and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



207 



corner of the room, and the mosquitoes on en- 

 tering the house in the morning seclude them- 

 selves in the box to escape the sunlight. When 

 duly settled the lid is shut and about a tea- 

 spoonful of benzine injected into the box. We 

 learn that in the course of a month, no less 

 than 2,300 mosquitoes succumbed to the benzine. 

 We expect to see the trap go with a boom.— 

 Indian Planters' Gazette, Jan. 9. 



SOAP AND COCONUT OIL. 



In a letter to the London Times of Jan. 5th, 

 John Knight (Limited) of Royal Primrose Soap 

 Works, gives the following information : — 



The price of cotton seed oil in January last 

 year was £22 7s 6d per ton at Hull ; it has 

 fluctuated slightly throughout the year, and on 

 December 31st the price was £23 per ton—the 

 average price for the year being £22 10s 3d per 

 ton, as against an average price of £26 per ton 

 for 1907. Palm kernel oil, which at the begin- 

 ning of 1908 was worth about £26 10s per ton, 

 fluctuated considerably during the year until 

 December 31st, when it rose to about £27 10s 

 per ton. Coconut oil, which at the beginning 

 of 1908 was worth about £28 10s per ton, has 

 likewise fluctuated during the year, until on 

 Dec. 31st, it was worth about £30 10s per ton. 



Coconut oil, with a poor Ceylon crop of nuts, 

 may go high still. 



COIR YARN, FIBRE Ac. 



In their annual report quoted in the London 

 Times, 15th January, Messrs. Bastone and 

 Firminger say :— Palmyra Fibre has taken 

 an irregular course during 1908, and closing 

 prices mark a reduction of £4 per ton com- 

 pared with end of 1907. At the drop the mar- 

 ket is quietly steady. Stock in London public 

 warehouses shows some increase, viz., 483 tons, 

 as compared with 324 tons a year ago. Bristle 

 Fibre. — Retrogression in consumption has con- 

 tinued. There has been over-supply and dulness 

 has continued throughout Current values, £14 

 to £21 per ton, as in quality. Kitool Fibre. — 

 Business difficult at a drop averaging Id per lb. 

 Coir Yarn (Cochin and Ceylon),— Our forecast of 

 last year has been fully borne out. Medium and 

 common qualities, in consequence of the de- 

 pression in the manufactured articles, were diffi- 

 cult of sale and prices marked a general decline 

 of about 25 per cent. With regard to the better 

 quality yarns recovered in the late autumn, clos- 

 ing practically without change on the year. Coir 

 Fibre (Cochin).— Supplies have been about ade- 

 quate to demand, and prices have been fairly 

 steady closing practically without change on the 

 year. Ceylon Mattress Fibre. — Continued heavy, 

 supplies being pressed for sales caused continu- 

 ous decline in values, which on the year registers 

 30 to 40 percent, and the year closes with still 

 heavy stocks in shippers' hands. Coir Rope. — 

 Shipments have been considerably short of the 

 normal supplies, and stocks having become ex- 

 hausted prices advanced 15 per cent to 20 per cent. 



GOVERNMENT STOCK GARDENS. 



A New Fertiliser. 



The Dhaincha or sesbania aculeala, a new 

 fertilising plant, was planted at the Government 

 Stock Gardens a few weeks ago and has 

 sprouted up splendidly, The roots of these 

 plants become full of well-developed nodules 

 which when squeezed throw out a fluid which is 

 really protoplasmic and consist of innumer- 

 able bacteria. As a green manure for rice fields 

 this plant is said to be the best, and its intro- 

 duction locally should be attended with splendid 

 results. The mango grafts in the Gardens are 

 also doing splendidly. The rubber, now going 

 on to four years, is doing fairly well, the growth 

 being slow, due to the sandy soil. 



Mr W Malegoda, the successful candidate 

 in the recent examination, is attached to the 

 Gardons to be trained. 



CEYLON CITRONELLA AND LEMON 

 GRASS OIL. 



Interesting References in Messrs Schimmel 

 & Co.'s Semi-Anndal Report. 



We have received the semi-annual report 

 of Messrs. Schimmel & Co. of Miltitz, (near 

 Leipzig), London and New York covering the 

 period from May to October 1908. It is an 

 elaborate volume and as usual contains much 

 of interest to merchants and planters en- 

 gaged in the preparation and export of 

 Citronella, Lemongrass and other essential 

 oils. In the introduction reference is made to 

 " the general depression which since the date of 

 our last report has made itself felt more and 

 more on all the World's markets and has not 

 passed over our branch without leaving its im- 

 print behind. Hand in hand with the rapid fall 

 in the bank rates which occurred on every side, 

 and which proved sufficiently clearly a relaxation 

 of the spirit of enterprise in commerce, came 

 a gradual decline in the values of most 

 materials ; and although the turnover during 

 the period covered by the present report shows 

 quantitatively only an immaterial falling-off as 

 compared with that of the previous year, it is 

 very probable that the financial results, in view 

 of the depressed prices which had almost 

 everywhere to be reckoned with, may here and 

 there to a not inconsiderable extent, fall short 

 of those obtained in 1907." A speedy revival 

 in trade is, however, predicted, and among the 

 most promising signs is reckoned the gradual 

 "healthy re-awakening of commerce and in- 

 dustry in the United States.'' 



In the section of the report, "Commercial 

 notes and scientific information on essential 

 oils," a good deal of space is devoted to Ceylon 

 Citronella Oil ; but before referring to these 

 paragraphs we may quote the following re- 

 ference to the general state of the market : — 

 "Business in this important article can 

 only be characterised as extremely quiet and 

 lifeless ; the sales were small, and (as far 

 as old stocks are concerned) were throughout 

 at a loss. Under these circumstances it is not 

 surprising that, as already predicted in our 



