RUBBERS AND GUMS 209 



nopoly on camphor. Such monopoly was thought to be possible 

 in view of the great extent of camphor forests in Formosa. It 

 was estimated that the Japanese Camphor Bureau could put 

 on the market about 6,500,000 pounds of crude camphor an- 

 nually. About 75 per cent, of the world's supply of camphor 

 comes from Formosa, most of the remainder being produced 

 in Japan and China. Since the year 1900 the Japanese Gov- 

 ernment has planted about 1,000,000 camphor trees annually. 

 The production of camphor in China has increased greatly in 

 recent years and now amounts to about 1,600,000 pounds an- 

 nually. 



In Formosa, camphor is obtained from trees 50 years of age 

 or over. The Camphor Bureau of the Japanese Government 

 at one time prohibited the cutting of trees younger than 50 

 years. The percentage of camphor in the wood has been found 

 to increase in old trees. 



The world's supply of camphor is now about S,200 tons 

 annually, which, as already indicated, comes chiefly from For- 

 mosa. The United States imports about 2,000 tons of camphor 

 annually. A synthetic camphor has been made from turpen- 

 tine by various methods, but is inferior to the natural article 

 and cannot compete with the latter so long as the price of 

 natural camphor is not high. In fact, the so-called synthetic 

 camphor is not strictly camphor, but is a product which may 

 be used as a cheap substitute for camphor. As a result of the 

 increasing demand for camphor, about 1,000 acres were planted 

 of this crop in Ceylon in 1908 and further plantings have since 

 been made in that country. The camphor tree is propagated 

 from seed in nurseries. The seedlings are planted in the 

 field at various distances, depending on the method of manu- 

 facture which is contemplated. In the southern United States, 

 particularly in Florida, where leaves and small twigs of young 

 shoots are used in the production of camphor, the seedlings 

 are planted 6 to 10 feet apart both ways. 



In the experiments which have been carried on with cam- 



