Oils and Fats. 



116 



[August, 1908. 



According to the returns of the 

 Camphor Office at Nagasaki which com- 

 prises the districts Nagasaki and Saga, 

 the annual yield from these districts 

 amounts to about 160,000 kin ( = 100,000 

 kilos) and has consequently a capacity 

 only inferior to that of the Kagoshima 

 department which produces the largest 

 amount of camphor in Old Japan. The 

 production of Nagasaki is placed on the 

 market by the intermediary of the Kobe 

 office. The intention is to obtain 

 camphor also from the leaves, and also 

 to carry on the work, instead of by the 

 steam-distillation method, by a "more 

 simple" process, of which, however, 

 nothing further is said. 



In connection with this proposal to 

 make use of also the leaves of the tree 

 for the production of camphor, we com- 

 municate a criticism by Cayla. of a work 

 on the camphor-production from leaves 

 and young branches, which appeared in 

 the Agricultural News of 13th July, 1907. 

 It is said that the statement made in the 

 article referred to, that the camphor 

 made from the leaves and from the wood 

 is of equal quality, is, according to 

 earlier experiments by Hilgard in Cali- 

 fornia, not correct ; but in this case it 

 may have been a question of two 

 different varieties. In the data given of 

 the yields obtained, viz., 120 lbs. from 

 12i acres, Cayla misses an exact calcula- 

 tion which would shoAV whether the 

 process is remunerative. According to 

 experience obtained elsewhere, the pick- 

 ing of the leaves requires a good deal of 

 expensive labour ; moreover, the removal 

 of the foliage has a very unfavourable 

 influence on the condition of the trees in 

 the next following year. 



An Englishman residing in F'ormosa 

 communicates in Chambers' Journal the 

 impressions gained by him on this island, 

 and in the course of his description he 

 discusses the camphor-production there. 

 The camphor oil distilled on the spot in 

 the forests is shipped to Japan for 

 further treatment, whilst the crude 

 camphor is worked up at Taipeh 

 (Tamsui) into the quality brand A, whose 

 value on foreign markets is £10 14s. per 

 picul. The annual profit to the Japanese 

 Treasury amounts to from £300,000 to 

 £4.00,000. The camphor-labourers, whose 

 life and limb are in constant peril, 

 receive £3 per picul. The narrator 

 states that the subjection of the savages 

 is progressing, and that the complete 

 subjugation of the island is only a 

 question of time. 



With regard to the camphor-industry 

 in the South of China, we learn from a 

 Japanese source that, besides in the 

 province Fo-kien, camphor is also ob- 



tained in the adjacent provinces of 

 Kwang-si, Kwang-tung, Chi-kian Kiang- 



si, and Sze-chwang. 



The exports from Foochow in the first 

 half-year of 1907 amounted to 1,350,000 kin 

 (about 810 tons). According to a report 

 from the British Commercial Attache in 

 China, Sir Alexander Hosie, there are in 

 Foochow seventeen Chinese and several 

 Japanese refiners in full operation, where 

 the natural crude camphor oil produced in 

 the interior and put up in old petroleum 

 tins is worked up into camphor. In view 

 of the primitive installations described 

 by Sir Alexander, it is not surprising to 

 hear that for working out 50 % of cam- 

 phor, it is necessary to repeat the dis- 

 tillation 16 to 17 times. With regard to 

 the production, Sir Alexander makes the 

 following statements : — 



The total export from China altogether 

 was in 1906, 17,652 cwts. value £215,734 ; in 

 1905, 6,384 cwts., value £54,732. 



For 1907, the Japanese source mentions 

 a total export of 4,000,000 kin (in round 

 figures 2,400 tons). The export-figures of 

 Foochow have been communicated by us 

 in our last Report ; we add that camphor 

 oil was first of all exported via Foochow 

 in the year 1903, the figures being since 

 then : — 



1903 ... 624 cwts., value £ 993 



1904 ... 744 „ „ „ 1,380 



1905 ... 349 „ „ „ 600 



1906 ... 3,796 „ „ „ 8,344 



Of the camphor-production of the 

 province Kwang-si, 914 cwts. were 

 shipped via Woochow to Hong-Kong. 

 With regard to the future of the Chinese 

 camphor-industry, the British author 

 holds the same pessimistic opinion as the 

 two Foochow consuls. In view of the 

 fluctuations of the camphor-market, the 

 British merchants in Foochow have 

 preferred not to participate in this busi- 

 ness, which is mainly controlled by 

 Hongkong parsees, who tranship the 

 camphor to India. 



We have again before us a number of 

 communications dealing with experi- 

 ments in the production of camphor 

 outside the present Japano-Chinese pro- 

 ducing districts. For example, S. Naka- 

 mura, up to now "asrent" of the afore- 

 said camphor-office at Nagasaki, has 

 founded a company for the utilisation 

 of the camphor-plantations in Kyushyu, 

 the production of which is to be sold 

 to the Japanese treasury for a suitable 

 indemnity. 



As camphor in Old Japan is now for 

 many years an article of monopoly, the 

 above report, in its present form, is not 

 quite clear. 



