576 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Fm. 1, 1899. 
of a little over 12 millions sent away. The 
countries which liave run into aix fif^ures are, 
in their order, Africa, Germany, India and Hol- 
land. Almost all our rope, 11,589 cwt, out of 
12,333, went to Siut^apore ; Imlia taking 645 cwt. 
and tlie Unitetl Kingdom 99 ; but in yarn the last 
mentioned stands lirst among many conipetitora, 
with 60,963 cwt, out of 75,!jl9. In (ibre too the 
United Kingdom heads tiie list with 66,107 out 
of 95,779 cwt. — Germany and lielgium taking each 
11,939 and 10,223 respectively. That product too 
finils a number of customers. It will thus be 
seen that coconuts have done well last year ; 
and may that experience be repeated in 1899 ! 
THE MANUFACTURE OF TEKFUMES 
IN FllANl E. 
Enormous quantities of flowers are used in the 
Alpes Maritimes in the manufacture of perfumes. It 
ha« been estimated that of rosea alone 2,0iX) tons are 
auDually treated ; orange flowers, 2,500 tons ; jessa- 
mine, 200 tons ; cassie (Acacia Fanieaiana), 150 tous ; 
tuberoses, 150 tons ; aud violets, 2'HJ tons. The 
average selling price per pound of flowers is, in the 
case of violets and cassie, Is BJ ; tuberoses. Is 3d ; 
jessamine. Is ; roses, 3i(i ; aud orange flowers, 3id. 
Of the flowers producing essences, the orange ilo ver 
produces 1 lb of essence — which is called " neroli '' — 
for each 500 lb of flowers. As regards the proportionate 
yield of the other flowers, it is as follows : — Rose, 
12 500 1b of flowers, lib of essence ; geranium, 500 lb 
of 'flowers, 1 lb of essence; mint, 500 1b aud I lb of 
essence ; lavender, 500 lb of flowers to li lb of essence, 
and the same proportion for eucalyptus. There are 
two processes used for the purpo.^e of ex' racling per- 
fume from flowers which do not contain the volatile 
essence. The first may be described as the cold pro- 
cess, and the second as the hot process. The former 
ia generally used for CASsie (Acacia Farnesiana), 
jessamine, jonquils, tuberoses, violets, and some other 
flowers. Freshly gathered flowers are spread upon a 
layerof para lard a qa.irter u£ an incli in thickness, 
spread over a sheet of glass about two feet squ ire, 
which is framed in wood and forms a kind of iray. 
These trays — sometimes about 40 or 50 together — are 
thyn piled upon one another, the flowers are then 
changed every 12, 18, or 24 hours, according to cic- 
cnrastances, and the process is thus continued until 
the lard is sufficiently charged with perfume. Jess- 
amine and tuberoses are frequently changed as often 
as 50 times before the lard ia considered to be 
sufficiently impregnated, cassie and violets from 30 to 
40 times, and jonquils about 20 times only. The fact 
thus obtained can be packed in air-tight tins and 
conveyed anywhere. When the hot process is resorted 
to for the purpose of obtaining the imprsgnatod fat, 
aboui401b of grease are placed in a copper vessel 
together with about 10 lb of flowers ; the vessel is 
then placed over a slow fire and the contents ara well 
stirred. After allowing the compound to boil for 10 
minutes the vessel is left to cool for some hours ; an 
additional 10 lb of flowers are then added, and the 
process is repeated until the fat has absorbed the 
requisite amount of perfume. The hot liquid is then 
poured through a sieve, and the greasy flower paste 
that remains is subjected to hydraulic pressure. It 
is in these two ways that the " pommados " of trade 
are produced. From these " pommades " perfumed 
and alcoholised liquids are extracted by means of 
grain spirit and also by spirits of wine. These are 
the " extraits " of trade, and it is by the judicious 
blending of the different essences and concentrated 
perfumes, obtained by the processes above described, 
that the numerous scenls are produced, — Journal of the 
Society of Arts. 
♦ 
TEA PESTS. 
A Maskeliya planter writes When pruning 
a field here I noticed that a considerable number 
of the had bfen attacked by some sort of a 
borer. I think it is the work of M.utB, and ootliiDg 
to be alarmed about, for on most of ihe adjoinio); 
estates a few bushes here and there are alt«,cked iu 
Uie same way ; and from what I hear the dam)i;;e 
done to the tea is not »>erious. [ am aendiup by 
paicel-post part of a bush, showing the damage 
done, also a tin containing a few of the grub. ' 
The damage ha.*! been done, as our correspondent 
i^uppo'-es, by " white ants." We extract from Mi. 
E. E. Green's graphic account of lUie pett and liow 
to deal with it : — 
It will be convenient to commence the account from 
the time of the periodic flights of the winged inarcta. 
The males and females, each providrd for the occa- 
sion with four long brown wings, mixv from ihe ground 
at dusk ia countless numbers aoi Hutt«r aimleasly 
about, a prey to num^^rou* enemies, and bats make 
havoc in tne fluttering crowd. An army of toadt 
Bwarm over the ground and snap up the fallen insecta. 
Cats and dogs, rats aui mice, all come to the feast. 
Even the Tamil cooly iacludes them io bis bill of-fare. 
So great is the combined siaagbter that it baa be«n 
estimated that scarcely one out of every thousand es- 
capes. After a short tight Ihe survivors shake off their 
wings and recommence their vraudaringsou the gr*DBd. 
Here they are said to be found br some of the 'worker' 
auts an J conveyed to a place of safelr uDdergrouud, 
each pair being elected king and queen of a new colony. 
The body of the ' queen' ant bscuinea enormously dis- 
tended with esgs. She ia enclosed in a chamber which 
has a series of openiugt through which the ' work-^rs ' 
come and go, removing the eggs as faat as they are laid 
aud storing thom in liUtseries where the young ones are 
"aref uUy fed by their attendants. 
A certain proportion of the eggs develop into males 
aud females ; others iLto the two kindn of neuters, the 
' workers ' and ' soldiers.' The ' worker*,' a* their 
name implies, are employed in bjildini; and excavatiuj( 
tauuels audin a< tending to the larvae, while the 'sol- 
ixaxi ' are suposed to defend them from attack. The 
q ieen '-inup is siid to live f r several years, during 
which time she steadily increases in size. Specimens 
have been found nearly six inches iu length. The 
number of eggs produced must be enormous. Each 
fresh bro3d of m iles and feinules finally at'ain wings 
and migrate in vast flights, as describsd above. From 
the central nets subterranean galleries and covered 
ways are carried to great distances iu search of food . 
The ants never work exposed to the light. If tbey have 
to ascend a rock or the oatpide of a tree, they make 
covered ways of clay beneath which they can travel 
unseen. In a country like Ceylon, where we have 
abundant evidence of their work, it is needless to dilate 
upon the deslructiveness of the insects, — a destructive- 
uess enhanced by the insidious way in which it is 
effected. Frjm the above account it will be seen how 
important it is to find the headquar-ers of the colony, 
and especially to destroy the queen insect. In the pre- 
sent case, where the insects have no necessity to 
wander far afield in search of food the nest would prob- 
ably be foun l in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
injured trees. 
The above was written in 1890, and since then we 
have not heard of much damac^e done to tea by 
white ants. 
RAMIE FiBRE : A NEW COMPANY. 
CEIINA TRADING AND EAMIE SYNDICATE, LIMITED, 
Registered January, 3, by Foss and Ledsam. 5, 
Fenchurch-street, E. C, with a capital of £100,100 
in £1 shares. Object, to adopt and carry into 
effect an agreement made between H, C. 
Bennertz of the one part and this company of the 
other part, for the acquisition of a secret process 
relating to the manufacture of yarn by the 
deguniming of ramie or China grass or other 
like materials, to develop and work the same, 
{^ad to open stores in the treaty ports and el69< 
