Oils and Fats. 64 [Feb. 1907. 



have sold what they have bought from the Bureau within the fixed limits, taking a 

 certain percentage as commission, and that whereas the World's demand for 

 camphor is nine or ten million pounds, the supply from Japan and Formosa is only 

 6 or 7 million pounds, so that as soon as the camphor leaves the selling agents' hands, 

 it jumps up in price, and the difference between the market and Messers. Samuel, 

 Samuel's selling price is very great. Any way the increase in the Government's 

 buying and selling prices will probably result in large profits for the camphor 

 industry." 



With regard to the camphor producing districts of other countries, it is to 

 be regretted that for the present no relief of the existing scarcity can be 

 expected from that side- A report from the U- S. Consul in Amoy says that 

 the camphor monopoly granted in 1903 to a Japanese Company for the Chinese 

 province Fokien has been cancelled by the Government, after payment of a not 

 inconsiderable indemnity, but that the Japanese even under the new conditions still 

 control the production, and, as our own informants tell us, pay any price in order to 

 secure every consignment. 



THE INDUSTRY IN CEYLON. 



The camphor production in Ceylon is unfortunately still in a very bad 

 way, and although much attention has now for several years been given to this 

 new cultivation, it has not yet been possible to produce actually more than about 

 1,000 kilos. If it is taken into consideration that more than 100 acres are planted 

 with camphor-trees, the result must be called unsatisfactory. The principal diffi- 

 culty lies in the lack of experience of the planters in the distillation, and it is 

 believed that the Japanese and Chinese make use of special technical artifices to 

 secure a paying yield. It is said that the plantations will be extended further 

 and it is hoped that the energy of Mr. Kelway Bamber, the Government chemist 

 at Peradeniya, will succeed in overcoming the existing difficulties, and showing 

 the planters a remunerative method of manufacture- The present high prices of 

 camphor are naturally very tempting, and it remains an open question whether the 

 cultivation can still pay, if some day the camphor market returns to a normal level. 



According to a report from the German Consul at Bombay, the Government, 

 on the suggestion of the local Chamber of Commerce, has the intention of making 

 experiments in the planting of camphor-trees in the Bombay district, and we hope 

 on a later occasion to be able to return to the results of these experiments. The 

 climatic conditions on the Indian coast agree approximately with those of Formosa, 

 and in our opinion the prospects are therefore favourable. 



M. Kimberlin reports in the " American Druggist and Pharmaceutical 

 Record" (according to an article in the " Tropenpflanzer ") on experiments in the 

 cultivation of camphor-trees in California :— 



Camphor-trees have been found near Lake Shabot in the mountains situated 

 sideways of Berkeley in Almeda county, Cal. ; most of these trees are 20 to 35 years 

 old, as can be ascertained from the annual rings. They belong to the species 

 Vinamom camphora, from which the official camphor is obtained. They are over 

 25 feet high ; the trees have a large number of branches, a smooth bark, and green, 

 broad, thick leaves pointed at both ends. The freshly peeled bark has an ( odour 

 like sassafras. The trees grow in a heavy soil, have tapering trunks, with numerous 

 roots which supply abundant nourishment to the tree. When the leaves are rubbed 

 they emit a camphoraceous odour, which is also apparent in all the other parts 

 of the tree. The Avood leaves and branches burn very readily, owing to their 

 camphor-content. The camphor contained in them belongs to the class of general 

 camphors (C H O) and is reckoned among the ketones. 



10 16 .'.'*•■' W • ' " 



