Commercial notes and scientific information. 37 



No further official statistics on the camphor production in Formosa are at our 

 disposal, but in a Report by the British Consul 1 ) at Tamsui we find a statement according 

 to which the Monopoly Bureau estimated the output of refined camphor in Formosa 

 during the year 1911 at 7 267 000 lbs. 



The exports of camphor from Formosa 1911 amounted to 5613 718 lbs., of which 

 2 374 666 lbs. went to Germany, 2 039 500 lbs. to the United States, 562 267 lbs. to 

 France and 472000 lbs. to the United Kingdom. The exports showed a reduction of 

 872554 lbs. compared with those of the previous year. 



Further statistics relating to the camphor exports from Formosa are given on 

 p. 193 of the Annual referred to: — 





Camphor 





Camphor 





Yen 





Yen 



1902 



2849132 



1907 



2619143 



1903 



2518305 



1908 



1710493 



1904 



2199320 



1909 



4377816 



1905 



2052933 



1910 



3932750 



1906 



2222729 



1911 



3463208 



Both in this Report and in one of the Diplomatic and Consular Reports' 2 ) there are 

 references to the distillation of camphor leaves, which it is intended to take up in 

 Formosa quite shortly. The leaves of young trees are collected for this purpose. 

 Leaves without branches give the best results: 1,3 p. c. camphor and 0,4 p.c. camphor 

 oil. It is the intention, beginning with the years 1913 and 1914, to plant for 12 years 

 in succession about 3000 acres yearly with young camphor trees. At the end of that 

 time it is estimated that the annual production of the area planted will be about 

 6500000 lbs. of camphor and the same quantity of camphor oil. Possibly the project 

 of these plantations may be due to an impending shortage of distilling material, to 

 which reference is made in a Dutch official journal 3 ). It is there said that the pro- 

 spects of the camphor industry in Formosa are rather bad. The camphor forests in 

 the interior, far from being almost inexhaustible, as was formerly assumed, will only be 

 able to produce camphor for about 20 years at the longest. The experience of planting 

 has been bad. The belief that the trees would commence to yield after 7 or 8 years 

 and would be full-grown in about 30 years has not been confirmed. On the other 

 hand, the camphor-forests in Southern China are much more extensive than had 

 hitherto been thought, and it is anticipated that as soon as order has been restored 

 in China the camphor-production of that country will rule the market of the world. 



From a communication to the Chemische Industrie*) we also learn that camphor 

 refining on a large scale has been commenced at Taikolen, the capital of Formosa, 

 whereas formerly all the crude camphor was shipped by the State Monopoly Bureau of 

 the Island of Formosa to private refineries in Japan. Since September 1911 1000000 lbs. 

 have already been refined at Taikolen in works fitted out with modern plant, and it 

 is expected that five times this quantity will be produced in the fiscal year ending 

 March 1 st , 1913. Probably the improvements of the refining industry to which reference 

 is made in the afore-mentioned Report of the British Consul at Tamsui apply to this 

 project. It is said there that at present the oil-yield is 48 p. c, from which a camphor 

 of 93 p. c. purity is prepared. 



*) Board of Trade Journal 78 (1912), No. 824, p. 632. — Chem. Industrie 35 (1912), 685. - 2 ) No. 49^0 

 September 1912, p. 12. — 3 ) HandeJsberichten (the Hague) 6 (1912), 553. — *) Chem. Industrie 35 (1912), 55t\ 



