cs Cc AONE hata her be 6 Sle wi rh eh i 
i RN MN ad a BCR di : 
. . ”) - , 
ia 
64 . REPORT OF SCHIMMEL & Co. APRIL 1914. 
at a loss. Other factors have long ceased to determine the course of prices. Since . 
is has become known that before long Morocco may be expected to supply large 
quantities of geranium oil a certain feeling of nervousness has seized the middlemen, 
most of whom have made contracts for several years ahead at firm and high prices, 
and occasionally we find that our customers are in receipt of quotations, even for 
moderate quantities, which indicate anxiety to sell as much as possible of the 
quantities contracted for at rates which will leave any profit at all. The reports of 
prospective or actual. crop-failures which are spread from time to time have been 
unable to effect any change in the tendency, and the result is that it is possible at 
the present time to buy African geranium oil, according to the opinion held of the 
market by the speculator concerned, at practically any price. Naturally it is the 
consumers who profit by a state of things which is extremely disagreeable for the 
middlemen. 
The exports of African geranium oil from Migena have been as follows: — 
1913 2 .f 3) 38400" kilos 
LOT2 eve 20 9OOl ey 
LOT ene BAN 2O OOO rainy 
Prices of Réunion geranium oil have suffered an enormous decline within the 
ast few months; in September 1913 the quotation was 70.— fcs., whereas within the 
last few weeks some business has been done at 33.— fcs. The unsatisfactory condition 
of the African geranium oil market and the corresponding decrease in the demand 
for Réunion oil is probably the principal cause for this decline. The figure of 33.— fes. 
appears, however, to have been regarded in a certain quarter as worthy of speculative 
operations, for we hear that a firm which has long made it its pride to disturb the 
market from time to time by special coups has bought up large quantities in Réunion 
at this price, and has thereby brought about a stiffening of the market. As the cyclone- 
season is said to have passed this time without causing damage to the plantations, 
this firmness will probably only be prolonged if the firm in question continues its 
purchases for a long time. 
According to the Chamber of Commerce at St.-Denis, the exports of Réunion 
geranium oil in the year 1913 amounted to 37614 kilos, compared with 43138 kilos 
in the year 1912. 
From an article by E. Charabot and C. L. Gatin*) on the cultivation of the geranium 
plant we cull the following particulars in amplification of our previous statements’). 
According to the authors above named, several other species besides Pelargonium 
graveolens, Ait. are grown for purposes of geranium oil distillation. _ 
On the Island of Réunion irrigation of the plants is practised. This, it is true, 
‘secures a more regular development, but on the other hand it reduces the oil-content 
of the plants.. Crops are gathered on the island throughout the year; from 1000 to 
1800 kilos of the herb are needed to produce 1 kilo of oil (= 0,56 to 0,1 p.c.) which 
equals a yield of from 30 to 50 kilos per hectare (= about 14*/2 to 24 lbs. per acre). 
In Réunion and in Algeria almost every plantation has its own still, a contrivance 
of very simple construction, with a false bottom. 
In Algeria the preparation of geranium oil has fallen off very much in the course 
of the last few years. Charabot and Gatin ascribe this fact to the speculation which 
1) Journ. ad’ Agriculture tropicale 12 en 289. — *) Comp. Report April 1907, 54; October 1910, 70; 
October 1918, 61. ; a! Pris uh + tau 
