Oils and Fats. 



398 



[November, 1610 



were introduced, for its execution re- 

 quires a certain experience which only 

 trained chemists can be presumed to 

 possess. This fact would naturally cause 

 initial difficulties, yet in the interest of 

 the subject it would be desirable if a 

 method were discovered which would 

 enable the total geraniol determination 

 to be carried out generally. The best 

 plan of all would be if the Government 

 of Ceylon were to superintendent the 

 citronella oil business on the spot, as, 

 according to statements made some time 

 ago, appeared to be its intention. The 

 oils ought to be tested by Government 

 chemists and should only be allowed to 

 be exported if they contained at least 

 60% total geraniol.and if in other respects 

 also they conformed entirely to the tests 

 prescribed. An official certificate to this 

 effect should be given with each parcel 

 of oil tested and the exportation of all 

 oils without exception which failed to 

 answer the test should be prohibited. 

 We should regard it as a mistake if any 

 relaxations were to be made, and oils of 

 less than the standard quality were also 

 to be admitted for exportation, as was the 

 intention of the Ceylon Government in 

 1904. The rigorous enforcement of such 

 a regulation would probably be Attended 

 by the best results, as it would mean a 

 final removal of the evil and would once 

 more turn the citronella oil trade into 

 healthy channels. 



The proposal which is made by Parry 

 in a lengthy article on Ceylon citronella 

 oil also deserves careful attention. He 

 suggests that dealings in the oil should 

 simply be made on the basis of its 

 content of total geraniol, in the manner 

 which has long been applied with success 

 to cassia oil and lemon grass oil in respect 

 of their aldehyde content. By establish- 

 ing this principle, each oil would be sold 

 according to its intrinsic value, and 

 there would then be very little object in 

 adulterating it. Parry gives the content 

 of total geraniol of the best Ceylon oils 

 as from 77 to 83%. 



In connection with this matter, Parry 

 also refers to Schimmel's Raised Test, 

 but in the course of his statements he 

 makes the mistakes of declaring that 

 the oil, when diluted with 10% of pet- 

 roleum, should be tested for solubility 

 in 80% alcohol. This statement requires 

 correction to the meaning that the oil, 

 when 5% of Russian petroleum has been 

 added to it, should pass the ordinary 

 test. 



According to A. J. Ultee several oil- 

 yielding grasses, especially Cymbopogon 

 Nardus, C citratus, C. Martini, and 

 Vetiveria zizanioid are grown in the 

 Botanical Garden at Salatiga (S. E. of 

 Buitenzorg, Java). The most impotant 

 of these is C. Nardus, or citronella grass, 

 As the altitude of Salatiga is consider- 

 ably above that of Buitenzorg, Ultee 

 made experiments for the purpose of 

 ascertaining whether this difference in- 

 fluences the character of the oils- He 

 obtained by distillation 0,66% of an 

 almost colourless oil with the following 

 constants : d29° 0,8721, aD— 315, total- 

 geraniol (calculated by de Jong's method) 

 92,75%, soluble in 1,5 vols and more of 80 

 per cent, alcohol, The oil was dis- 

 tinguishable from the Buitenzorg dis- 

 tillates in the first place by its greater 

 solubility, for according to de Jong the 

 Buitenzorg oil only gave a clear solution 

 with 3 vols, of 80% alcohol, which be- 

 came cloudy when diluted to over 4 vols. 

 As Ultee only obtained an oil yield 

 of 0,060%, whereas in Buitenzorg the 

 yield ranged from 0,5 to 0,9%, experi- 

 ments were made at Salatiga to ascertain 

 whether the oil content of the grass 

 could be raised by suitable fertilising. 

 Out of four experimental fields, three 

 were treated for this purpose with 

 differently composed artificial manures. 

 The grass was cut after 10 weeks and 

 equal quantities of it distilled in an 

 exactly similar manner. The oil yields 

 obtained ranged from 0,60 to 0,65%, 

 showing that manuring had not affected 

 the oil content of the grass. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



HOW RICE IS GROWN. 



By Frank L. Perrin, 



(From the Louisiana Planter and Sugar 

 Manufacturer, Vol. XLV., No. 10, 



September 3, 1910.) 

 In the rice fields in the Grand Prairie 

 and lesser prairies of Arkansas may be 

 seen the most convincing and most 

 highly remunerative exemplification of 



a theory. It is one thing to talk of 

 going back to the soil, but quite another 

 thing to go. Actual results obtained 

 and practical successes achieved in that 

 section within the past six or seven 

 years have more than verified the predic- 

 tion that there will never be any great 

 alarm felt regarding the future cereal 

 supply. No one would have believed it, 

 had he been told a decade ago, that 

 Arkansas prairie lands, by a simple and 

 inexpensive process, would be made the 



