740 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [May 2, 1904. 
PLANTING AND OTHER NOTES. 
Ramie Fibre.— An interesting letter appears in 
onr colamus elsewhere from Mr, H. C. Bluntashli 
on the subject of ramie. Mr. Bluntschli speaks 
from experience, as he has for some time been engaged 
in planting rimie. It will be noticed thait be 
wisely recommends planters about to start ramie 
growing to start in a small way and be content 
with little profits at first. Mr. Blantschli gives 
some interesting information re decortication and 
degnmming, "and his letter will ba appreciated as 
coming from one who knows. 
Washes for Cacao Thrips.— The foKowing useful 
washes for thrips on cacao bushes are to be recom- 
mended. They are suggested by the EDtomologist of 
the Imperial Department ot Agriculture, W.I.,"1 would 
suggest two washes which might give good results and 
which seem at least worthy of fair trial. The flist is 
Lounsbiiiy'a Lime and Sulphur formula used at the 
Cape of Good Hope. This is made by boiling 10 lb. 
lime with 20 1b. sulphur in a large kettle, in snf&cieuC 
water to dissolve them. Good quieidime should be 
used and any additional water should be added 
gradually. This is sufficient for from 100 to 300 gallons 
of wash. I would recommend a trial of this on a very 
few trees to see whether it would give good results with 
the thrips, and whether it would injure the foliage 
fruit or branches of the cacao. The second wash that 
might be worth trial is Lefroy's mixture— whale oil 
soap, 10 lb. ; crude Barbados oil, pints ; naphthalene 
4 oz. This should be dissolved in water at the rate 
of 1 lb. to 4 gallons water andl lb. to 2 gallons water. 
Care must be taken to get it thoroughly dissolved." 
Fibre Decoktication. — The process of fibre decorti- 
cation is explained as follows by a writer in " Commer- 
cial Intelligence The interior of the green stems 
consists of, in a great measure, woody pith called 
in the trade 'shieve. ' This has to ba removed 
by decortication, and also the outer ekin of the 
stems, generally termed ' pslicule,' This skin must 
be removed in the green state from the underlying 
fibrep, because if allowed to dry it becomes brown 
and sticks to the fibies with extraordinary tenacity 
by means of a special gum. Ramie fibre partially 
or imperfectly decorticated needs not only a longer, 
but also a stronger process of deguramiiig, involving 
extra cost, extra loss of weight in degumming and 
a deterioration in the quality of the filasse. A good 
decorticating machine must, therefore, do its work 
efficiently give a good production, and be capable 
of working by me»ns of native labour. Fibre of good 
quality when decorticated contains about 30 per cent, 
of its weight in g:im, to be afterwards removed in 
the degumming process. The cultivation of ramie 
has been undoubtedlyi seriously retarded for many 
years past through the defective construction of the 
decorticating machines on the market and their 
unpractical working." Now, however, several good 
decorticating machines have been placed on the 
market. 
Artificial Camphor or Borneoi.. — In making bor- 
neo or artificial camphor, which has a composition ■ 
identical with that of the natural product, oil of tur- 
pentine weighing at least 2,000 lb. is placed in the 
steam- jacketed reaction tanks, together with aihydrou- 
oxalio acid, the result of this reaction being pinyl oxalate 
and pinyl formate. The liquid obtained by this process 
is pumped into a set of stills, where it is distilled with live 
steam in the presence ot an alkali, the result being the 
formation of ordinary camphor and burned camphor 
dissolved in the oily products of the reaction. These 
oils are fractionally distilled to extract the camphor 
and borneoi further. After the pleasant-smelling oils 
have passed over, the camphor and borneoi distil in 
the steam and are precipitated in the condenser in a 
white mass somewhat resembling boiled rice. The 
crude product is then forced by compressed air through 
a filter press, and thoroughly washed to free it from 
all traces of oil, when it is dropped into an oxidising 
tank, where the boroeol oxidises into ordinary camphor 
The mass is sgain transferred to a rapidly-revolving 
centrifugal machine, where the oxidising liquors are 
thrown out, and the camphor, being heavier, remains 
behind comparatively pure, but stained from the 
oxidising compound, so that it resembles light-brown 
sugar. After removal from the separator it is placed 
in a large steam-jacketed sublimer. In this vessel 
a slow heat frees it from any water it may contain, 
and the temperature is then raised to the boiling 
point of camphor, and a rapid current of air projected 
over the surface of the pan blowing the camphor into 
a condensing chamber, where it settles in the form of 
snow flake-like crystals. 
The Spoii,t Indian Shellac Industry — Shellac baa 
lately been at famine prices in the London market, 
in fact there has been a famine in it, for no shellac; 
supply has been available for some time. The prices 
in the London market have been steadily growing up, 
from the normal 60s. to 100s. per cwt. to 120s., then to 
160s., and at last to 240s- per cwt, when the supply practi- 
cally ceased, for there was no free shellac left to sell, 
^he beginnings of the trouble were small and far back. 
There is no forcing a crop of shellac. Nature must take 
its course. Although there is such a thing as seedlac, 
from which all forms ot lac are derived, it is not a seed, 
bat a resinous exudation on the bark of the lac trees 
manufactured from the sap by certain insects in the 
process of depositing their eggs upon the branches. 
Saitalsle trees and suitable insects abound only in 
certain districts of India, one of the largest of which 
was devastated some two years back by a series of 
bush fires. Not to lie done out of his crop the mild 
Hindoo proceeded to cut every remaining twig with 
every remaining atom of seedlac, including the twigs 
that should have been left to produce the next crop 
of insects who would, in turn, have produced the fol- 
lowing crop of seedlac, No insects, no eggs ; no seedlac, 
no shellac— 240 shillings per hundredweight. The 
sequence is perfect. Jnst as in the early days of the 
guttapercha trade the loss of a single cargo caused 
a price convulsion from which the market is jocularly 
said to have never yet recovered, so, with a steadily 
expanding demand, shellac ia feeling the effects of 
those unconsidered bush fires of two years ago. 
Things will, no doubt, right themselves, though how 
is not so obvious. 
The Hemp Fibre Plant.— The hemp plant {Canna- 
Ms sativa) is an annual belonging to the nettle- 
family It grows to a height of from 5 to 15 ft., 
and when cultivated for fibre produces only a few 
small branches near the top of the slender stalk. 
Its rich, davk green leaves are composed of five to nine 
lanceolate, serrate, pointed leaflets, 2 in. to 5 in. long 
and about one-sixth as wide The staminate or pollen- 
bearing flowers, and the pistillate or seed-producing 
flowers, are on soparate plants, both plants being 
nearly alike I but the staminate plants mature earlier. 
The stems are hollow, and in the best varieties rather 
prominently fluted. The fibre consists of numerous 
series of long cells in the inner bark, firmly knitted 
together, which, when cleared from the surronading 
tissues, form tough strands nearly as long as the entire 
plant. This is a bast fibre, and is classed commer- 
cially among the soft fibres with flax, ramie, and jute. 
The hemp plant originated in Central Asia ; but it is 
now widely distributed, especially in the north temper- 
ate zone, growing spontaneously where it has been 
accidentally introduced with bird seed, or cultivated for 
the fibre. The name " hemp " was first applied to the 
plant above described ; but, unfortunately, in recent 
years, says J'For^, it has been used to designate the sisal 
plant, or henequen, a species of agave producing a leaf 
fibre, and the manila fibre plant, or abaca, a kind of 
banana plant producing structural fibres in the leaf 
petioles. Sansevieria, a tropical genus belonging to 
the lily family, includes three or four fibre-producing 
species, often called bowstring hemp, and an Bast 
Indian species, Crotalaria juncea, is commonly known 
as Sunn hemp. The name is also applied to several 
other species of less importance. 
