Oils and Fats. 



8 



[January, 1910. 



in well-drained seed boxes and later 

 transplanted. The seeds are taken from 

 the fruit when it is perfectly ripe ; and 

 washed to free them from the sugary- 

 pulp which would attract ants and 

 result in irregularities in germination. 

 The plants sprout in from forty to 

 sixty days, being sprinkled twice a 

 day, After the plants are a month old 

 they are transplanted into a shaded 

 nursery and spaced at 20 centimeters, or, 

 as is preferable, placed separately in 

 cornucopias made of the leaves of Pan- 

 danas utilis to serve as flowerpots, or 

 in bamboo pots which are protected by 

 shelters made of palm leaves. The 

 sprinklings are continued as before, and 

 in two months the young trees are 25 or 

 30 centimeteres high, and worth 40 

 francs per thousand, pots included. 



Planting. — The permanent planting 

 is made on clean ground, the trees are 

 placed 4 or 5 meters apart, in holes 50 

 centimeters in diameter three-quarters 

 filled with vegetable mold or manure 

 and good earth. By following this 

 scheme of planting five or six hundred 

 trees can be planted to a hectare. 



During the first years it will be found 

 necessary to keep the soil clean between 

 the trees. The crops that can be raised 

 in this way will more than pay for 

 the trouble. In order to encourage the 

 growth of the lateral branches, and 

 by this means produce flowers that are 

 more accessible, the trees are topped 

 at a height of 2£ or 3 meters. 



In the third year there may be a 

 crop of flowers that will bring 150 or 

 500 francs per hectare. This return 

 will increase rapidly, and the period 

 of full bearing will last eight or ten 

 years. 



Gathering the Flowers. 



In Reunion the harvest lasts from 

 May to September. The work is done 

 by women and children, who are careful 

 to detach only full-blown flowers, and 

 those of a clear yellow colour. At the 

 height of the flowering season the trees 

 are gone over every two or three days, 

 and the process of distillation can go 

 on almost without interruption. Fresh 

 flowers give the best essence. 



Under these conditions, says M- Martin 

 de Flacourt; 1 hectare regularly planted 

 should furnish 3 or 4 kilograms of 

 essence per year, estimating that from 

 50 to 64 kilograms of fresh flowers will 

 yield 1 kilogram of essence. The cost 

 of distilling varies with the country, 

 depending upon the equipment in use, 

 the price of labour, and the cost of fuel. 

 The price, fixed at 22 to 30 francs per 

 kilogram of essence for Reunion, rises 



to 20 francs per pound in the Philip- 

 pines, and 4 fiancs 65 centimes per 

 ounce in Jamaica. 



In Manila, the distillers, who are all 

 Germans, buy the flowers from the 

 native inhabitants at the rate of from 

 1 franc to 1 franc 50 centimes per pound. 

 The picking is brought in the morning 

 in order to subject the flowers to the 

 vapour as early in the day as possible. 

 In the period from July to December 

 the trees furnish the best product, often 

 averaging 100 pounds of flowers to the 

 tree. It requires from 80 to 200 pounds 

 of flowers to make one pound of essence. 



Under present market conditions the 

 raising of ylang-ylang of a superior 

 quality would be remunerative, even 

 though the yield might not exceed 3 

 or 4 kilograms per hectare. But it 

 would be necessary to consider, before 

 setting out new plantations, that the 

 product is one for which the market 

 is rather limited, that the synthetic 

 essence is to be reckoned with, and that 

 there are many young plantations that 

 are coming on to increase the present 

 supply of the market. These facts de- 

 mand serious consideration, especially 

 when it is a question of undertaking 

 the culture on a large scale. 



SOME NOTES ON VARIOUS OIL 

 AND FIBRE-PRODUCING PLANTS. 



By S. H. Boyle. 



(From the Transvaal Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. VIII., October, 1909, No. 29.) 



Having been engaged recently < in 

 investigating the conditions governing 

 the production of oil seeds in the 

 Transvaal, with the object of discover- 

 ing the chances of success which an oil 

 factory would meet with, the following 

 notes may prove to be of some interest 

 to agriculturists in the Transvaal. These 

 investigations were instituted with the 

 idea of finding out to what extent oil 

 seeds were grown at the present time ; 

 whether the results so far had been 

 satisfactory, and what varieties of seed 

 seemed to be most profitably grown, 

 while methods of cultivation, value of 

 by-products, and other kindred ques- 

 tions were not omitted. The existing 

 soap and candle factories provide a 

 market for oil seeds of certain sorts ; 

 and this market is likely to be largely 

 increased by the establishment in South 

 Africa of branches of other great manu- 

 facturing firms. The farmer will thus 

 probably benefit by being able to obtain 

 better prices than heretofore, on ac- 



