— 114 — 



fact that it is our practice to supply qualities which are unequalled both 

 as regards santalol-content and odour. 



The annual auction sales of sandalwood of the Mysore State will be 

 held at the undermentioned places, on the dates specified against each, 

 by the Deputy Commissioner and the Forest Officer of the district: 



No. 



District 



Koti 



Datum 



Approximate 

 quantity in tons 



Remarks 



1 



Mysore 



Hunsur 



Nov. 



17/10 



450 





2 

 3 

 4 



id. 



Bangalore 



Hassan 



Seringapatam 



Bangalore 



Hassan 





21 

 24 

 28 



250 

 100 

 150 



| Includes 30 tons 

 | of Tumkur and 5 

 | tons of Kolar. 



5 



Kadur 



Chikmagalur 



Dec. 



1 



350 





6 

 7 



id. 

 Shimoga 



Tarikere 

 Shimoga 





5 



8 



200 

 450 



1 Includes 10 tons 

 1 of Chitaldrug. 



8 



id. 



Sagar 



» 



14 



100 





9 



id. 



Tirthahalli 



» 



17 



200 







Tot; 



il: 2250 





There is a well-justified anxiety to know what measures the Con- 

 servator of Forests will take in the present year in order to make the 

 sales more profitable to his Government than they have been in past 

 years. There is no room for doubt that the present system has not yielded 

 large returns to the National Exchequer. 



We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Werner Reinhart, of the firm 

 of Volkart Bros., of Winterthur (Switzerland), for the following interesting 

 particulars on the preparation of sandalwood oil in Southern British 

 India: — The distillation of sandalwood oil appears to be an ancient 

 industry in Southern Kanara, especially in the district of Udipi, but it is 

 steadily declining. Natives from Udipi attend the auctions in Mysore and 

 Coorg every year, and attract attention by their bids, which are often 

 extravagantly high, especially for Coorg wood. But not all the wood 

 bought by these dealers is distilled by them: a portion of it they resell 

 to Bombay. It is said that the distillers also use smuggled wood (sandalwood 

 being a monopoly of the State of Mysore), besides which sandalwood trees 

 may occur here and there in the district of Kanara. 



The oil industry is centred principally in the district north-east of 

 Karkul up to the foot of the Ghats. The still consists of a ball-shaped 

 earthenware vessel about 2 7* ft. high and 6 x /2 ft. in circumference, with 

 a circular opening. There is no helm, and when the still is full it is 

 simply covered with an earthenware cover, in the middle of which a bent 

 copper tube, about 5 1 /* ft. long, is inserted. The tube ends in a copper 



