Dociine in 

 Export * 



CYMBOPOGON 



TRADE IN CITRONELLA NARDUS 



Lemon-grass 



odour. The lana batu variety yields an oil that contains citnnellal (28'2 

 nt.), is relatively poor in geraniol (32 - 9 per cent.), affords methyl 

 tugenoi (8 per cent.), and has a high specific gravity. It constitutes the 

 bulk of the citronella oil of commerce. The oil of maha pangiri contains 

 '45 to 55-34 per cent, citronellal, 38-15 to 31-87 per cent, geraniol, and 

 iily 0'78 to 0*84 of methyl eugenol. The low percentage of the last-men- 

 ! substance accounts for its low sp. gr. The maha pangiri is the 

 first quality, and is often in trade called " Singapore Citronella," while 

 the lana batu is the second quality. Citronella is mainly in demand by 

 e soap manufacturers on account of its geraniol, one of the chief con- 

 ituiMits of rose oil. 



Trade in Citronella. The traffic in this oil first attracted attention Trade. 

 out 1887, when the exports from Ceylon were returned at 551,706 Ib. ; in 

 190 they became 909,942 Ib. ; in 1895, 1,182,255 Ib. ; in 1900, 1,409,056 Ib. ; 

 in 1901 they stood at 1,430, 168 Ib. ; and recently (1902) suffered a serious 

 ,1,-rlinr to 1,294,750 Ib. ; and in 1903 still further to 1,062,594 Ib. But 

 e decline in the production has caused a satisfactory rise in the price Bise in Price. 

 m 9d. to Is. 2d. per Ib. Schimmel & Co. say the demand at present 

 :ceeds the supply, and that a decline in the price is inconceivable. The 

 goes mainly to England, America, Germany and Australia. The industry 

 ntres chiefly in the southern parts of Ceylon, where there are said to be 

 ,000 acres under the crop, and over 600 stills at work. As compared with 



the production in Singapore is reported hardly to exceed 30,000 Ib., Singapore. 

 obtained from about 2,000 acres. 



The Ceylon traffic has suffered, however, very greatly through adultera- Adulteration. 

 ion with kerosene, fixed oils, and more recently alcohol, as also in conse- 

 ence of overproduction. Of late the vigorous development of the Overproduction. 

 Itivation in Java and the rise of the Travancore industry in lemon- Java. 



oil are circumstances that have operated unfavourably on Ceylon 

 uction. Mr. Bamber (the Ceylon Government Chemist) has in- 

 Tested himself in this subject and has invented a process by which 

 e adulteration of the oil that is being exported may be readily and 

 :ectively detected. Satisfactory endeavours are being made by the 

 iylon Government to improve the methods of production and manu- 

 cture presently pursued by the Natives and to discountenance if not 

 check adulteration. 



(6) C. flexuosus, Stapf. The Malabar or Cochin Grass. This is the Lemon- 

 plant of Travancore. Stapf draws my attention to the fact that an 

 ;cellent figure of this plant was given by Rheede (Hort. Mai., 1703, xii., 

 07, t. 57), who calls it kodi-puttu. It is the ginger-grass oil (sukkanaru pittu) 

 some writers, such as Ainslie (Mat. Med., ii., 401), spoken of as procured 

 >m the Courtallum hills and from Tinnevelly district. It has been dis- 

 ibuted by Wight to herbaria under the name -4. jtejcuanu*, Nees (Steudel. 



PI. Gram., 1855, 388). 



LEMON-GRASS OIL Cultivation. Very little of a definite and trust- Travancore 

 worthy nature has been published of the production of this grass as distinct Lemo ^" 

 in several others that are known to be grown. Every writer on the grass * 

 bject of the grass oils of India speaks of LEMON-GRASS OIL as being used 

 the Natives of India in the treatment of rheumatism and cholera. It 

 ms fairly certain that these passages have little to justify their retention 

 der the present plant except where they make exclusive reference to the 

 ireme South of India, and especially to the Travancore and Malabar oil. 

 '/. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, Volatile Oils, 1900, 285 ; Wiesner, Die 



457 



Malabar or 

 Cochin 



Grass. 



Medicinal ou. 



