May 1908.] 



428 



Saps aud Exudations. 



This estimate, though apparently low, 

 is nevertheless liberal enough to meet 

 the exigencies of establishing a oue acre 

 plantation and maintaining it to exploit- 

 able age in most of the districts of the 

 Madras Presidency. The special advant- 

 ages offered by that region for the 

 farming of lemon grass on a large 

 scale appear to the writer to be the 

 following :— 



1. The vast extent and availability 

 of land suitable for the growth and 

 economic development of the speciefi. 



2. The dry climate of the interior and 

 coast districts with just a sufficiency of 

 rain during the North-East monsoon 

 to meet the requirements of the species 

 in respect of oil-production. 



3. The comparatively low assessment 

 on waste lands. 



4. The abundance of cheap resident 

 labour. 



5. The presence of large and wealthy 

 landholders and the facilities for co- 

 operation offered by the Government. 



Economically regarded, Lemon grass 

 oil is one of the most important of trop- 

 ical oils. In Ceylon, Malaya, and else- 

 where in the East its extensive cultiva- 

 tion and the extraction of its oil have 

 already resulted in the accumulation of 

 much wealth to the planter ; while, the 

 ever-increasing demands for the product 

 in the manufacture of soaps (e.g. Vino- 

 lia), scents (e.g., ' Rhine Violets') toilet 

 waters (e.g., 'Eau-de-Cologne') and 

 the like, point to the conclusion that 

 its extended cultivation throughout the 

 regions indicated above would lead 

 to the establishment, in a few years, of 

 an important and most lucrative in- 

 dustry there. Of the large indicated 

 profit of Rs. 1,000 per acre in the first 

 years of working, considerably over half 

 would be absorbed in the expenditure 

 incidental to the setting up and mani- 

 pulation of suitable plant, such as 



steam still &c. to destil the product. 

 Thereafter, however, the profits would 

 be higher, It must also be evident that 

 the expenditure in the formation and 

 maintenance of a plantation of greater 

 extent would be relatively less than 

 that calculated iipon. In any case, it 

 would by no means be unsafe to anti- 

 cipate a profit of Rs. 500 per acre per 

 annum from Lemon grass fanning any- 

 where in the Madras Presidency, so 

 long as the specially favorable condi- 

 tions for its cultivation, as indicated 

 above, continue to endure.— [77ie Indian 

 Agriculturist, Vol. XXXIII. No. 1. Jan. 

 1908. 



[This is a somewhat sanquine view to 

 take. Most people here agree that 

 with the fall in price of late, there 

 is very little profit in this culti- 

 vation. — Ed.] 



THE WAX-PALM. 



( Co pernicia Cerijera). 



By A. Zimmermam : abstracted 

 by J. C. Willis. 



The palm is a native of Brazil, growing 

 to a height of 40 feet, with fan-shaped 

 leaves. It lives in a widely diversified 

 area, but succeeds best in Ceara, which 

 has a dry season of six months. It has 

 not been cultivated, but would likely 

 succeed at 15 feet apart. 



The wax of the leaves is sold under the 

 name Carnauba wax ; it covers both 

 sides, but chiefly the upper, of the leaf 

 as a thin film. The leaves are cut as 

 they unfold, one cooly being expected 

 to get 1,000 a day. The leaves are dried 

 in the sun with the upper surface down- 

 wards. The leaves are cut twice a 

 month in the dry seasou, and about 

 eight are obtained yearly from one palm 

 The dried leaves are beaten over a 

 carpet to loosen the wax. It is said that 

 3,500 leaves yield 15 kilos (34 lbs.) of wax. 



