346 



[April 1908. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



CAMPHOR CULTIVATION IN 

 CEYLON. . 

 {Illustrated,) 

 By H. F, Macmillan. 



Camphor has now taken its place 

 amongst the minor products of Ceylon, 

 as will be seen from the accompanying 

 photograph of an upcountry flourishing 

 Camphor plantation. It is now about 

 15 years since the possibility of Camphor 

 cultivation as an industry for Ceylon 

 claimed the special attention of the 

 Botanic Department. At that time the 

 Superintendent of Hakgala Gardens, 

 Mr. W. Nock, was enthusiastic in extol- 

 ling its merits, and by practical demon- 

 stration of the suitability of the tree to 

 our upcountry climate, as well as of its 

 yield of camphor, succeeded in interest- 

 ing a good many planters in the new 

 product. From that time forward a 

 large number of plants have been regu- 

 larly raised at Hakgala from imported 

 seed (and latterly from root-cuttinss) 

 and distributed to planters in dif- 

 ferent parts of the Island, but chiefly 

 at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. 

 During the last few years many planters 

 and firms have themselves imported seed 

 direct from Japan, and notwithstand- 

 ing the difficulty frequently expe- 

 rienced in obtaining good seed aud 

 the heavy expenses and disappoint- 

 ment incurred in the failure of almost 

 whole consignments to germinate, they 

 have persistently repeated orders and 

 importations, so that at the present 

 time a good number of estates may 

 be found with well-established areas 

 under this product. Some of these are 

 now at a yielding stage, and I am in- 

 formed that a certain appreciable amount 

 of locally-manufactured camphor is now 

 exported, showing, I believe, good 

 returns. 



Camphor is found to thrive at moder- 

 ate to high elevations, being suited to 

 ravines or wind-blown hill crests where 

 scarcely anything else will succeed ; 

 although it may also be grown at almost 

 sea-level, it can hardly be said to flourish 

 under 2,000 feet. Apart from consider- 

 ations of yield, the Camphor tree is well 

 adapted for shading road-sides and form- 

 ing wind-belts, the latter affording 

 shelter for tea or other smaller growing 

 crops. It is naturally a dense bushy 

 evergreen tree, furnished with branches 

 to the base ; left to itself it grows to a 

 height of 40 feet or more. In cultivation, 

 however, according to the modern 

 method, the plants are coppiced and 

 kept at a convenient height of about 

 4 or 5 feet, 



The plantation shown in the accom- 

 panying photograph is five years old, 

 theqplauts having been raised from seed 

 imported by the owner direct from 

 Yokohama. These have been planted out 

 at a distance of 8 feet by 4 feet apart, in 

 patna land at an elevation of about 4,500 

 feet. Being primarily of the nature of an 

 experiment the trees were allowed to run 

 up to a height of 15 to 18 feet, when they 

 were cut down to 4 feet, the prunings 

 obtained thereby yielding at the rate of 

 about 60 lb. of camphor to the acre. The 

 coppiced trees have since been clipped 

 with a hedge shears after an interval of 

 about five months, and yielded approxi- 

 mately at the rate of 50 lb. per acre. 

 The Superintendent has since learned 

 from experience that it is best not to 

 allow the trees to run up to such a 

 height, but to top them when about 3A 

 years old. He considers that when the 

 bushes are well formed they may be 

 clipped at least 3 or 4 times a year, 

 judging by the rate at which they are 

 now flushing. 



Clippings obtained from Hakgala 

 Gardens about 6 years asro yielded upon 

 distillation experiments by Mr. Kelway 

 Bamber at the rate of "75 to 1 per cent, 

 of camphor and from 27 to 34 per cent, 

 of camphor oil. Mr. W. Nock estimated 

 that on an average 14 lb. of clippings per 

 annum could be obtained from each 

 bush. This would work out at about 

 190 lb. made camphor per acre, i.e., 

 reckoning on the trees being plauted 8 

 feet by 4 feet apart, which would give 

 1,360 trees to the acre. 



SCHOOL GARDENS. 



(Illustrated.) 

 By H. F. Macmillan. 



That the School Gardens in Ceylon are 

 doing good work, both by example and 

 precept, is now generally recognised. 

 The accompanying photograph shows 

 only a corner of a flourishing garden at a 

 lowcountry Buddhist vernacular school. 

 Here the head-teacher and his assistants 

 work with the boys for a certain speci- 

 fied time, showing plainly that there is 

 no degradation in doing so. The boys 

 too seem to enjoy the relaxation that 

 work in the garden affords from the 

 class-room, aud are thus taught to look 

 upon physical work as an enjoyment 

 rather than drudgery. Tne School 

 Gardens have recently undergone a 

 thorough inspection by their Superin- 

 tendent, Mr. C. Drieberg, with Dr. 

 Willis, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens. 



