270 
f HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1887. 
two feet long by six inches broad— cutting well into the 
body of the tree through the bark ; at the lower end 
a cup-like cavity must be scooped out of sufficient 
capacity to hold a fluid quart ; fire is then introduced 
and kept up with charcoal for from two to three hours 
until the cavity is thoroughly well charred ; on cool- 
ing the Gurjan commences to trickle out, neediug 
baling night and morning ; should there be a falling- 
off iu the exudatiou, more charring will stimulate it, 
though the better plan will be to open a fresh hole 
on the opposite side of the tree, and thus working 
both alternately. The yield per annum from a fully 
matured tree — maturity beiDg approximately indicated 
by a height of seventy feet and girth four feet from 
the base, of eighteen feet— was 346 pounds. Gurjan 
oil is the best varni.-h for all woods known through- 
out the East, and well rubbed into teak with the husk 
of coconut, gives a polish to that and other dark 
timber rivalling that shown by mahogany or walnut, 
while the surface oil applied in a similar manner to 
light-grained woods is attended with equally brillant 
results. Mixed with lampblack and applied to carved 
teak, a good many imitations of the celebrated 
Surat blackwood furniture are palmed off on the globe- 
trotting curiosity purchasers, but it looks equally 
well. Perhaps one of the most valuable preser- 
vatives of wood work is the combination of 
Gurjan and ground sulphate of copper, which, boiled 
to the consistency of the thick syrup, and applied 
hot to any timber — whether imbedded in the earth or 
not — effectually prevents the attack of white ants 
and borer, resisting also the exigencies of a damp 
climate, and would thus doubtless prove of value iu the 
preservation of railway sleepers. As a cosmetic it 
imparts a delicate softness to the skin, but has a 
somewhat medicinal odour that would need eliminat- 
ing or concealing with some counteracting perfume 
ere it found favour among such Europeans as in- 
dulge in those luxuries. Mixed with neem leaves it 
forms a most powerful poultice, and natives claim 
for it cetain medicinal qualities possessed by matico 
and copaiba, the details of which it is unnecessary to 
enter into. 
Croton Oil. — Croton Tiglium, from which the croton 
oil is obtained, is found in all parts of the province, 
being more plentifully distributed in the drier districts. 
Though the family of the crotons is a numerous one, 
there is no difficulty in distinguishing the tiglium, 
which has the smallest leaf. The native name is 
Jummul ghuti. There being but a small demand for 
this oil only a limited area need be devoted to it, and 
as the plant is apt to spread it will require, occasion- 
ally, weeding out or otherwise keeping down. If, 
however, you elect to manufacture the oil, it will be 
as well to bear in mind that you are dealing with a 
most powerful irritant poison, which in any stage of 
preparation should not come in contact with the hands 
or other part of the body or even the clothing ; the 
special press retained for its extraction should there- 
fore be kept, and all manufacture conducted in a separ- 
ate hut. The process of extraction is cold pressure 
between plates similar to those used in castor oil ; 
when run off croton should stand for fifteen days, 
then filter through charcoal and pack in small bottles 
or tins. All refuse hud better be burnt, and the plates 
and other paraphernalia scrubbed with ash lye with 
a long-handled brush kept especially for the purpose. 
Many economic plants that now receive but pass- 
ing attention ought to bo brought either from the 
jungle or native homesteads and placed under observ- 
ation, for many, used in their crude state, undoubt- 
edly possess highly valuable properties that, owing 
to want of chemical knowledge, natives do not utilize 
to the full extent of such capabilities. Like the de- 
spised "old woman's" remedies in more civilized 
countries, unexpected valuablelresults are often obtained 
therefrom by painstaking chemical research. One's 
ears and eyes should be always open in Assam, and, 
given as natives are to romancing, there is generally 
some modicum of truth at the bottom of the wildest 
romance. The wealth of the province has by no means 
been thoroughly disclosed, for the simple reason that 
exhaustive explorations, cither botanical, geological, 
or by naturalists, have never been attempted ; but all 
investigations have been conducted in the most per- 
functory manner; when one item was reported some 
one was sent to the particular locality to report 
upon that particular item, having done which 
his duties were considered at an end. Hence, 
Government incurred great expense in deputing the 
late Mr. Fortune to China to procure a deteriorated 
tea seed to plant in the land from which it had ori- 
ginally been taken nigh two thousand years before, 
though the history of its transport from Assam to 
the " Flowery Land " by a Buddhist pilgrim has 
formed a well-worn theme among the story-tellers of 
the Indian bazaars for ages past. Again, botanists 
were sent to South America to introduce cinchona 
and ipecacuanha, yet Cinchona crispa grows wild on 
the summit of the forest-clad cliffs that overlook the 
plains of Sylhet and Cachar at an elevation of some 
1,500 feet, and ipecacuanha is found in abundance in 
the Larnai Valley within a dozen miles of Shillong. 
Nothing, therefore, should be considered too trivial 
for investigation, though neither of the latter plants 
referred to are likely to be attended with successful 
cultivation below the elevations indicated as their true 
habitat. 
Pan, the well-known leaf of the betul vine mastic- 
ated by all natives of India, seems never to have at- 
tracted that attention which its undoubted valuable 
qualities should ere this have commanded. When one 
reflects that men carrying heavy loads travel long dis- 
tances in the hottest weather exposed to the ful blaze 
of a tropical sun or get through laborious tasks with 
no other sustenance than the mastication of this leaf, 
it is evident that it must contaiu some wonderfully 
stimulative properties well worth careful investigation ; 
anyone can test these for himself, and although most 
natives use some half-dozen ingredients in conjuction 
with the leaf, a little consideration will show that such 
may be regarded merely in the same bight as sauces 
with solid joints, and that in the juice of the pan 
leaf lies the stimulant. A leaf, taken when oue is 
suffering slightly from the influence of the sun or 
fatigue, acts immediately as a restorative, quenching 
thirst and imparting an agreeable glow to the tbroat 
and regions of the face and head generally, without 
any deleterious sequela. Although it would not be 
possible to introduce the leaves themselves to Europe, 
and, in fact, their mastication would hardly find favour, 
an extract or tincture, if the properties noted could be 
retained therein, would not fail to be appreciated, 
especially among those with whom a nou-irtoxicating 
stimulant is a desideratum. Pan leaf, bruised, when 
applied to cuts and wounds arrests bleeding, c eanses 
from all suppuration, besides promoting granulation 
in the most ugly hurts ; hence it is reasonable to infer 
that it must possess mediciual qualities that should 
recommend it to the notice of the faculty. It is need- 
less to enter into details connected with the cultivation, 
as such may be seen in operation all over Assam, the 
favourite sites in the plains being the banks of rivers, 
but the best and most pungent leaves are those from 
vines planted in the limestone rifts in the hills. Shade 
is imperatively necessar3', and, in the dry weather, sys- 
tematic irrigation also, but the vine will not thrive under 
the drippings of dense umbrageous trees, and good 
drainage is essential to its well-being. The care be- 
stowed upon it by such eminently careless cultivators 
in most respects, as Bengalis sufficiently indicates 
its delicate nature, as does the large area devoted 
to the raising of it, the remuuerativeness of its 
culture. 
The Areca palm, erroneously and almost univers- 
ally called the betul-nut tree by Europeans, may 
be planted in any Hat land, but not swamp, in and 
arouud the property at distances from 6 feet to 8 
feet apart. The large demand for arecanuls all 
over India and the East renders the establishment 
of these plantations highly profitable, but as Europeans 
hitherto have been but "birds of passage" in 
Assam, noue have cared to plant, hence the cultiv- 
ation js almost entirely confined to natives- But when 
once rail communication with Chittagong gives the 
province its long-needed seaport, the demand for 
