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perceptible contribution to the World's requirements in camphor was to 

 be expected. The camphor tree does not flourish in the coast region, 

 but it does well in the mountainous districts of the Island, at altitudes 

 between 2 500 and 8 000 feet. The yield of camphor from a cultivated 

 area of from 15 to 20000 acres is estimated at 8000000 lbs., which 

 according to most authorities is the quantity needed to supply the 

 World's requirements, and hopes are entertained in Ceylon that, within 

 the course of a few years, more camphor will be produced in the 

 Island than is consumed on the entire globe at the present time. 

 Among planters, the rapid growth of the branches of the camphor 

 trees is regarded as the cause of the pre-eminence of Ceylon over 

 other camphor-producing countries. The cost of producing natural 

 camphor in Ceylon is estimated to be considerably lower, weight for 

 weight, than the cost of the American synthetic product from oil of 

 turpentine. The first experiments of cultivation in Ceylon were made 

 by the Government with Japanese camphor seed, and the mode of 

 cultivation consists in allowing the tree to reach a height of 40 ft. 

 (which it does in about 3Y2 years), when it is cut down to 4 or 5 ft. 

 With this object in view the trees are pruned every 4 and sometimes 

 every 3 months. The trees are planted at distances of 4x8 ft., which 

 gives 1360 trees to the acre. Experiments of distillation made with 

 the wood cut from an acre of ground, produced 190 lbs. of camphor. 

 One planter maintains that he has obtained a particularly high yield 

 of camphor by pressing the branches instead of distilling them. But 

 although he vouched for the truth of this statement, he . refused to 

 disclose any particulars as to the process. 



The Official Customs Statistics indicate that in 1907 a parcel of 

 camphor weighing 562 lbs. was exported from Ceylon, and it is in- 

 ferred from this that the quantities to be exported annually in the future 

 will increase in geometrical proportion. 



An American expert, Prof. Hilgard 1 ), has written on the subject 

 of the question of the cultivation of camphor trees in the United 

 States, his paper being a sequel to that of Riviere which was discussed 

 by us at the time 2 ) and which takes the same view. Prof. Hilgard 

 has made enquiries from the experts in the Agricultural Department 

 at Washington and in the Southern States of the U.S., as to the 

 prospects of camphor cultivation. The first-named Authorities informed 

 him that although the Government had made experiments in the growing 

 of camphor trees in its Southern Experimental Stations, it doubted greatly 

 in the financial success of such an undertaking, and for this reason it 



*) Journ. <T Agriculture tropicale 8 (1908), 360. 

 *) Report November 1908, 36. 



