November 1909, ] 



413 



Drugs. 



been received from Ceylon and is at 

 present under investigation, and among 

 the samples of lemon grass oil were 

 some from Uganda and Bermuda, the 

 citral-content of which was extremely- 

 low and the oil almost useless for com- 

 mercial purposes. Origanum oil (con- 

 taining 80 per cent, carvacrol) is being 

 sold on the Loudon market by the 

 Cyprus Government, and it has been as- 

 certained that better prices would be 

 obtained if it were rectified so as to re- 

 main colourless. For this purpose a 

 modern rectifying-still is being specially 



constructed in London for shipment to 

 Cyprus. Pure carvacrol is also likely to 

 be manufactured on a commercial scale 

 by the Cyprus Government, they having 

 already sold a small trial consignment 

 to a London house. Other essential oils 

 under investigation include Cyprus 

 laurel oil of excellent quality and Fijian 

 bay oil. The foregoing investigations 

 may be said to represent some of the 

 least important work of the Imperial 

 Institute, that devoted to staples like 

 cotton, rubber and tobacco being of 

 much greater value and importance. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



THE LITCHI, OR LITCHEE FRUIT. 



By H. F. Macmillan. 



{Illustrated.) 

 Nephelium Litchi (N. O. Sapotacese), — 

 Litchi," or " Litchee." — A small bushy 

 tree with handsome dense foliage, native 

 of China. It blossoms in the dry season 

 (about February), producing sprays of 

 pale-green flowers, and ripens its fruit 

 about June. The fruit is of the size and 

 form of a large plum, with a rough, 

 thin, scale-like rind, which becomes of 

 a beautiful red-tinge, gradually turn- 

 ing to a dark brown colour before it is 

 quite ripe. The jelly- like pulp or aril 

 which covers the seed is of a translucent 

 whiteness, and of an agreeable refreshing 

 flavour. This fruit, represented by dif- 

 ferent varieties of varying quality, is 

 grown to great perfection about Cal- 

 cutta and elsewhere in India, and is 

 commonly sold in the bazaars when in 

 season. Cameron says it thrives up to 

 3,500 feet in South India, giving at 

 Bangalore two crops of fruit a year (in 

 May and December). It is grown success- 

 fully in Mauritius, bat, curiously enough, 

 it is scarcely ever met with iu Ceylon. 

 The tree flourishes and produces fruit at 

 Peradeniya, but the variety here grown 

 is obviously an indifferent one. There 

 are several varieties in cultivation, dis- 

 tinguished by size and shape of fruit, 

 quality of pulp, and size of seed. Litchi 

 fruit are dried in China and Cochin 

 China, from whence they are exported to 

 England and the United States. Dried 

 litchis are not unlike raisins, both in 

 appearance and taste. The tree may 

 be increased by seed, but budding or 

 grafting should be adopted to propagate 

 the best varieties. 



TEA INDUSTRY OF EASTERN 

 BENGAL AND ASSAM. 



(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol. 

 XIV. No. 179, September 2, 1909,) 



Number of Estates. 

 A Report on Tea Culture in Eastern 

 Bengal and Assam for the year 1908, 

 compiled by Mr. Strong, Officiating 

 Director of Agriculture, Eastern Bengal 

 and Assam, is published in the supple- 

 ment of the Government Gazette of that 

 Province dated August 18th. Mr. Strong 

 states that tnere were 927 tea gardens 

 in Eastern Bengal and Assam in the 

 province at the close of 1907. During 

 last year six new gardens were opened, 

 two in the Jalpaiguri subdivision, one 

 in Alipur Duars, one in Karimganj sub- 

 division of Sylhet, and two in Dibrugarh 

 subdivision of Lakhimpur district. There 

 was also a reduction of two gardens, 

 of which one was in the Sadar and the 

 other in the Jorhat subdivision of the 

 Sibsagar district. The latter was amal- 

 gamated with another garden. The 

 number of tea estates at the close of 1908 

 was thus 931. An area of 9,212 acres of 

 new extension was added to the area 

 under tea at the end of 1907, and an area 

 of 3,971 acres of old tea was abandoned 

 during the year. Of the 433,290 acres of 

 tea remaining, 409,879 acres or 94 per 

 cent, was actually plucked. The largest 

 amount of new planting was done in the 

 Jalpaiguri district, and the largest area 

 of old tea abandoned was in Cachar, 

 There was a slight increase of 79 acres 

 on the area plucked during the year, 

 as compared with 1907. The total area 

 under tea also shows an increase of 1 

 per cent, in comparison with the figures 

 of the previous year. 



