MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS. 159 



perfumery, for we not only import attar and essential oils 

 in large and increasing quantities from Roumelia, Singapore, 

 and other places, but the cultivation of perfume plants in 

 this country has received more attention; and when we know 

 that Mitcham lavender and peppermint oils are unequalled 

 in the markets of the world, there seems no reason why 

 the cultivation of such plants, and the distillation of their 

 oils, should not be made specially a home industry. As an 

 illustration of the great value of imported perfumery oils, 

 we will briefly refer to those produced by species of Andro- 

 pogon, which are introductions of the present century. Thus 

 Lemon Grass Oil, the produce of Andropoffon dtratus, was 

 first imported into London about 1832 ; while RusA, or 

 GiNGEE Grass Oil, from A. Schcenanthus, was first brought 

 to notice in 1825, and Citronella Oil, from.il. Nardus, at a 

 much more recent period. Citronella and lemon grass plants 

 are extensively cultivated in Singapore and Ceylon for com- 

 mercial purposes, large plantations in the latter place being 

 devoted to them, and the oil distilled on the spot. Ginger 

 grass oil is chiefly distilled in Khandesh, in the Bombay 

 Presidency. Twenty-five years ago the export of citronella 

 oil from Ceylon was 622,000 ounces, of the value of £8,230, 

 and it has considerably increased since then ; besides which 

 are to be added the still greater exports from Singapore, a 

 very large proportion of which comes to this country. 



As an illustration of what may be done in the utilisation 

 of waste products, Cork stands forward as a prominent 

 example. Fifty years ago the uses of cork — the bark oi 

 Quercus suber — -were chiefly as stoppers for bottles, floats 

 for nets, in. the construction of lifeboats, etc. In 1851, how- 

 ever, the adaptability of cork for very many other domestic 

 and manufacturing purposes was practically illustrated, and 

 its uses became wider and more general. The utilisation of 

 virgin cork for horticultural purposes does not date back 

 more than about twenty years ; previous to its application for 



