Commercial and scientific notes on essential oils. • 15 



As stated already in previous Reports, the Japanese Monopoly Board had started 

 since 1900 planting camphor trees on a large scale, hoping for a great success 1 ). But 

 in 1918 it is admitted that the expectations to be able to obtain camphor from the 

 leaves had not been fulfilled and that the camphor obtained from young trunks was 

 not satisfactory. The yield to be obtained from the planted camphor trees, even in 

 another 10 to 15 years, will most likely not be so considerable either, as generally 

 pretended. The trees will by then be about 35 years old, whereas the highest yield is 

 not arrived at till they are 60 years old. 



Formosa exported 6927000 lbs. of camphor in 1895, compared with 7860000 lbs. 

 in 1913, and the following table shows the exports for the years 1915—1919. 



Production and Export of Formosan Camphor 







to the United States 



to Europe 



to Japan 



1915/16 . . 



. 10389521 lbs. 



4211766 lbs. 



1 798277 lbs. 



4379478 lbs 



1916/17 . 



. 11506447 „ 



6525489 „ 



1726997 „ 



3253961 „ 



1917/18 . 



. 7945890 „ 



4129027 „ 



1045345 „ 



2771518 „ 



1918/19 . . 



. 6137732 „ 



2055188 „ 



913021 „ 



3169523 „ 



According to Com-merce Reports 1 ), it is supposed that the camphor production in 

 Formosa amounted to 6 million lbs., from April 1 st 1920 to March 31 st 1921, exceeding 

 that of the previous year by 275000 lbs. The export, which in July 1920 amounted to 

 480000 lbs., rose till March 1911 to 600000 lbs. monthly. In the expectation that the 

 celluloid industry will revive as soon as the present stocks will have been cleared, 

 the Monopoly Board means to increase gradually the quantity of camphor produced. 

 Already towards the end of the Chinese administration in Formosa, there existed a 

 monopoly for camphor, but as it sustained considerable losses, owing to its reckless 

 exploitation and inadequate methods of production, an own monopoly system was 

 created for the island in 1899. In 1903 a joint Monopoly Act was passed for Japan 

 and Formosa. 



The number of camphor trees growing in the public and imperial forests of Formosa 

 is estimated at 12 millions, said to correspond to 2 l /2 (??) million cubic feet of wood. The 

 other camphor trees in Formosa, from 100 years of age upwards, are supposed to 

 represent 30 million cubic feet of wood, out of which 17500 tons of camphor and 

 12800 tons of camphor oil might be obtained 2 ). 



The Government spends 50000 yen annually for planting young camphor trees in 

 Formosa. More than 30000 acres have been planted, whereas in Japan proper there 

 are only 2000 acres with such plantations. The Government approved of a plan to 

 plant 5000 tsubo (1 tsubo = 2.5 acres) with camphor trees annually for 1 1 years from 

 1918, to protect all the wild trees and to reduce the export as much as possible. 



The production of camphor in Formosa is dealt with in two articles by H. J. Shepstone 3 ) 

 and A. B. Kirjassoff (''Formosa the beautiful")*). The illustrations regarding the whole 

 process of camphor production, as given in Kirjassoff's treatise, are specially interesting 

 and instructive. As Shepstone reports, there are nine tribes in Formosa, all of which 

 are hostile to each other, and the largest and most powerful is the Atayals, who number 

 about 30000, occupying an area of 2500 square miles in the northern part of the island, 

 much of which has never been explored. Head-hunting is the most glorious thing in 

 their lives, and a lad is not an adult until he secures a human head. The seriousness 



x ) Comp. Reports 1918, 12; 1919, 11. — 2 ) Deutsche Allgem. Ztg. According to Chem. Industrie 44 (1921), 

 413. — *) The WwWs Work, Oct. 1921. As per The Chemist and Druggist 95 (1921), 568. — *) The Notional 

 Vkographic Magazine 37 (1920), 241. 



