202 
THE TR0PI0AL AGRICULTURIST. [September 2, 1889. 
trees are usually set 20 feet apart, and an acre will 
contain about 100 trees. At the present time a 
demand exists for twenty times the quantity supplied 
at 15 to 20 dollars per X,000 as they bang on the trees. 
— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
THE SINGAPORE BOTANIC GARDENS. 
The Annual Report of the Gardens is published 
in last week's Gazette. As Mr. Ridley, the Director, 
did not arrive till late in the year, the Report is 
not as full as it otherwise would have been. There 
are many points of great interest dealt with, however, 
and we print below most of Mr. Ridley's report. 
The exhaustive experiments in the cultivation of 
European vegetables, which was initiated and partly 
carried out by the late Superintendent, ceased in the 
early part of the year. It appears that although 
success attended the trial of some varieties, speaking 
generally, the result must be considered a failure. 
Great difficulty seems to be experienced in getting 
the Chinese market gardeners to take up the cultiva- 
tion of European vegetables, or indeed of very newly 
introduced plants, despite the fact that the Euro- 
pean population would readily purchase them. 
The Report goes on to speak of the Various Economic 
Plants to which attention has been drawn. 
Patchouly grows as easily and well here as in 
Penang, and from the above extracts it will be seen 
that by cultivation patchouly may well be one of 
the minor products of the Colony. Detailed informa- 
tion as to methods of cultivation has been supplied 
in answer to various enquires, but at the same time 
a caution has been given that the demand is limited, 
and that a large quantity thrown on the market 
would render it comparatively valueless, and that 
care should be taken not to grow it exclusively. 
The Kew Bulletin for January gives a very full 
description of Coca with analysis of leaves received 
from Jamaica, St. Lucia, India, Java, Ceylon and 
British Guiana, from which it appears that leaves 
yielding 80 per cent, of the Alkaloid Cocaine are 
valued at 6d. to 8d. per pound. The plant grows 
very well here, and might be easily cultivated, but 
the demand is limited, and though small and excep- 
tionally fine samples might find a market in Europe, 
the supply from South America is so large that, 
without further extension of cultivation, that country 
could swamp the cocaine market were it to send in one- 
eightieth of the amount it could produce. From this it 
will be seen that extensive cultivation here would not 
pay, but small quantities might be grown at a profit. 
There is a great demand for cubeb plants by planters 
just now, on account of the high price this pepper com- 
mands. It grows well in Singapore, but there is some 
difficulty in procuring the right species, as undoubtedly 
many of the plants sent out from Java as cubebs are 
merely forms of the wild and valueless Piper caninum. 
A figure of the true species has been published in 
the Kew Bulletin, so that it can be now readily re- 
cognised by us. 
The cultivation of pepper is steadily increasing and 
prices are well maintained. 
The cocoa plants introduced from Trinidad through 
Ceylon in 1883 are now fruiting well, and there seems to 
be no reason for the plants being a failure here if properly 
cultivated. The series in Gardens comprises a consider 
able number of varieties, differing in colour and form of 
the fruit all of which seem to do well. It is probable 
that in parts of the Peninsula where the soil is richer 
than in Singapore the cultivation of this plant would be 
very profitable. 
During the year, six varieties of the best kinds of 
tapioca used in British Guiana were received. They 
are highly esteemed in South America, and form a 
considerable portion of the food of the natives. They 
have grown very well here, and we have now a 
sufficient stock for distribution. 
The various kinds of rubbers mentioned in former 
Reports continue, to grow well. There is at present, 
however, little demand for young plants, a circumstance 
which would seem to point to the necessity of Govern 
ment planting largely, as planters, as a rule, prefer to 
plant crops having a quicker return. Meanwhile the 
consumption of rubber is increasing, and it seems pro- 
bable that with only natural reproduction to meet the 
demand, at no distant date the supply will become 
very limited. — Singapore Free Press. 
CITRONELLA OIL. 
Some correspondence has lately appeared in Ceylon 
journals concerning the alleged adulteration of citronella 
oil with kerosene by the native growers. A native 
correspondent points out that a short time ago about 
650 cases of kerosene oil arrived by boat at the Weli- 
gama Custom-house from either Galle or Colombo, 
and that about three-fourths of this quantity was 
straightway forwarded to Matara, Akuressa, and Kum- 
burupitiya. All these places are in the southern part of 
the island, which is the one where all, or nearly all, 
the citronella oil is now manufactured. As it is impro- 
bable that the native inhabitants of the districts re- 
ferred to would be in want of such a large quantity 
of kerosene oil for illuminating purposes, tbe correspon- 
dent infers, or rather he plainly states, that it is 
employed for adulterating citronella oil, which is sub. 
sequently sold as a pure oil to the European merchants 
in Galle or Colombo. The writer concludes as follows; 
— " If European merchants think that the citronella 
oil as supplied them by their contractors and that sup- 
plied direct by the proprietors of citronella estates 
are the same, they make a great mistake ; for the oil 
supplied by proprietors and manufacturers is pure and 
free from any adulteration. It will now strike 
European merchants as strange that, in the contracts 
which they entered into between themselves and the 
contractors, there is generally a conditional clause to 
the effect that the oil supplied by contractors will be 
market oil. If any dissatisfaction is ever expressed by 
a merchant as regards the oil thus supplied, the con- 
tractor's plea is that it is market oil, and that he is 
not responsible for its quality ; but such an excuse 
could not be made by a proprietor." 
"With regard to this assertion, a gentlemen who is 
said to be one of the best authorities on citronella oil 
in Ceylon states that as far back as 1883 he had his 
attention called to the practice prevailing among 
natives of adulterating citronella with kerosene — a 
sophistication which could not be detected, he states, 
even if carried out to the extent of 25 per cent. ; and 
an English buyer of citronella oil on a very large 
scale adds that he could not find any pure oil what- 
ever in the market. Whether adulteration of citro- 
nella is really carried on to the extent and on *he 
systematic plan which these correspondents' letters 
would seem to indicate may still be open to some doubt, 
but it is quite certain that unless some such practice is 
resorted to it cannot pay the natives to manufacture 
or the merchants to export the oil. Like most other 
cultures which have been taken up in Ceylon on a 
large scale, the cultivation of citronella oil has been 
overdone. At present what are known as " native " 
brands are selling in London at frf. to frf. peroz., or, 
to calculate it in an easier way, at lOd. to Is. per 
lb.; and the expoit3 from Ceylon, .in spite of the 
low prices, which have now existed for a considerable 
period, continue to increase. It has been recently 
stated on good authority that a citronella planta- 
tion, according to the amount of care bestowed 
upon it yields from eighteen to twenty-four bottles 
per acre per crop. There are, in the most favour- 
able ciroumstances, three crops annually, usually about 
March, July, and December, and an acre of grass 
may, therefore, be estimated to yield from forty-five 
to seventy-two 22- oz. bottles, or from 60s. to 95s. "worth 
of citronella per annum. Out of this scanty return, 
distilling, packing, freight, and the profits of at least 
three middlemen bave to be paid, and there cannot, 
therefore, in the most favourable case, be any but 
the barest margin of profit left for the cultivator. 
A further proof of the unremuneratiye nature of 
the citronella industry is that at least one of the 
principal European firms of distillers is said to have 
withdrawn from the market some time ago, when 
prices were still considerably higher than they are 
