THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July i, 1893. 
All these oils were of thin coneiatency aod pale 
yellow coloar and, therefore, do not in any way 
differ in Appearance from the beet commer- 
cial qualities' Qross sophistications by means 
of resin, fixed oil or petroleum oonld not be proved. 
Unfortunately no tborongh examination conld bu made 
in time for this Report. It goes without saying that 
similar oil was firmly rejected by the Hong-Kong 
boueee, and probably only a little of it has found its 
way to Europe. It has ohieMy, we hear, been sbip- 
ped to the East Indies, where, as we know from ez- 
perienoe, the chief stress in the purchase of essential 
oils 10 laid upon lowness of price, and where a proper 
disoriminatioa of qualities is an exception. 
The contention of the Chinese, referred to above, 
that young, immature raw material produces (uch an 
oil as here described, cannot be absulutely denied, as 
possibly a considerable proportion of aceto-cinnamic 
ether is present in the young leaves, from which, 
in the course of the maturing process, cinnamio 
aldehyde may be formed by osidatioo. But we think 
it a more probable hypothesia that theie oils of low 
value are prepared from other portions of the Oassia 
shrub, or from another variety of the speoite Cinnatno- 
mum. After the earlier history of the Cesiia Oil ques- 
tion it will be admitted that we have no cause 
vbatever to show great confidence in the Chinese, 
and we therefore propose to credit their assertions 
only after having ounvinced onrselves of their truth 
by distilling the raw material in question ourselves. 
Under these oironmstances careful control in Hong- 
Kong has become more urgent than ever. We take 
this opportunity of acknowledKing that the Hong- 
Kong houses which learned from as the practical 
application of the oinnamic aldehyde test have 
acquitted themselves of this task with laudable zeal 
and dexterity, and have given us all the assistance in 
their power to carry out the reform of tirs Cassia 
Oil trade. The parcels of Oassia Oil imported by us 
since October last showed a minimnm percentage 
of oinnamic aldehyde of 85, and a masimam percen- 
tage of 94. 
Since the beginning of December arrivals of good, 
higb-tssting Cassia Oil have again been received in 
Hong'Kong. It is asserted that, last season, the 
Casssia crop has yielded a considerably smaller re- 
sult, and that this fact cannot fail to iufiuence the 
production of Cassia Oil. At this moment prices are 
still normal. But besides this, the important stocks 
which have accumulated in Europe stand in the way 
Of an advance in price, always presupposing that the 
reports of enormous damage caused to the Cassia 
filantationa by the abnormal frosts (which reach us 
nst before the close of this Report), are not con- 
firmed. 
CiNNAMOK Oil, Ceylon. — It is true that the quota- 
lions of the finer grades of Ceylon cinnamon have 
oonaiderabiy advanced lately, but on the other hand 
cinnamon chips, which form the raw material for 
distilling purposes, have not, up to the present, been 
drawn into the movement, nor is there any danger 
that it will be possible to carry through an advance 
in the price of these. The exportation of cinnamon 
chips hss experienced a fresh increase daring the 
last few seasons. 
The export-lists for the first months of the new year 
also show large figures. 
The quotations for our finestheavy, sweet Cinnamon 
Oil are extraordinarily favourable. We consider it 
superfluous to call attention to the unsurpassed quality 
of our distillate. 
OiTBoMBLLi. Oil/.— Since our last Report no im- 
portant alterations in price have taken place. The 
production, therefore, has trebled in the last decade. 
The low price has, of course, contributed chiefly to 
the colossal increase of oonsnmption. As regards 
valne for money this perfume is altogether without a 
tiVal. 
tiBMONOKASs OiL. — This East^Indian oil baa kept 
its previous low price. Its use appears to be dimi- 
bishing, although it is the only essential oil which 
resembles the popular verbena somewhat in odour 
yiUkwX M tbe„e»oa9 (inie being so probibiti?e in jpiice. 
MueTAKD Oil.— Kast lodiao mustard seed, which baa 
been obtainable at comparatively low priofs, baa 
provide d a welcome subntitate for the Daicb and Ita- 
lian (Fngliau^ vsrietief, of which the quotutioDS have 
been exceedingly hign. ^^'e hitve alsoouucDujed ee«eral 
truck-loads of Rucsian mustard seed, pr«a»ed io cakes. 
The demaLd tor genuine Muttardseed Oil has been 
particularly brisk, especially for Russia. It would not 
have been possible to satisfy it, if we had not refused 
to accept a namber of orders on aooouut of tha limit* 
being too low. The difference in price between natural 
and arti&cial oil is only small now. 
Neboli Oil.— During the last few weeks this im- 
portant artisle hss atisumed an upward tendency, eo 
account of the damage done to the orange tree* by tb« 
fevere frosts. Ot course it remains to be seen whether 
the raports bruited about are confirmed in erery re- 
spect. Still, it is a fact that fine grades have risen io 
price about 20 per cent, ll is also rumoured that the 
proprietors of oriknge-gardenf, diccootented with the 
low prices whiob they have obtained for their flowers 
dnrinij the la«t few years, hare formed a eombiaatioo 
for the purpose of taking op itje distillation of Neroh Oil 
and orange-flower water themselves. Every member of 
the ring is to deliver bis entire output to the syndieatc. 
The quantities which, under this arrangement, will be 
witharawD from the control of the Graaee maaufac- 
turers are estimatedat about 1,300 lb. of Neroli Oil and 
1 85,000 gallons of orange-flower water. The prieeat whiob 
the syndicate propose to sell is Frs. 300. — per kilo (= 
about 7/1 per oz ) for >'eroli Oil and 60 ceotimea per 
litre (=> mbout l/ll per gallon) for orange-flower 
water. Upon this bans the syndicate will be in a 
position to pay its members 6* centimes tor every kilo 
o( flowers, agaiusi an average price of from 35 to 60 
centimes obtaioed during the last taw years apoD the 
open market, and, in addition to pay a dividend of 7 
to 8 per cent. 
This repcrt aleo requires confirmation, but there is 
CO doubt whatever tuat the success of saoh a project 
would place those manufacturers in Southern France 
who are not covered by contracts in a most embarrass- 
ing position. Our firitt thought upon the receipt of 
this information was that the carrjiog.oat of some 
such scheme as that suggested might assist in abed- 
ding some light upon the question of determining the 
quality of Keroli Oil, whicb is still involved io much 
obscurity. We are working continually at the tolutiou 
of this problem, but we are obliged to possess ourselves 
in patience, as several years of research into our owo 
and other diBiillates are necessary for the elacidatioa 
of the problem. 
Of the great rose distilling indaetry we read :— 
Rose Oil (Gehman). — The stock of oar own dis- 
tillate is quite exhausted and we are looking forward 
to the new crop with impatience. When this baa 
been distilled we shall probably be in tha gratifyiiig 
position of being able to satisfy our numerous eus- 
tomers who wish to acquire large quantities. The 
researches that have been carried out in oar ex- 
perimental laboratoryj show German oil to be prefer- 
able to Bulgarian, not only in general exoelleooe, 
but also in strength and permanenoo of odour. Toilet 
soaps scented with equal quantities of oil of the two 
varieties sfiord proof of this. It is always important 
to place such facts on record, even though, in con- 
Eequence of the still limited output, the trade at 
large cannot at present have the benefit of the 
German otto. 
The rose bushes on our plantations hare splendidly 
withstood the unusually hard and severe winter 
(during which the temperate fell as low as — 13 deg. 
F. or 45 degrees of frost) and the general develop- 
ment of the plants leaves nothing to be desired. 
The many applications that have been addressed to 
us, as to the probable approximate quantity of German 
otto to be produced next season cannot, unfortunately, 
be answered definitely, as the rose-crop depentla 
entirely, like all other agricultural products upon the 
Btate of the weatber. Aooordiog to ov present know; 
