94 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



CAMPHOR OIL IN 1908. 



There has been very little change in the 

 tendency of the camphor oil market during the 

 course of the past five months. The dull stato 

 of business, as well as the fact that the existence 

 of important supplies tied the hands of those 

 interested, caused a further reduction in the 

 quotations, and even at the present moment 

 holders in Japan are inclined to accept reduced 

 offers. The shipments from Japan wore quite 

 insignificant, except as regards a few thousand 

 cases which were exported to the United States. 

 Within the past few weeks camphor has shown 



A SOMEWHAT MOKE ANIMATED TENDENCY, 



probably accounted for by the fact that, since 

 prices have reached a lower level than has been 

 known for a very long time, the competition of 

 artificial camphor may be regarded as entirely 

 removed. For the present we regard it as very 

 little probable that this firmer tendency will 

 also influence the camphor oil market, especially 

 in view of the enormous quantities which must 

 have accumulated in Japan. With regard to 



CAMPHOR PLANTATIONS IN CEYLON, 



the American Vice-Consul W Doyle a reports 

 that in 1907 the area under cultivation was 

 increased from 142 to 1,106 acres, and that 

 for 1908 apparently a still greater increase was 

 projected. As a result of these extensions a 

 perceptible contribution to the World's require- 

 ments in camphor was to be expected. The 

 camphor tree does not flourish iu the coast 

 region, but it does well in the aaountainous dis- 

 tricts of the Island, at altitudes between 2,500 

 and 8,000 feet. The yield of camphor from a 

 cultivated area of 15,000 to 20,000 acres is esti- 

 mated at 8,000,000 lb, which (according to most 

 authorities) is the quantity neoded to supply the 

 world's requirements, and hopes are entertained 

 in Ceylon that, within the course of a few years, 

 more camphor will be produced in the Island 

 than is consumed on the entire globe at the 

 present time. Among planters, the rapid growth 

 of the branches of the camphor trees is regarded 

 as the cause of the pre-eminence of Ceylon over 

 other camphor-producing countries. The cost 

 of producing natural camphor in Ceylon 

 is estimated to bo considerably lower, 

 weight for weight, than the cost of the 

 American synthetic product from oil of 

 turpentine. The first experiments of cultiva- 

 tion in Ceylon were made by the Government 

 with Japanese camphor seed, and the mode of 

 cultivation consists iu allowing the tree to reach 

 a height of 40 ft. (which it does in about 3| 

 years), when it is cut down to 4 or 5 ft. With 

 this object in view the trees are pruned every 4 

 aud sometimes every 3 months. The trees are 

 planted at distances of 4 by 8 ft., which gives 

 1,360 trees to the acre. Experiments of distil- 

 lation made with the wood cut from an acre of 

 ground, produced 190 lb. of camphor. One 

 planter maintains that he has obtained a parti- 

 cularly 



HIGH YIELD OF CAMPHOR BY PRESSING THE 

 BRANCHES 



instead of distilling them. But although he 

 vouched for the truth of this statement, he 



a Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter 74 (1908), No. 23, page 52. 



refused to disclose any particulars as to the 

 process. 



The Official Customs Statistics indicate that 

 iu 1907 a parcel of camphor weighing 562 lb. was 

 exported from Ceylon, and it is inferred from this 

 that the quantities to bejexported annually in the 

 future will increase in geometrical proportion. 



An American expert, Prof. Hilgard b, has 

 written on the subject of the question of the 



CULTIVATION OF CAMPHOR TREES IN THE 

 UNITED STATES, 



his paper being a sequel to that of Riviere 

 which was discussed by us at the time c 

 and which takes the same view. Prof. Hilgard 

 has made enquiries from the experts in the 

 Agricultural Department at Washington and in 

 the Southern States of the U. S., as to 

 the prospects of camphor cultivation. The 

 first-named authorities informed him that 

 although the Government had made experi- 

 ments in the growing of camphor trees in 

 its Southern Experimental Stations, it 

 doubted greatly the financial success of such 

 an undertaking, and for this reason : it 

 does not supply camphor seed to any private 

 people, who are able to obtain their require- 

 ments of such seed from tho trees which had 

 already previously been planted in Florida and 

 California. In most of the plantations the trees 

 are regarded only as ornamental, an! are treated 

 as such, but in some of thorn experiments have 

 been made to obtain camphor by distilling the 

 leaves, either with or without stalks. The re- 

 sults of these experiments are not reported by 

 the author, who ouly deals with his own ex- 

 periments in making industrial uso of the Cali- 

 fornian camphor trea. According to these ex- 

 periments, mature green leaves yield about 1 

 per cent by weight of camphor, and it is to bo 

 noted that leaves and groen twigs contain moro 

 liquid oil and less solid camphor. Up to the 

 present no higher yields of camphor have 

 been obtained Hilgard observes that he 

 has experimented only with trees growing 

 in the misty, cool climate of the coast, 

 and not with trees from the warmer 

 and highar altitudes, for instance those 

 from the interior of California. Although the 

 latter trees no doubt might promise a higher 

 output, seeing that odoriferous plants puch as 

 jasmine, mignonotte, and heliotrope also flourish 

 in the interior of California, Hilgard refrained 

 from making any far-going experiments, because 

 of the excessively high wages (for the harvesting 

 of the leaves), which in those districts are au 

 obstacle in the way of the development of the 

 camphor industry as well as of other industries. 

 The author, therefore, agrees with Riviere that 

 there is no question of any American industrial 

 competition with tho natural riches and low 

 wages of the island of Formosa, particularly as 

 just at the present time the prices for crude 

 camphor are low and are likely tt remain so, 

 With regard to the 



PROSPECTS OF SYNTHETIC CAMPHOR, 



Hilgard is of opinion that any serious com- 

 petition with the natural product is out of the 



& Journ. d' Agriculture tropicale 8 (1908), 360. c Report 

 November 1908, 36. 



