Edible Products. 



430 



[November, 1908. 



The tree drops its leaves in February 

 and remains naked till April. The 

 flowers appear in March and April, and 

 as they fall the tree comes out in the 

 pretty coloured young foliage. 



The tree yields a valueless gum, and 

 the bark is used in dyeing to mix with 

 other matreials when a dark or black 

 colour is wanted. Sankernath (in Ind. 

 Forester, 190(5, p. 399) describes the col- 

 lection of the latex, but finds that an 

 average yield of about 2i tolas (1 oz.) 

 only can be expected a year, and the 

 guttapercha produced is but of poor 

 quality, if not actually valueless. 



The succulent flowers are one of the 

 most important minor food supplies of 

 India. They have a very disagreeable 

 smell of mice, but are none the less 

 eagerly collected. The ground is clear- 

 ed under the tree, and the flowers 

 carefully collected before they drop. In 

 many places the petals oidy are taken 

 and the pistil left to ripen to a fruit, in 

 others some only of the flowers are 

 collected. A tree will yield 200—300 

 lbs- of flowers in a year. The flowers 

 are dried on mats in the sun when 

 they whither to half their Aveight and 

 get a brownish red colour. A hundred- 

 weight of the dried flowers sells at from 

 four annas to a rupee. The merchants 

 often give a handful of salt and 8 or 

 10 lbs. of rice for a maund. Two maunds 

 are said to be enough to feed a family 

 of five for a month, and are usually eaten 

 mixed Avith sal seeds and sometimes 

 rice ; sometimes they are pounded into 

 flour together Avith other seeds. 



The fioAvers are also popular with 

 animals, and during the mahua season a 

 considerable number of these are shot 

 under the trees at night. 



From the fioAvers a spirit is distilled, 

 called darn, which though it has an 

 unpleasant smell at first, afterAvards 

 comes to resemble Irish whisky. The 

 Bhils get eight bottles of weak spirit from 

 sixteen seers of dried flower soaked in 

 water and then distilled 4-5 days (or 8-10 

 if old). About 1888 a considerable export 

 of these fioAvers; went on to Marseilles, but 

 the French Government, finding that 

 they were used for the preparation of a 

 cheap brandy, stopped the import. An 

 Italian in Bengal took a patent for a pro- 

 cess Avhich eliminated the smell, and 

 commenced to make spirit on a large 

 scale, but the rum merchants of Calcutta 

 succeeded in getting a prohibitive duty 

 imposed. 



The seeds ripen about three months 

 after the fall of the fioAvers, and yield a 

 valuable oil. The kernels are removed 

 from their skin by bruising, and the oil 



obtained in the cold by pressure. In the 

 Central Provinces the kernels are 

 pounded and boiled and then pressed. 

 The oil thus obtained is semi-solid ; it is 

 used for lighting, for cooking, and to 

 adulterate ghee, as Avell as in making soap. 

 For the last-named purpose it is coming 

 into demand in Europe, and it is said 

 that the average price given for the seed 

 in Bombay is Rs. 4"50 a hundredweight. 

 Demands have lately come to Ceylon for 

 this seed from soapmakers in England. 

 600,000 cwts. were exported from 

 Bombay in 1901-2. 



This tree grows at Peradeniya, to 

 which it was introduced a long time ago. 

 Two good specimens may be seen near 

 the Laboratory, and the Tamil coolies 

 gather the fioAvers with avidity in the 

 season. 



Bassia butyracea, Roxb., the Indian 

 butter tree, is a native of the lower 

 Himalayas, from 1,000 to 5,000 ft- The 

 flowers are not eaten, but make a syrup 

 Avhich is boiled down to sugar. From 

 the seeds an oil (phuhva oil) is expressed, 

 Avhich is inodourous, of the consistency 

 of lard, and does not become rancid so 

 early as that of the preceding species. 

 Other suedes, e.g., Bassia pallida, Burch, 

 yield inferior guttapercha^. 



To sum up, the Ceylon species might 

 be better utilised as a source of oil for 

 soap, and if the opposition of makers of 

 other spirits could be got over, this and 

 others might be used as sources of 

 alcohol. 



PARA GRASS (PANICUM MOLLE). 



We have recently received quite a 

 number of inquiries regarding Para 

 grass. This interest has been no doubt 

 largely stimulated by the publication of 

 articles in the Louisiana Plantet and 

 Sugar Manufactxirer, and the daily 

 papers that have given attention to 

 these articles. We are therefore prompt- 

 ed to give the experience that the Ex- 

 periment Station at Baton Rouge has 

 had with this grass. 



We present herewith a photograph of 

 this grass at the Experiment Station at 

 Baton Rouge, taken on the 20th of 

 August, 1908. This is the second year's 

 groAvth on this plot. Seeds Avere ob- 

 tained from Professor S. M. Tracy, of 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, early in the spring of 1907, and 

 planted in a very rich soil which is 

 inclined to hold moisture better than the 

 average soil of the bluff lands. The 

 grass grew rapidly fioin the beginning 

 and sent out very long stems that re- 



