712 
Supplement to the ''■Tropical Agriculturist." [April 1, 1895. 
way. Experiments in the cultivation of various 
English vegetables are, 1 believe, carried on at 
the School of Agriculture, and it would be inter- 
esting to know which of such are suited for 
the lowcountry, and whether they could be grown 
with profit by our goiyas. Now that the Alfred 
Model Farm at Kanatte ihas been given over 
to the School of Agriculture, we hope for great 
things in the future. The experiments hitherto 
carried on in the School grounds could now be 
extended, and the "will-it-pay" question fully 
demonstrated and established. A real model 
vegetable garden near the town of Colombo is 
a great desideratum. The Alfred Model Farm 
which is to be worked in connection with the 
School of Agriculture will, it is hoped, supply 
this want, and be the means of improving 
the quality of vegetables supplied to the Colombo 
market. 
THE PREPARATION OF ESSENCES. 
( Concluded. ) 
The preparation of essences is an industry of 
warm climes, for most of the plants which yield 
the material for its preparation thrive only in 
tropical or sub-tropical countries only. In Grasse, 
Nice and Cannes in Europe it is carried on to 
a more or less large extent. In India the 
natives extract essences from certain plants, and 
this is done at present generally in a crude way. 
The extraction of essence by expression is only 
feasible with such materials as contain a large 
percentage of oil. The skins of oranges 
citrons and other aurantious fruits are examples. 
The parts rich in essence are subjected to pres- 
sure in specially constructed presses , when a mix- 
ture of the essential oil along with a large percen- 
tage of water is obtained. This is allowed to repose 
till the oily and light substance appears on the 
top when it is decanted off and the water thrown 
away. Machinery of various forms is used for 
the purpose of peeling the skins of the fruits 
in order to expedite the operation, but in what- 
ever manner the peeling is done, the method re- 
mains the same. Distillation is of ancient origin, 
and up to a recent date only a crude form of 
still and condenser was used for the purpose ; 
the still, generally made of clay, being heated by 
an open fire and the vapour collectd and cooled in 
the other vessels. In manufacturing essences 
out of delicate plants, the interior of the still 
is divided into two portions by a diaphragm 
pierced with holes and the plants or flowers ar- 
ranged over it whilst the lower partition is filled 
with water. When the still is heated the steam 
carries with it the essential principles of the 
materials thus spread, and is as usual collected 
in vessels kept cool. However good distillation 
may be in the case of certain plants and flowers, it 
does not answer well in every case, for there are 
certain essential oils which when subjected to a 
temperature of 100° . C. decompose easily, hence 
maceration has to be adopted in such instances. 
Maceration is performed by dipping the plants 
&c, to be treated in fine fat or oil and sub- 
jecting it to a mild heat, when the essence or the 
perfume is easily taken up by the fat. The 
essence is extracted from the scented fat by means 
of alcohol. This process is carried on in different 
■ways according to the circumstances of the manu- 
facturers, in some places highly complicated ma- 
chinery being used. A means that will recom- 
mend itself to those who cannot invest in 
costly machinery is the cloth frame. The Scienti- 
fic American Encyclopedia describes it as fol- 
lows : — Upon an iron frame a piece of white 
spongy cotton cloth is stretched and then mois- 
tened with almond or olive oil : on the cloth is 
placed a thin layer of the fresh plucked flowers. 
Another frame is similarly treated, and in this 
way a pile of them is mude. In twenty-four or 
thirty hours the flowers are replaced by fresh 
ones, and this is repeated every day or every 
other day until seven or eight different lots of 
flowers have been consumed, or the oil is suffi- 
ciently loaded with their odour. The oil is then 
obtained from the cotton cloth by powerful 
pressure, and is placed aside in bottles to settle, 
ready to be decanted into others for sale, Some- 
times, thin layers of cotton wool, slightly mois- 
tened with oil are employed instead of cotton 
cloth. The native perfumers of India prepare 
their scented oils in the following manuer : — A 
layer of the scented flowers about four inches 
thick and two feet square is formed on the 
ground, over this is placed a layer of moistened 
Sesamum (tala) seeds two inches thick, and on 
this another four inch layer of flowers : over the 
whole a sheet is thrown which is kept pressed 
down by weights attached at the edges. The 
flowers are replaced with fresh ones after the 
lapse of twenty-four hours and the process is 
repeated a third and even a fourth time when 
a highly-scented oil is desired. The swollen Se- 
samum seeds, rendered fragrant by contact with 
the flowers, are then submitted to the action of 
the press by which the bland oil is obtained, 
strongly impregnated with thearoina of flowers. 
The solution of a few grains of Benzoic acid 
in any of the oils materially retard the acces- 
sion of rancidity if it does not prevent it 
altogether. 
IT. A. D. 
EARLY PADDY AND ITS CULTIVATION. 
[By Pkasanna Nath Lahiri.] 
As rice is a very important article of com- 
merce and is consumed by a considerable portion 
of the human race, a few notes on its cultiva- 
tion, based upon the results of a series of ex- 
periments conducted by me in my own farm may 
not be uninteresting to your readers. It is said 
that paddy, as the rice husk is called, in its wild 
state, is a native of this country, and that its 
cultivation has been carrried on here from time 
j immemorial, to such an extent that Indian farm- 
| ers have little or nothing to learn about it. 
An experienced and accurate botanist, Mr. C. B. 
| Clarke, has said that the hereditary cultivators 
; possess a marvellous intuitive knowledge in re- 
I cognising the different forms of rice and, what 
j is far more surprising, that they can pick up 
| a handful of dry grain and affirm that it would 
I be more suitable to a particular method of culti- 
! vation and soil, while they reject an almost 
precisely similar grain as unsuitable. With all 
I their knowledge and intuition in the matter of 
' the successful culture of this valuable crop, 
