CAMPHOR PRODUCTION IN FLORIDA. 



537 



Furthermore, as "political jobbery" and "robbery" 

 are perfectly synonymous terms, it is manifestly unjust 

 to rate the politicians twice as vicious as the substituting 

 florists. To be counted equally vicious, he very judic- 

 iously observes, is surely obloquy enough for any class 



of men outside the range of strictly professional bandits, 

 and he thinks I ought to remodel the maxim to that 

 effect. Under these depressing circumstances, Mr. K. 

 is respectfully requested to refrain from circulating the 

 present version until further orders. F. Lance. 



CAMPHOR PRODUCTION IN FLORIDA. 



AMPHOR is a name given to a 

 colorless translucent body 

 having a tough waxy struc- 

 ture with a specific gravity 

 equal to about that of water, 

 and commonly obtained 

 from the chipped wood, 

 roots and leaves of the 

 camphor tree — Camphora 

 officinanan — by distillation. 

 As known in commerce, it is procured mainly from 

 Japan and the islands of Formosa, Sumatra and 

 Borneo ; though one species of the trees that pro- 

 duce it abound in China. 



Of late years successful efforts have been made to 

 grow the camphor tree in Florida, where it thrives in 

 any kind of soil like a native pine or oak. It remains, 

 we are told, in growing condition for nine months out 

 of the twelve, and is not affected by cold weather. Af- 

 ter two or three years it needs no care, even on the 

 poorest land, and in 12 years attains a height of from 

 40 to 50 feet and a diameter of from 12 to 14 feet. 

 When four or five years old it attains a height of 10 

 feet and a trunk diameter of four inches. A consider- 

 able amount of camphor has already been made, 

 though mainly for experimental purposes. The 

 treatment of the tree has been, briefly, as fol- 

 lows : At the age of four or five years the first 

 cutting is made for distillation by pruning from 

 the ground to the height at which the head 

 of the tree is to be retained. From that time on the 

 head is sheared in a suitable manner without neg- 

 lecting to prune from the ground up, with a view of 

 making the head longer. With this treatment distilla- 

 tion is carried on every year, and in 12 to 15 years the 

 trunk will have attained sufficient size to be sawed into 

 lumber, so that the valuable camphor wood may be util- 

 ized. It answers for all house and ship timbers and ar- 



ticles of furniture, especially for such as are intended to 

 contain and preserve clothes. It is very easy to work, 

 splits readily and is never attacked by the many de- 

 structive insects which so speedily devour most other 

 woods. The trees being set 15 feet apart, the stumps 

 may be allowed to produce shoots until young trees have 

 advanced sufficiently to take the places of the old ones, 

 when the stumps are to be uprooted and subjected to 

 distillation. Under proper treatment every particle of 

 the tree can be made to yield camphor, so that nothing 

 goes to waste. 



It is claimed that if cultivated on an extensive scale, 

 the camphor tree would yield a larger profit in Florida 

 than any other product. Moreover, it is a handsome 

 evergreen, hardy in that climate, and it is not eaten by 

 cattle or other stock, while it requires no fence protec- 

 tion, being strong enough not to be broken by cattle. 

 It is sanguinely prophesied that in ten years more cam- 

 phor trees will be grown in Florida than orange trees, 

 and that this new industry will turn out to be more 

 profitable than sugar production. At present the price 

 of year-old trees range from 25 to 50 cents apiece, and 

 that of old ones proportionately more. 



In medicine, camphor is extensively used, both inter- 

 nally and externally, as a stimulant ; but its chief medi- 

 cinal use is in the preparation of liniments, into the 

 composition of many of which it enters. It has a vulgar 

 reputation as a prophylactic or preventive of disease, on 

 which account it is in great demand during serious epi- 

 demics. It possesses properties invaluable to natural- 

 ists and others for keeping furs, skins and other animal 

 subs-tances free from moths, and it also preserves cabi- 

 nets of insects from attacks. Although large quantities 

 of camphor are consumed in Europe and America, its 

 chief consumption is in India and other eastern coun- 

 tries, especially China, where mere whim or fashion has 

 put a price of from |;i,ooo to |i,200 per pical (133 

 pounds) on one particular kind ; while the ordinary 

 camphor of commerce is sold at from |i2 to $15 per 

 pical. 



