

GARJAN OIL 



DIPTEROCARPUS 



TURBINATUS 



D. turbinatus, (iaertn., f. ; Buch.-Ham., Mem. Wern. Soc., 1832, 

 vi., :M<) : Ki.xk, /'/. Intl., ii., i'>12 (in part) ; Ribbentrop, Forestry in Br. 

 Ind., 1900, 10. Kanyin Oil Tree, garjan, dulia garjan, kanyoung, kanyin, 

 m-ni, kanyin kohe, etc. An evergreen tree of Eastern Bengal, 

 clnttjigong, Burma, and (according to Gamble) of the Andaman Islands. 

 :luti-il to Singapore. 



One of the loftiest of Indian trees, being sometimes 250 feet in 

 height. Hooker (Himal. Journ., ii., 348) in his account of Chittagong 

 " This is the most superb tree we met with in the Indian forests : 

 aw several species, but this is the only common one here; it is 

 conspicuous for its gigantic size, and for the straightness and graceful 

 form of its tall unbranched pale grey trunk and small symmetrical 

 cro\\n : many individuals were upwards of 200 feet high and 15 in 

 girth." In recent official correspondence mention has been made of 

 a broad and narrow-leaved garjan oil plant. The latter has been deter- 

 mined to be a special variety of 1>. turhinatutt, for which the name 

 dm/din(ini<-u* has been suggested, and the former is 7>. (irijjithtl 

 (see above). 



OLEO-RESIN. With regard to the various species of Dlpterocarfms 

 that yield wood-oil (garjan}, the following information was obtained 

 some few years ago from the Government of Burma : " Kanyin oil is 

 the produce of D. Iwi-ia (kanyin-in = red kanyin) and of I), d/dfit* 

 (kanyin-byn = white kanyin), which are common in evergreen forests, 

 and probably of other species of similar habitat." It seems likely, 



I however, that the source of the superior quality of oil has changed 

 within recent years owing to the comparative extermination of the plant 

 most noted in former times. It is also highly probable that the plant 

 valued at the present day may be a species but indifferently known 

 to botanists. Every here and there, more than one grade of oil is de- 

 scribed by popular writers, whereas in most cases only one species of 

 wood-oil tree is recognised. It is on that account that I have retained 

 for the present the names used in the Dictionary, namely, D. la-ris. 

 J). tutocrculdtus and D. turtoiiiatus. 



Garjan Oil is in Burma generally collected in the dry weather only 

 (November to May). In the Andaman Islands it does not flow before 

 January 15, and is finished by April 25. The oil is obtained by cutting 

 two or three deep pyramidal hollows (the apex pointing towards the 

 interior) near the foot of the tree, and by applying fire to the upper cut 

 surfaces. The fluid then collects at the bottom of the hollow, which is 

 emptied every three or four days. Fire is applied after the oil is removed, 

 and the upper surfaces of the hollow are chipped three or four times 

 during the season. In Tharawaddy district, where trees are not very 

 plentiful, it is considered that twenty are about as many as one man can 

 attend to. The yield of twenty trees would be 100 viss for the season, 

 worth Rs. 25. In Prome district the oil may be said to come into the 

 market in the form of torches similar to those already discussed under 

 />. fulH'rcufdfus. In the Forest Administration Reports of the Andaman 

 Islands (1897-8, 7; 1899-1900, 4, 5; 1901-2, 13; 1903-4, 7) par- 

 ticulars are given of the methods pursued in collecting the oil. In the 

 Chittagong district it is prohibited to tap the trees owing to the large 

 number already killed. This prohibition it is understood does not extend 

 to the hill tracts. A recent official communication, for example, states 



601 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 161-71. 

 Kanyin. 



Lofty Tcew. 



TWO Form*. 



Oil. 



Various Grades. 



Garjan. 



season of 



c 



Fire. 



Yield. 



Tapping 

 Prohibited - 



