. 8 



MANUFACTURE OF CASTOR OIL. 



The following letter shows that Jamaica can compete with India in this manufacture. 



"You will remember the sample of Castor oil I showed you in the Exhibition. Only a few Jweeks 

 ago I sold my first oil to the St. Cruz Hospital at the rate of 7£d per lb. delivered in the Hospital. 

 The Oil kept very well, which only shows that our Castor oil seeds, manufactured in the way you 

 directed me* are as good as the East Indian ones, and much better than those grown in America. 

 Mv Oil was clearer than the Hospital Oil in Kingston, which Mr. Foster showed me.' 



Carl Hindermann. 



LOGWOOD. 



The following questions were submitted by a correspondent in the United States, and the answers 

 were very kindly furnished by C. W. Treleaven, Esq., Bogue, who has done so much in the way of re- 

 gular cultivation of this tree. 



Logwood. 



Questions. Answers. 



1. At what time and age of the tree is the best 1. I believe any time after fifteen years. 



product obtained ? 



2. Is there any provision taken for propagating 2. Logwood seeds grow very readily and where 

 the trees so that they will not be exterminated? trees are plentiful no supplies are ever needed, as 



the ground is generally thickly covered with 

 young seedlings which when a year or two old 

 require to be thinned and trimmed, common bush 

 and trees to be exterminated ; provided this rule 

 is followed there will always be plenty of trees to 

 take the place of those cut for export. Even two 

 or three trees will throw seed quite sufficient to 

 cover a large run of land — the seed grows better 

 when scattered on the surface and not covered 

 with earth. 



3. Good black earth with clay subsoil at a depth 

 of not less than two feet. 



4. A very marked difference in the same local- 

 ity, the most plentiful being ordinary red logwood, 

 the less plentiful being of a very deep blue. The 

 latter very soon after being cut and chipped puts 



vii t* t li j .IvL Ijrounc alioon. T lioro ia nnotlior sort 



called by the chippers " white-wood" — this is of a 

 pale mahogany colour and has apparently less dye 

 than either of the others. 



5. Ripe trees when cut do not spring again from 

 the roqt-- the sap of the root gradually rots off, 

 the root is then dug and chipped for export. If a 

 very young tree is cut the root throws up a large 

 quantity of shoots. 



This Estate ranges from a little above sea-level 

 to an elevation of about two thousand feet — so far 

 as I have observed during a management of fifteen 

 years the best wood is grown below an elevation 

 of one thousand feet. 



3. The character of the soil upon which log- 

 wood, fustic, and red woods grow? 



4. Are there any marked differences in the 

 quality of the woods from different parts of the 

 Island ? 



5. In Morlet's travels in Central America there 

 is a description of the Haematoxylon Campechi- 

 anum which states that the trees send forth young 

 shoots, and as soon as the parent tree is cut down 

 a nursery of young plants springs up and thus 

 prevents the entire extermination of the species. 

 Can you inform me if this is correct ? 



CASUARINA. 



Casuarina equisetifolia, Forst. (C. muricata, Roxb.), is known as the Beef wood tree. It is fast 

 growing and yields excellent timber. It has been successfully established in large plantations in the 

 neighbourhood of Madras, and it thrives in poor sandy soil close to the sea. Colonel Campbell Walker,' 

 Conservator of Forests, Madras, estimates the yield of firewood from this tree for locomotives and other 

 purposes, to be four times as great as the return from any tree grown for the same purpose in France. 

 The timber, although somewhat heavy, is valuable also for building purposes. The tree is not attractive 

 in appearance on account of its thread-like jointed branches without leaves, but it withstands strong 

 winds, and it may be usefully employed if planted thickly, to form shelter-belts against sea breezes to 

 mask earth works and batteries, and even to drain somewhat boggy saline lands. In these respects it 

 is much superior to the Blue Gum tree (Eucalyptus Globulus) which is not at all suited to tropical con- 

 ditions. During the last two years efforts have been made to establish Casuarina trees on the West 

 Coast of Africa. Large supplies of seed have been received through the Indian Office from the Agri- 

 Horticultural Society of Madras, and the seed has been distributed from Kew to all the West African 

 settlements. 



Kctc Bulletin^ March, 1892. 



* Dircctiona in Bulletin, No. 14. 



