102 



tion of the oil. Often the oil and water, as they pass into the re- 

 ceiver, are quite warm instead of being cold. The cold water 

 should enter the condensing chaniber at the end furthest from the 

 distilling chamber, so that the oil-vapour will meet a cooler atmo- 

 sphere the nearer it gets to the receiver. I find in practice that a 

 60 foot coil of piping, 3 to 4 inches in diameter, is sufficient to 

 effect perfect condensation, and it is the opinion of many that the 

 good yield of oil obtained at Peradeniya is partly due to the 

 completeness of the condensation which is obtained. There are 

 other points of importance which might be touched upon, but be- 

 yond advising the planting at definite distances, instead of at hap- 

 hazard, selecting the better variety and paying attention to the 

 seasons and the time of cutting, I propose to dismiss the subject 

 of Citronella. As most of you are aware, certain Citronella 

 planters have found relief in quite another way, namely, by taking 

 up the cultivation of Lemon grass in place of Citronella. 



LEMON GRASS. 

 The main reasons which have led to this change are, first, that 

 Lemon grass oil is valued at 35 to 40 cents an ounce in Galle ; 

 and, secondly, the grass can be cuhivated and distilled in just the 

 same manner as Citronella. Of course, the demand is not an un- 

 limited one, and the price may be lowered if too much oil is placed 

 on the market. The Lemon grass is quite a different plant, but, 

 as you can see from this specimen, it is similar in many respects 

 to Citronella grass. It yields a valuable oil, a pure sample of 

 which I have placed on the table for your inspection. The prac- 

 tical details connected with Lemon grass cultivation are identical 

 with those of Citronella, and therefore need not be dealt with here. 

 The points to consider are the yield and value of the oil. I can- 

 not give you the figures of outsiders, but the results at the Experi- 

 ment Station are probably , similar to those obtained elsewhere. 

 At Peradeniya, at an elevation of l,600 feet, the grass can be cut 

 six months after planting, and from one plot, which was planted 

 in July, 1904, we obtained in December of that year 8,063 lb. of 

 grass yielding I3i lb. of oil per acre, the same plot cut in April of 

 this year gave 5,28 r lb. of grass and 13 lb. of oil per acre so that 

 the yield per acre in the first year has already been 26} lb. of oil. 

 This works out at 40 cents per ounce in Galle, at over Rs. 160 per 

 acre in the first year. You will remember that the Citronella may 

 give a gross return of Rs. 51 to Rs. 53 for the same period. The 

 ease with which these products are cultivated is remarkable. All 

 that is necessary is to make holes, mamoty wide and mamoty 

 deep, and plant young shoots in rainy weather. Nearly all the 

 plants will grow well, and the grass can usually be cut and 

 distilled six months after planting. 



Constituents Removed.— In comparing the value of Lemon 

 grass as against Citronella, it is as well to bear in mind the effect 

 of cultivating these products on the soil. In each case the weight 

 of grass removed is considerable, and it is somewhat surprising 

 that crops so exhausting can be grown on relatively poor soils. In 

 order to emphasise this point I now quote the results of analyses 



