164 



Andropogon Nardus, Linn. The Citronella. This grass grows 

 througliout the hotter parts of India, Burma, the Malay Peninsula 

 and Ceylon, wild or cultivated. In its common form it is difficult to 

 distinguish this grass from the narrow-leaved form of A. Schoenanthus. 

 In Jamaica, so far, the two grasses are quite distinct in appearance 

 A. Schoenanthus grows in dense tufts, the leaves perfectly erect j 

 whereas A. Nardus grows in rather loose, straggling tufts, and the 

 leaves bend over. As cultivated in Ceylon, A Nardus often rises to a 

 height of 6 or 8 feet. 



Oil. — The leaves are distilled with water, and yield over 3 ounces 

 of essential oil from Icwt, The pure oil is thin and colourless, with a 

 strong aromatic odour, and an acrid, citron-like flavour. The average 

 exportation of citronella from Colombo is about 40,0001bs., valued at 

 £8,000. 



Cultivation of the grass and distillation of Citronella Oil. : In Cey- 

 lon the citronella grass is raised from seeds, and planted like Gruinea 

 grass, and will give two or three crops a year. When fit to cut, 

 the grass is carried to a large boiler and the oil is distilled. It is 

 estimated to give about three dozen bottles of oil to the acre, but the 

 demand is limited, and the price fluctuates from 2/6 to 4/6 per bottle. 

 At the latter price it pays handsomely, while at the former, it little 

 more than covers expenditure. A Still, capable of turning out a 

 dozen bottles a day, costs £300. 



Medicine. — The essential oil of citronella is regarded as officinal by 

 the Indian Pharmacopoeia. In its properties it closly approaches that 

 from the " lemon grass. 



Paper Fibre. — In extracting oil from the grass, it is boiled or sub- 

 jected to steam, under pressure, and as this is one of the first opera- 

 tions to which the raw material is subjected in paper manufacture, 

 grass which has thus been treated should be much more easily 

 utilised than material not previously boiled. Citronella grass, like 

 Esparto, can be supplied entirely free from knots, which is a great 

 advantage in paper manufacture. 



KOLA NUT. 



Dr. P. Preuss, Director of the Botanical Grardens at Victoria, Ger- 

 man Cameroons, West Africa, who has lately been on a visit to Ja- 

 maica, informed us that the Kola grown here is the Cola vera referred 

 to below, and is very much finer than any he has ever seen in Africa. 



Hitherto our Kola has been referred to Cola acuminata, which is, 

 apparently, quite a different tree. 



The following note* on the subject may be of interest to cultivators 

 of Kola in Jamaica. W. H. 



" The kola nuts in commerce have for some time puzzled botanists 

 and pharmacognosists on account of their variation in colour and form. 

 Evidence has not hitherto been forthcoming to show whether these 



* E. L. Holmes, F.L.S., in the Pharmaceutical Journal, 23rd June, 1900. 



