PATCHOULI. 301 
at Penang is contained in a letter addressed by Mr. C. Curtis, 
Assistant Superintendent in the Forest Department of the Straits 
Settlements, to the Superintendent of the Royal Gardens, Kew, 
dated February 1888 :—“. . . . It may interest you to know the 
result of an experiment in cultivating and harvesting one-twentieth 
of an acre of patchouli in the Experimental Nursery, Penang. 
Cuttings were put in in January, and the last week in February 
one twentieth of an acre was planted three feet apart. The soil of 
the nursery is poor, and the only manure used was wood-ashes. 
“On July 21st the whole was cut, and weighed in a green state 
449 lbs. After being dried in a cool airy shed for 10 days the 
weight was 106 lbs. The leaves were then separated from the 
stems, and each weighed separately, the result being, ‘ good leaf,’ 
69 lbs.; ‘refuse,’ 37 lbs. Samples were submitted to London 
Brokers. One valued it at 8d. to 10d. per lb., the other at 10d. 
to 11d. 
“The same patch was cut again the first week in January of 
this year, and the yield and results were approximately the same as 
in July; so there is no doubt an acre will yield considerably over 
one ton of ‘good leaf’ per annum. No special skill is required 
in its cultivation. I am by no means sure that the system of 
cutting the whole patch at once is the best system possible. I 
think if only one side of the rows were cut first, and the remainder 
after they had commenced to grow again, there would be less 
exposure of the roots to the sun, and consequently less check to 
the growth. 
“The principal point to be observed in drying is to dry slowly, 
and not to the point of crispness, otherwise the leaves get broken 
to powder, and are of less value ”’*. 
Mr. Wray, in the report above referred to, says that large 
quantities of Ocimum Basilicum, L., var. pilosum, Benth., known 
by the Malay name, Ruku, are often used as an adulterant to the 
dried leaves ; and he was told by Hardouin (the principal distiller 
of patchouli oil in the States) that recently a Chinaman bought 
* This observation of course applies to the case when the leaves are to be 
baled for export ; as when they are to be distilled on the spot they are not dried 
so much as when baled. 
