill that it 



provides an opening tor sophi tication by unscrupulous 



,ol from ' love oil or cinnamon leaf oil, just 



iyde from a cheap souro may he added to 

 mamon ''ark oil. We have only to recall tie rem irks 



of a certain American writer (reproduced and condemned in 

 the Perfumery and Bssentiil Oil Record, July L910) to 

 appreciate how ready people are to fall into and justify this 



kind of faking. Arguing that an impure oil may sometimes 

 be of better quality than a strictly pure oil, he said: 'An oil of 

 Cinnamon hark low in aldehyde may he, and possibly often is, 

 improved by the addition of aldehyde from other sources, or 



an oil of hay deficient in phenol, as frequently happens, may 

 be brought up to the standard by judicious admixture with 



no! obtained elsewhen . 



No! oils must lie judged not alone by the content of 

 particular constituent, hut by all their chemicals, physical 

 and oil factorj factors. We lately had before us two hay oils — ■ 

 one containing 45 per cent, phenols and the other (Is. per ft), 

 more) 55 per cent., but the delightful odour of bay oil was 

 much more marked in the formerthan in the latter. There is, 

 in fact, noquestion that bodies present in small quantitiesgive 

 certain oils their distinctiveness, and in many cases their value 

 — bay oil being such an one. Its perfume is materially influ- 

 enced by the proportion of constituents which modify the 

 eugenol odour, and of these constituents myrcene in its original 

 or polymerized form plays no insignificant part, not only in 



respect of odour but of Specific gravity and other physical 



properties. The considerable differences in the bay oils of 



commerce indicate the urgency of the investigations we have 

 in hand on the changes taking place on exposure of myrcene, 

 which probably cause the marked variation in specific gravity 

 compared with eugenol content a variation very much wider 

 than in the other eugenol containing oils such as clove, 

 pimento and cinnamon leaf. We hope that such invest i. 



tions as this, and theotticial efforts in the West Imli 

 bring the production of this oil within controlled conditions 

 will narrow down the difficulties in the valuation of the oil 

 by its tests and by it- characters. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



GRENADA. Mr. .1. C, Moore's note- on agricultural 

 affairs during August show that much attention is being 



given to the question of lime cultivation in Grenada. • >t 

 importance in this connexion is the -election of a tew acres 

 of land near the Botanic Garden for experimental cultivation. 

 Mr. Moore has visited sgyeral countrj districts in connexion 

 with the development of the lime industry, and he states 



that local interest is growing and that g i progress has 



been made in planting operations. During August 5,325 



lime seedling- were distributed for planting on est 



A- regards the conditi i the staple crops, cacao is 



reported satisfactory and early. In August the -pice crop 



Was coming to a close with a reduction on last year's return. 



A coming event ot interest al the time ol writing was 

 the judging of holdings in the cacao prize holdings competi 

 I ion which wa.- to take place m September. 



The weather was rainj throughout the month, and the 

 average precipit ition at twenty seven stations was 12 inches. 



ST. VINCENT, Work in the Experiment Station during 

 August consisted principally in sowing plots ofludiancru. 



and in work connected with pests oi ground nuts and Indian 

 coin. < Ibservation- relating to the Staple crop- indicate that 



u planted cotton has suffered from boll shedding and 

 ipot on account of the rainj weather. Indian corn 

 yielded - itisfai torj returns, This crop is chit fli 



i i catch crop with cotton. C nuts in the Carib country 



