PATCHOULI. 299 
megs, and other permanent crops, and it pays all the expenses of 
clearing and planting, leaving the permanent crops as clear 
profit. 
*‘Of natural enemies, one was described to me as a beetle ; but, 
as the young leaves which it is said to attack are dwarfed and de- 
formed rather than eaten, I am inclined to think it isa bug. The 
older leaves are very much attacked by some insects, probably 
caterpillars and grasshoppers. 
“The plants are cut down near the ground when they have 
reached a sufficient size, one stalk only being left to each bush. 
The patchouli is then laid out in the sun to dry in the day-time, 
and put under cover at night, and on the approach of rain. The 
time required to dry it varies with the weather, taking from 4 
days to a week. When thoroughly dry it is done up into bales 
and sold either to dealers in the leaves or to distillers. In this 
state it fetches about $8 per pikul of 1333 lbs. The dealers cut it 
up and separate a great quantity of the larger stalks, and, according 
to its freedom from these, it is classed as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quality. 
The best consists of leaves only and is valued at $30 to $32 per 
pikul; but, owing to the labour involved, this quality hardly pays 
to prepare. The 2nd quality is composed of leaves and young 
shoots, with little of the heavier stalk, and ranges in price from $17 
to $20 per pikul. The 3rd quality contains less leaf and more 
stalk, and fetches about $14 per pikul. The best quality of all 
would be produced by picking from the plants the leaves and tops 
of the young shoots, and drying these in the shade, but it is 
doubtful if it would pay. Prepared in this way, 30 lbs. of green 
leaves produce 10 lbs. of dried patchouli. The percentage of 
essential oil in shade-dried leaves is higher than in those which 
have been exposed for many hours to the full heat of a tropical 
sun, which in this latitude often goes over 120° F. 
‘In distilling the oil, the dried patchouli is put into a large copper 
cylinder fitted with a perforated false bottom, and mounted on 
trunnions. ‘Through one of these steam enters from a boiler, and 
is conducted by a tube beneath the false bottom. The remaining 
trunnion is also hollow, and the steam, after passing through the 
leaves, passes out by it and into a worm immersed in a tub of 
water in the ordinary way. The pressure of steam employed is 
about 10 lbs. per square inch, but it varies with the size of the 
worm and the temperature of the water used to cool it. 
