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that the manufacture of celluloid has recently been started in Japan, and 

 that camphor is the principal raw material for this manufacture. In the 

 meantime the Government of Formosa has ordered the price of camphor 

 for shipment to Europe to be raised, as from 1 st April 1911,, from £ 5. 5/- 

 to £ 7. 10/- per case. 



A chapter in the Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, by 

 S. C. Hood and R. H. True, contains particulars of the present position 

 of camphor-cultivation in the United States, of which an American 

 periodical *) publishes an extract, dealing principally with the yields which 

 have been obtained thus far and with the prospects of the future devel- 

 opment of the plantations. It is stated that an examination of 1000 trees 

 in the States of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and California revealed 

 considerable variations in the yield of camphor from leaves and from 

 branches. For instance, a few trees which had grown up in the shade 

 of other trees or of high buildings only yielded 0,70% of crude distillate, 

 whereas other trees, which had grown on poor soil and had received 

 no care, yielded up to 2,77% distillate. These figures, however, re- 

 present the extremes on either side; as a general rule a yield of from 

 1,75 to 2,25% may be expected, calculated on green material. The crude 

 oil contains from 75 to 80% pure camphor, which thus equals an output 

 of from 1,35 to 1,50%, calculated on green material. This yield may 

 be increased by trimming the trees, and especially by growing them in 

 hedges. To such an extent is it possible to increase this yield, that the 

 output obtained up to the present from hedge rows grown at distances of 

 15 feet (space between the separate trees 6 feet; height of the trees 8 feet), 

 amounted for each of the two trimmings which were made yearly to 8000 lbs. 

 of green material per acre, corresponding to a total yield of pure camphor 

 of from 175 to 200 lbs. yearly. The planting of camphor trees is speci- 

 ally recommended on light, sandy soil, such as is found in many parts 

 of the Southern States, especially in Florida. At the same time it is 

 desirable, in view of the high cost of transport, to erect a distillery, and 

 if possible also a refinery, in immediate vicinity to the plantation. In 

 order to keep such a plant going rationally a plantation of at least 

 200 acres is required. The cost of production calculated per pound is 

 of course less when operations are conducted on a large scale, and it 

 may be assumed that a plantation of 500 acres would be sufficient to 

 warrant the production of camphor at the lowest possible price. 



In our Reports of October 1906, p. 20, and April 1907, p. 22, we 

 mentioned the results of an examination of a sample of camphor oil from 

 German East Africa, which had been forwarded to us by the Imperial 



J ) Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter 79 (1911), No. 22, p. 41. 



