April i, 1886,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



719 



NECJLECTED INDUSTRIES IK INDIA. 



TO THE EDITOH CF THE " PIOSEEH." 



Sir, — Ivintureto seud you the following lints, with 

 the hope that some good may come of them. For 

 want of a vaiiety of oijeuings for the employnient 

 of eapital, one has often seen tea companies started 

 and conipetiug with other comp;mies, with the result 

 of loweniijj, and perhaps ruining, the profits of all. 

 t'oft'i'C and cinchona plantations have heen started in 

 numbers, and are destroying each others profits. The 

 same occurs with cotton and other milla, cotton screws, 

 kc. No sooner is an industry set up and is found to 

 give a fair profit to the shareholders, thau capitalists 

 rush in and spoil, not only the profitof the pioneers, 

 hut also their own : while other and new industries, 

 which might give a profit to capital, are neglected. 

 I .shall here mention a few industries which 1 think 

 might use up the capital of one or more companies 

 with profit. There are now in India two imported 

 plants, which I introduced many years ago. Keth of 

 these gniw like «Yt"d.< in almo.st any part of India, 

 excei)t where severe frost occurs. These are (1) the 

 Malta lemon tree, Citi-us lAmonum wJiiaris of Hisso ; 

 and (2) the Seville orange, Citrus Iliijnradia of Kisso ; 

 Both can be propagated to any extent by budding on 

 the common kliatta stock, by laveriug, and by seed. 

 Hotli could be easily attended to by women, children, 

 and the cheapest labour. In any temperate part of 

 India, wheie the hiyhzi nimboo grovis, these will grow, 

 requiring only irrigation during the hot, dry mouths. 

 For the aC'Ual cultivatiun little skill is necessary be- 

 yond I hat of a common mali. For working up the 

 produce one or two skilled foremen from Europe 

 would at fi'St be necessary. The indu.stries resulting 

 fiom these two delightful plants are the following; — 

 From the )Ialta lemon : The rind is made into ean- 

 tiied lemi»n-peel, or is pressed for its essential oil, 

 called ■■ essential oil of lemon-peel." Tlw latter is 

 used in pharmacy, confectionery, perfumery, and for 

 flavouring effervescing lemonades. The rind, pulp and 

 juice all together, boiled with sugar, make a first class 

 lemon jel'y, superior to marmalade : the juice alone 

 of course is turned into citric acid. This is used in 

 pharmacy, confectionery and for making acidulated 

 efftrvesetug drinks. But its gre^t future in Iiulia 

 would, I think, be for the preparation of citrate of 

 iron and quinine, the one tonic needed fur picking 

 up the fever stricke > population after being weaken- 

 ttd by malarious fevers. From the Seville orange : 

 The rind, pulp and juice are made into marmalade 

 of the first quality. The tlowers, the finest scented 

 of all the orange tribe, are distilled for their essenti- 

 al oil, calleil oil " neroli." It is also extracted by 

 '* enfleiu*agc."' This oil is used in pharmacy, perfumery, 

 Lc. The distilled water, after the oil is removed, is 

 the '* orange flower water " of c{ mmerce, used in 

 pharmacy and confectionery. From the leaves, which 

 are highly scont«ii, another es.sential oil, called *' petit 

 grain," is distilled, and is used principally for scenting 

 ordinary soaps. The Indian lime, or katrltzi nimhoo, 

 might also be utilised for its acid, and it can also 

 be mado into lime-jelly ! The reader may perliaps 

 think that these are trifling notions, but considering 

 that Moir & Oo. alone have Ihri-e ^teain factoriCi* in 

 different parts of Europe making marmalade from 

 Seville oranges I need hardly .say, that these notions 

 are not, after all, so trifling as tliey would at first 

 apj>ear. (..'heap sugar aiul chnap fuel woidd of course 

 Im" iu.portant items in these industries. It mi|;ht be 

 said that it would be cheaper to get all these pro- 

 ducts from Europe. So it was said, years ago, that 

 it would be cheaper to carry cotton to England from 

 India, and bring it back as manufacture*! articles, 

 than it would be to work it up in India. Neverthe- 

 less there are several mills jn Cawnpore, and many 

 OD the Bombay side and other places, which, if worked 

 at all. can only be worked at a profit. It might be 

 also saiil that the demand for such products in India 

 would not be enough to support these industries. Let 

 us see. All Europeans in Iinlia, incliuling soldiers, are 

 fond of cakes, as also the whole of the Eurasian 

 population ; and cheap candied lemon and orauge peel 



would find a sale among them. This, however, is one 

 of the minor products. All Europeans and Eurasians 

 are fond of effervescing lemonades. These out/lu to 

 be made with citric acid flavoured with " lemon oil." 

 Now, however, as imported tartaric aciil is cheaper 

 thau citric acid, so-called lemonades are really tar- 

 tarades. And the flavoring, with few exceptions, is 

 probably uoirltere. As teetotalers iucrease, the consump- 

 tion of etfervesciug lemonades, if nicely made, will 

 also increase. Marmalades are now perhaps only used 

 by Europeans who can pay for them. But, if suflioi- 

 ently cheap, both marmalade and lemon jelly would 

 be used liy most Europeaus, including soldiers, and 

 also by must Eurasians, Cheap scented soap would 

 be used by all Europeaus and Eurasians. As to citrate 

 of irou and ipiinine, who iu this country would uet 

 be glad to have it cheap ? It is one of the best 

 toiilis to renovate the blood after malarial fevers. 

 The above is as far as India alone is concerned, but 

 then there are other markets to which these products 

 might have access. Of this I am certain, that beyond 

 the necessary land and facilities for watering the 

 trees, (froirint/ tht-m tcuttld present no dilJlcttUt/ whatevtr. 

 They can both be maile to grow like any indigenoVs 

 tree, and with proper cultivation they will flower and 

 fruit abundantly. These two trees give their main orop^ 

 of flowers iu spring, and ripen their main crop of 

 fruit in December. But at odd times they flower and 

 produce what natives call •' dumrez " fruit, which 

 ripens at intermediate times, so that practically they 

 bear fruit all the year rtninii, but produce their main 

 crop in muter. Bangalore has a Mediterranean climate 

 and would probably suit these trees well. His High- 

 ness the Nizam's territories ha\e remarkably rich 

 soil, and these plants are almost certaiu to thrive 

 there. It would appear that orauge ami lemon trees 

 like lime in the soil, the orange tree wood giving in its 

 ashes no less than 45 per cent uf lime, according to 

 Liebig. In the Pioneer of the 5th Feioruary last, the 

 now famous I'undit is made to say that in Tibet, 

 in the valley of the Zayul, at an elevation of -ifiWi 

 feet, he saw the lemon and the plantain growing. 

 This, hu«ever, I know, that in Ruine the lemon tree 

 is often killed by frost, and iu Florence they grow 

 it iu big naiids, and house it iu winter. In Naples 

 and Sicily it grows abundantly. The history of the 

 introduction of the orange and lemon in Europe points 

 to their having been taken there by the Arabs, and 

 that they came from lu'-lia, or from some jjlace beyond 

 the Ganges, so that their home is either in, or some- 

 where near, India. I have little doubt that on the 

 southern slopes of many a Himalayan valley the orange 

 aiui lemon trees woukl find many places, with a quasi- 

 Mediterranean climate, excluding, of course, the sea. 

 In or near Sylhet the orange is probably indigenous, 

 or has been grown there from time immemorial. 

 Calcutta is supplied Kith oranges from Sylhut. Why 

 could not the Sylhet orange be grown for its fine 

 fruit in the same plantation with the Seville orange 

 and the Malta lemon, for their own special products, 

 so that the planter would have "several strings to 

 his bow ':'" In Lucknow the Sylhet oranges grows 

 riuiarkably well. Iu Delhi the Uintra orauge grows 

 famously. In Nagpore a fine orange is grown which 

 supplies Bombay with this fruit. Wherever any orange 

 or lime will grow, the Seville orange and the 

 Malta lemon will grow equally well. Finally, I need 

 not say much ahiint Kashmir, which is pur excellince 

 the land of fruit. As to the occupation, what could 

 be more charming than growing oranges and lemons ; 

 making jams and jellies; and distilling essential oils ':* 

 The planter has a choice of the plains or the hills 

 for his operatiotis; nor is it necessary that the maim- 

 factnrer should be also the grower of the raw materials. 

 M'U-owners do not grow their own cotton, wool or 

 fibre; sugar refi'w-rs don't grow their own sugarcane; 

 and rarely do i dig. planters grow their own plant. 

 Kecently Lord AN'olseley has been chalfed in many papers 

 for ordering marmalade for the Soudan Expedition. 

 It is understood that lemon juice or citric acid is one 

 of the best anti-scorbutics known. Both in the Army 

 and Navy it is largely used, and 1 believe the way 

 it is usually administered is to have a parade of the 



