May 1908.] 



421 



Saps and Exudations. 



was then declared that Japan and China 

 only produced negligible quantities, most 

 of the trees having been destroyed. 

 Subsequent events proved that the law 

 of supply and demand operates in 

 camphor as in other products for as soon 

 as the Formosan monopoly advanced 

 prices, the output from Japan began to 

 increase, as is proved by the fact that in 

 1896 the exports from Japan were only 

 1,600,000 kin (1— U lb.), valued at £111,000, 

 whereas two years after the mono- 

 poly had been established the exports 

 rose to 4,160,000 kin, valued at £390,000. 

 This local competition decreased the 

 export of monopoly camphor, as in 1896 

 the shipments of the Formosan product 

 were 4,390,000 kin, valued at £224,000, but 

 in 1901 they declined to 870,000 kin, valued 

 at £78,000. In 1908 it was determined to 

 extend the monopoly to Japan itself, and 

 after some delay the necessary law was 

 passed. Meanwhile the high prices 

 stimulated the production in China, and 

 to-day monopoly camphor suffers materi- 

 ally from competition with the Chinese 

 product, there being a difference of about 

 30s. per cwt. between ordinary China 

 crude camphor and the monopoly "B" 

 grade. Last year the producers in South 

 China were hard hit owing to the heavy 

 decline in price, but in spite of this it is 

 estimated that the total output for 1907 

 reached about four million kin. It is 

 therefore evident that with the increas- 

 ing production of camphor, Japan has 

 lost the controlling power of arbitrarily 

 fixing the price, added to which the com- 

 petition with synthetic camphor is be- 

 coming keener. Some years ago we ques- 

 tioned the legality of the action of the 

 Japanese Government in instituting a 

 monopoly as an unwarrantable inter- 

 ference in the field of legitimate enter- 

 prise, and we are not surprised to learn 

 that the whole question of Government 

 monopolies is beginning to excite dis- 

 satisfaction in Japan, it may be urged 

 that Japan intervened to save an 

 apparently dying industry in Formosa, 

 but this policy has been subordinated to 

 obtaining a large amount of revenue at 

 the expense of an article cf everyday 

 consumption. — Chemist and Druggist, 

 Vol. LXXII, February 15, 1908. 



LEMONGRASS OIL. 



Mr. A. M. Sawyer writes in the 

 Indian Hevieiv : — On the soft red earths 

 and dark brown clays that overlie for- 

 mations of granite and gneiss on the 

 lower outer Western Ghats, the Lemon- 

 grass (Andropogon citratus) instals 

 itself in isolated and imposing clumps. 

 Over the major portion of the dry 

 open forests skirting the feet of the 

 nethermost ranges, though still sporadic, 



it is fairly abundant ; while on the roll- 

 ing grounds and grass-lands lying be- 

 tween their spurs and the sandy sea- 

 shore, it occurs in close and extensive 

 patches. Like every other graminaceous 

 plant, the species is a lover of heat and 

 light, — a predilection which accounts 

 for the fact of its being most at home 

 in situations enjoying the greatest 

 warmth and sunshine. On the Western 

 Ghats, as in most other hill-tracts lying 

 to the north of the equatorial line, these 

 conditions of heat and light are pre- 

 sented chiefly by aspects or slopes that 

 face in easterly and southerly directions. 

 The extent of its distribution and the 

 luxuriance of its growth are, however, 

 also determined and influenced to a 

 considerable degree by the monsoon 

 rains that drench the ghats. The great, 

 though only, disadvantage attaching to 

 the prevalence of so forcing a climate 

 upon the grass consists in the circum- 

 stance that its blades though larger, 

 develop fewer glands and secrete less 

 oil than when it is grown under atmos- 

 pheres that are comparatively dry. 

 The special significance of this interest- 

 ing feature becomes apparent when it 

 comes to be known that, in the artificial 

 culture of the species in plantations, it 

 helps to determine the selection of sites ; 

 for to obtain from the grass, in its 

 highest condition, the greatest quantity 

 of the oil which it yields, it requires to 

 be grown in dry localities. In regard to 

 the rest, its accommodating nature in res- 

 pect of soil requirements, coupled with 

 its shallow and somewhat circumscribed 

 root system, marks it as fitted for cultiva- 

 tion upon land of even average fertility 

 and moderate tilth. Open land, freed 

 from jungle and weeds, ploughed or 

 hoed over once or twice, and laid out in 

 shallow trenches manured with wood 

 ashes, cattle droppings, and what not, 

 Avould admirably serve the purposes of a 

 plantation. A cheap but serviceable 

 live-hedge or fence should protect the 

 area against cattle trespass and grazing ; 

 while a clean fire line of suitable width, 

 by skirting the farm on the outside of 

 the fence, would afford it the requisite 

 immunity from fire. Without these pre- 

 cautions, particularly fire protection, it 

 would be difficult to establish and main- 

 tain the crop. A light bamboo or wattle 

 fence consistent with strength, would 

 be the most economical for a grass farm ; 

 while a fixe line at least ten feet wide 

 would be necessary to meet the demands 

 of fire protection, Lemon grass, how- 

 ever, successfully survives not only graz- 

 ing but also fire ; the habitat of the 

 species is, in fact, wherever accessible, 

 grazed over by cattle and is exposed to 

 the ravages of annual fires. Indeed 

 some foresters incline to the belief that 



