Ahril I, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



6ftj 



marshy ground, along the banks of rivers. Tbe 

 climate of Spain, say in the provinces of Murcia, 

 Aragou ani) Toledo, is most suitable. It canuot be 

 lUiltivated so as to increase yield. 



" In Spain it requires, say, on an average, eight 

 years to reach maturity. 



" The plant or st-ulk is not utilized beytmd the root. 



"The exports of Liiquorice from Jlalftga to the 

 Unit€d .States in 1882, 1883 and 1881, are as follows :— 



Paste. 



Total 18,9.59 



"There are several districts in Spain in which 

 liquorice root is obtained, and largo exports are 

 made from Spanish seaports to the United States. 

 ••Tha root is used in the Unite! States principally 

 tor sweetening in the manufacture of plug tobacco ; 

 it is also used in the manufacture of dru^s and in 

 the preparation of medicines. 



" It grows wild in the lower lands, in marshy grounds, 

 and on the banks of rivers. Probably the best quality 

 obtained in Sjiain is found iu the provinces of 

 .yagon, Murcia, and Toledo. The very best Spanish 

 liquorice root is found near the margin of the Ebro, 

 in Aragim. The next in point of qualitj is obtained 

 near Cordova. Where it once takes rootit is almost 

 impn.-,ible to eradicate it. It grows in many counties, 

 and varies in quality according to soil. Spanish 

 liquorice dirt'trs quite materially in the several provinces, 

 the principal variations being that iu some parts the 

 kark is red. brown, and light colour, the inside varying 

 from light-yellow to brown ; the proportions of 

 saccharine and starch vary also. JIany kinds are 

 fibrous, while others are almost as hard as wood. 

 The ground is pulled at intervals of throe, four, or 

 live years, ;»ccording to circumstances, by digging 

 trenches, pulling everything visible as long as possible 

 until it breaks. 



'■ After a year or two it shows above the ground 

 with a little stem ; in the spring over this stem there 

 are little dowers. 



" From the time this stem appears until the flowers 

 have all fallen, this root is not in condition to extract, 

 for the sap does not return to the root till then. 



" Each year, till the ground is culled, the quantity 

 of roots and tops increases, until the ground is unfit 

 for cultivation of any kind. 



•' It is from Sf-ptembrr till March that the root 

 is gathered, and goes thrcjugh a process of dr\ing 

 or curing before it is considered marketable, "the 

 time required for the drying or curing process being 

 from four to five months, and requires a dry 

 climate. 



"Liquorice root is also found and gathered in 

 Asiatic Turkey, Greece, Italy, in the Sicilies, etc. 

 In the .Sicilies and in Italy, very little, if any, is 

 exported as root, it being used in the manufacture 

 of roll or stick liquorice. There is a small section in 

 England which prjd-.ices a limited quantity. The 

 Uni'cd Stsfs also have liquorice root iu several parts 

 of the country, but the quality is not such sis to give 

 it value. 



"The qviality of root produced iu the different 

 eouatriea is as follows, \-iz., Asiatic Turkey, decidedly 

 hitter; Greece, bitter, but not so bitter" as Asiatic 

 Turkey; Sicily, sweet, but less so than Sp.-iish; 

 Spain, rich and sweet ; Italy, richest and sweetest 

 of all. 



" Malaga has not up to the present time been con- 

 sidered an important shipping point for root ; Seville, 



Alicante, Bartelou?, and Bilbao are nearer the proilneing 

 districts, yet during the past three years a nmr.ed 

 increase in shipments from Malaga has taken place, 

 while the .shipments of liqninioe paste hav<' materially 

 decreaseil. The value of th's root does not in .Spain 

 admit of its being increased in crop by cultivation, 

 and the qusutity gathered greatly depends upon the 

 severity or midness of the winter. If severe, it lessens 

 the quantity gathered. 



" Again, if other crops are gooil, labour being 

 scarce, less root is gathered ; consequently i)rices are 

 higher. 



" There are one or two large French establishments 

 in Spain for making paste and stick litiuorice, one in 

 .Seville and the other in Saragossa, betides a few 

 small Spanish concerns also engaged iu the maiui- 

 faoture of liquorice paste." — Pharmaciutical Journal. 



NOTES ON THE VARIETIES OF GUTTA- 

 PERCHA. 



BY .TAMES COLLINS. 



In a previous article* I reserved a more complete 

 enumeration of the varieties of guttapercha for a future 

 occasion. In the present instance, I only give those 

 which I have been able to examine personally ; other lists 

 which I have by me require yet further examioatioa 

 and comparison, and fuller materials than at present 

 at my conimiud. Many, too, of these names may prove 

 synonymous, and the really valuable varieties may prove 

 to ht' but few in number. 



I. Dichufj.-'l-^ f/trtta. — Bentley and Trimen's '* Meilicinal 

 Plants," plate IfJT. Syaonym — laonandra f/utta, Hooker, 

 '■ Londnn Journal of Botany," vi. 463, t. 16, &c. Vern- 

 acular names— Gutta Takin ; Gatta Pereha ; txutta 

 Niato (Sarawak); Gutta Pereha Duriau (Sumatra); 

 Nyatoe Balam, or Balam Timbaga (Bleekrode) ; Gutta 

 Balam Durian (Borneo) ; Ondauw (Bauka) ; Alazerwood 

 tree (English). Geographical distribution — Formerly in 

 Singapore iu abundanct*, but only one or two preserved 

 as curiosities ; Malacca and Malay Peuinsula, as far 

 north as Pcrak; Sumatra ; Borneo and other adjacent 

 islands. In llelfer's collection of Andaman and Ten- 

 naserim plants at Kew, there is a specimen of this plant. 

 Remarks — Gutta, or as it is variously written, gutah, 

 gatta, gitta, gatta, is the Malayan term for gum or 

 juice : pereha (pronounced soft as in pv-;ach, not hard 

 as perka) acentuated variously as parcha, pertja, pcrclia, 

 is the name of the tree, hence the term may be trans- 

 lated "gum of the pereha tree." Recently, it has been 

 suggested that pereha mt^^us strips or fragments, so 

 called from the way the gutta hangs from the incised 

 trees, but this seems too far-fetched. The old name 

 of Sumatra was Pulo or Pulau Pereha, meaning " Island 

 (Pulau) of the Pereha Tree." Tubaii, tiiban, tabau is 

 also the name of a tree, and accordi: g to Logan a new 

 word has 'neeu added to the Malay language, viz.: — 

 Menahan (MenTtJaban), .signifying collected gutta 

 taban. The greater number of Malay noun? admit of 

 conversion into verbs by the addition of a prefix. The 

 tree is often compared to the Durian tree, rhtriu :ilitthi- 

 nim, in its general appearance, and I have classed the 

 Dutch varieties of Gutta Durian under it, as both 

 specimens and accounts agree. Whilst in Singapore, 

 I was fortunate enough to procure a fruiting branch, 

 and also to prepare a little gutta from the same ident- 

 ical tree as the specimens from which Sir W. .J. Hooker 

 drew up '-is description were obtained These speci- 

 meus are now at Kew. 



2. Dichopnis f/tftta, var. ohlonqifnUa. - Syn()n3)n— 

 laanandra f/ultn vnr. ohlnnqifoUa, De ^'riese, PI. Ned. 

 Bat. Vtrien't; ih. De Haudei in Getah-Pertja. Li y 1. n, 

 18.')6. with colr.'iped figure. Remarks — Tiii> varietv 

 found in Borneo diflft-rs chiefly in having oblong instcul 

 of obvate-oblong leavas. 



3. lHi'l">p!<i.i Macrnphylla. — .SynoDTni — Ismanilm 

 macrophvUa, De Vriese. Vernacular name— Ngiato 

 putih (w-hite gutta). Ri^marks — Mi. Motley, who col- 

 lected a specimen of this at liangermnssing, Borneo, 

 describes it as a large tree, with white and .stfl wood, 



"•.Tan. 18th. 1881. " 



