Vol. XV. No. 36-5. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



1S7 



The Enfleurage System of Scent Extraction. 



The volatile compounds which give to flowers their 

 odour may be extracted by the ordinary distillation 

 process or by what is known as the 'enfleurage' system. 

 This is concisely described in the Perfumery Record 

 Year-book and Diary, 1916. Some flowers, it appears, 

 like jasmine, roses, tuberose and vi'>lets behave some- 

 what refractorily under the distillation process, so the 

 idea arose of placing the blossoms in contact with fat, 

 which, especially in a melted or sem.i-melted condition 

 has the property of absorbing the floral odour. Lard 

 and beef flit being the most neutral were employed 

 in preference to other forms of grease, but it may be 

 supposed that in recent times vegetable fats like cacao 

 butter and palm oil have largely taken the place of the 

 more expensive animal products. The most up-to-date 

 method is to use sheets of glass in wooden frames, to 

 cover these with a coating of fat, and sprinkle the flowers 

 on them and then stack the sheets one upon the 

 other and leave them thus for, say, about fifteen hours. 

 The scent is afterwards dissolved out vnth alcohol. 



The Yearbook referred to, from which the above 

 imforraation has been obtained, is in many respects a 

 valuable publication. It contains, for instance, a review, 

 by the editor (Mr. J. C. Umney, F.C.S.) of the work 

 on essential oils published in the Perfumery and 

 Essential Oil Record in 191-5, and is a continuation of 

 previous summaries. Another useful section deals 

 with the analysis of essential oils, and gives a statement 

 of the principal tests employed. This should be useful 

 to those concerned with the study of essential oils in 

 the West Indies. 



The price of the Yearbook is 2s. Qd., and can be 

 obtained from the Publishers, S, Serle Street, Lon- 

 don, W.C. 



Trade and Agriculture of Zanzibar, 1914. 



Through the courtesy of the Director of Agriculture, 

 Zanzibar, we are in receipt of the Report on the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture of that Protectorate for the year 

 1914. Cloves and copra being the principal agricultural 

 products, the War has had a considerable effect on the 

 agricultural industry, especially in the early months, 

 when freights were scarce. The general position of the 

 plantation owners is said not to have improved since the 

 last report (1913), and in Pemba especially, the planta- 

 tions continue to deteriorate. Much yet remains to be 

 done in organizing the clove harvest labour. It is 

 mentioned that in the last season the Government and 

 Arabs alike lost at least one-third of their early clove 

 crop, and in Pemba heavy losses were incurred through 

 the natives demanding such a price as, if paid, would 

 have resulted in a loss to the clove grower, and 

 returning to their villages when their demands were 

 not met. Notwithstanding these difficulties the Govern- 

 ment benefited by an exceptionally heavy crop, and the 

 plantation owners also benefited proportionately. The 



northern plantations, however, suffering as they have 

 done from a number of lean years, show their want of 

 funds for cultivation by their condition. 



Regarding copra, this industry has been affected 

 by the War to a greater extent than that of the cloves. 

 The quality of Zanzibar copra shows no improvement, 

 and for the purposes of price comparison — it not being 

 <:juoted separately in the market list — may be taken, 

 as equal to 'South Sea Islands'. To effect any great 

 improvement in the price obtainable for Zanzibar copra, 

 an article must be turned out that will produce an 

 edible fat. Such, at least, is the conclusion arrived afr 

 by the Director of Agriculture. 



In a table giving the export of Chillies and Gum- 

 copal for the past ten years, 190.5-14, it is seen that the 

 average export of Chillies has been maintained, while 

 that of Gum-copal suddenly declined in 1914 by more 

 than £60,000. It is explained, however, that the Gum- 

 copal exported from Zanzibar now is of outside origin, 

 and comes principally from German East Africa. 



Teachers' Salaries. 



In his opening address to the Legislative Council 

 of St. Vincent, the Administrator requested the mem- 

 bers to approve a general increase in the salaries of 

 teachers in the primary schools, a matter which His 

 Honour regarded an act of justice no less than one of 

 sound policy. In a letter addressed to the Chairman of 

 the Committee appointed by the Government, His 

 Honour referred in strong terms to this question of 

 underpaj'ment. He pomled out that a memorial had 

 been received from the Teachers' Association and, in 

 particular, a letter from the Head teacher of the Bequia 

 Anglican School, representing that his salary, which is 

 at the rate of .$12 a month, was insufficient. His 

 Honour called the Committee's attention to the fact 

 that the lovvest paid appointment in the regular Govern- 

 ment Service is that uf a fifoh clerk with salary at the 

 rate of £42 per annum, 40 per cent, more than that of 

 the teacher referred to. 



His Honour stated bhat he considered there must 

 be something radically wrong with a system under 

 which 39c. a day, not quite double the pay of an 

 unskilled road labourer, is considered proper remuner- 

 ation for the services of a teacher responsible single 

 handed for the daily instruction of a school of over 

 200 pupils. As regards the general (juestion, Il'is 

 Honour's view was that education is better worth spend- 

 ing money on than any other object which calls for 

 the expenditure of public funds. It is in the highest 

 degree short-sighted and impolitic to run the teaching 

 staff on the cheap. Their work is the hardest, most 

 responsible, most troublesome and worst paid that ;Miy 

 body of servants have to perform. Good teachers 

 cannot be looked for at starvation wages, and unless 

 it is made worth their while to teach they will go 

 where their services are more fairly recompensed. 



