105 



He had seen it used for stocking the still. It might be returned 

 to the soil. 



Mr. Wright remarked that he, too, had seen it used as fuel and 

 also to feed cattle which seemed to relish it greatly. The only 

 thing that was lost by using it as fuel was the nitrogen. The 

 potash would be there and the lime. The ashes might be used on 

 the land. 



Planting up Patanas.— The Hon. Mr. W. H. Jackson said 

 that if the grass grew like Mana they might try it on waste land 

 which, in places, grew nothing but Mana. 



H. E. the Governor : That is what is proposed to do near 

 Hakgala — to grow it on Patana land. 



Mr. WRIGHT: — I have already established places at Band- 

 arawela. Will that place answer ? 



The Hon. Mr. W. H. JACKSON :— I think so. That is about the 

 barest place. 



II. Lemon-Grass Oil from Montserrat* 



A specimen of lemon-grass oil was forwarded to the Imperial 

 Institute in September, 1903, by the Hon. F. Watts, Government 

 Analytical and Agricultural Chemist to the Leeward Islands, with 

 the request that its commercial value might be ascertained. 



In the letter accompanying the sample, analyses of this and 

 other West Indian lemon-grass oils were given, and the character- 

 istic partial solubility of these oils in alcohol was noted. No 

 information was given, however, regarding the exact botanical ori- 

 gin of the Montserrat oil, and as a knowledge of this point is of 

 some importance in placing such products on the market a request 

 was made for a herbarium specimen of the plant from which the 

 oil was distilled, in order that it might be identified ; at the same 

 time a larger sample of the oil was asked for. These supplement- 

 ary materials were received in January, 1904. 

 Identification of the Plant. 



The herbarium specimen of the plant was submitted for exami- 

 nation to the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, who identified 

 it as Andropogon nardiis, L. var genuinus, Hack, which is commonly 

 known as the true lemon-grass. 



Chemical examination of the oil. 



The oil was examined in the Scientific and Technical Depart- 

 ment of the Imperial Institute, and gave the following results : 



The specimen measured about eight fluid ounces, and consisted 

 of clear, limpid, yellow liquid, with a pleasant lemon grass odour. 

 It dissolved to the extent of about 97 per cent, in 70 per cent, 

 alcohol, and on distillation about 25 per cent, of the oil was ob- 

 tained between l8o°-220° c, and 50 per cent., which was princi- 

 pally citral, between 220°-230'c. 



The following table shows the analytical results obtained with 

 the Montserrat oil both at the Imperial Institute and in the West 



* From Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, II. 



