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THE  I’ROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1895. 
T ;iiii  merely  sending  these  remarks  as  you 
appear  to  hewaiMily  iiuerested  in  the  matter. — 
Yours  faithfully,  E.  I.  SHADIlOl.T. 
VVe  need  searcely  say  that  we  are  greatly 
obliged  to  Mr.  Sliadholt  fur  expressing  so  strong 
an  opinion  as  to  the  future  of  Coloml)o  ami  on  the 
])o'itieal  value  of  the  llaihvay  to  the  lni[ierial  and 
In  lian  (.lovernments.  Xo  less  to  the  |)oint  is  his 
rebult  to  tho.se  wlio  would  raise  the  hogcy  of  An- 
tx^xation  at  this  time  in  order  to  block  tl'ie  jiatli  of 
Indo-Ceylon  Railway.  We  feel  sure  that  Mr. 
Whadbolt’s  letter  putting  so  many  points  with 
such  admirable  clearness,  will  have  a good  eHect 
both  in  reylon  and  in  England,  in  removing  ob- 
stacles in  the  way'  of  commencing  an  under- 
taking which  on  local,  Indian  and  Imperial 
groumls  is  so  desirable  and  jiotential  for  good. 
THE  OUTLOOK  EOR  CAMPHOR. 
■Vu  American  journal — the  X"e\v  York  Driit) 
Report  r,-  inter e.sted  from  the  wholesale  and  retail 
l)omt  of  view? — thinks  there  is  no  need  now  to 
iii'i'  a scarcity: — 
1 he  speculation,  which  is  now  the  feature  of  tl;o 
crude  camphor  market  in  London,  is  of  considowble 
interest  to  the  refiners  of  this  very  important  drug. 
Ever  since  the  war  commenced  lietvveen  China 
and  Japan  there  has  been  more  or  less  speculation 
in  crude  camphor,  and  the  price  of  the  refirred  has 
been  advanced  several  times  since  last  summer,  but 
at  times  the  price  has  weakened,  owing  to  lack  of 
support  from  consumers  and  temporary  withdrawal 
of  speculators  in  the  crude.  The  latest  advances  in 
the  refined  which  our  market  reports  have  chronicled, 
were  caused  by  another  speculative  manipulation  in 
London  of  the  crude,  and  it  is  reported  that  a 
well-known  financier  is  at  the  back  of  tlie  move 
ment.  The  price  has  recently  been  advanced  from 
one  hundred  and  twelve  shillings  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  shillings,  c.  i.  f.,  and  very  heavy  purchases  have 
been  made  by  those  engaged  in  manipulating  the 
market.  The  speculation  is  doubtless  based  on  the 
condition  of  alfairs  at  the  sources  of  supply.  Judg- 
ing from  all  the  information  that  has  been  received, 
the  conditions  do  not  appear  to  warrant  any  move- 
ment of  the  character  of  the  present  one.  While  it 
is  true  that  for  several  years  the  output  of  Japan 
and  Formosa  amounted  to  ()0,0()0  piculs,  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds  each,  and 
while  it  is  also  true  that  the  production 
of  Japan  has  been  steadly  declining,  with  the 
prospect  of  the  camphor  forests  of  that  '■oun- 
try  soon  becoming  extinct,  the  fact  must  not  he 
overlooked  that  Formosa  ha.s  enormously  increased 
her  output,  which  had  been  greatly  curtailed  by  the 
action  of  the  Chinese  authorities  in  heavily  taxing 
the  gum.  Concessions  granted  by  the  Chinese  to  a 
syndicate  some  three  years  ago  did  away  with  the 
vexatious  restrictions  upon  this  important  industry, 
with  the  result  that  tlie  ]iroduction  is  greater  than 
it  ever  was,  and  irow  exceeds  that  of  Japan.  The 
production  of  both  v.arieties  in  181t;>  was,  in  round 
numbers,  .'id, 000  piculs,  and  in  Ib'.M.  5.5,000  piculs, 
almost  up  to  the  output  of  some  years  ago.  The 
supply  has  proved  more  than  ample  for  all  require- 
ments of  the  trade,  notwithstanding  the  large  in- 
crease in  certain  directions  in  the  demand  for  the 
refined  article,  as  naphthaline  has  to  a considerable 
extent  taken  its  place  as  a jnoth  destroyer.  Quite  a 
larger  supply  of  crude  has  been  carried  in  Hongkong, 
and  at  no  time  has  there  been  any  prospect  of  a 
scarcity. 
A ('AMIMJOi:  FAMINE. 
Toe  news  th.at  the  price  of  camphor  was  advanc- 
ing at  the  r.ate  of  a penny  or  two  per  jiound  every 
da'y,  as  the  result  of  the  recent  w'ar  between  China 
and  .Japan,  and  that  ICngland  and  the  Continent 
were  threatened  with  something  like  a camphor 
famine,  has  caused  considerable  alarm.  That  this 
should  be  so  is  not  surpiising,  seeing  t,hat  camphor 
is  an  article  of  daily  consumption,  used  as  a medicine 
in  diseases  from  the  most  fatal  form  of  Asiatic  cholera 
to  a mere  cold  in  the  head.  Its  value  as  a dis- 
infectant is  thoroughly  established.  Beyond  this,  its 
use  has  helped  to  check  the  spread  of  Asiatic  cholera. 
It  has  been  tried  in  Naples  by  the  famous  Dr. 
Rubini,  whose  testimony  to  the  jnerits  of  camphor 
as  a cure  of  cholera  has  never  been  disputed. 
In  the  great  cholera  epidemic  of  1854,  he  ad- 
ministered camphor,  taken  internally,  to  400  cholera 
patients,  every  one  of  whom  recovered.  Proctor, 
during  the  cholera  epidemic  in  Liverpool  in  18(56, 
treated  128  cholera  patients  with  camphor,  and  there 
were  but  three  cases  of  relapse.  The  drug  has 
indeed  even  more  beneficent  properties  than  the 
general  public  are  aware  of.  A large  dealer  in  the 
drug  says  the  present  unprecedented  demand  for  it 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  more  camphor  has  been  sold 
for  future  delivery  than  is  at  the  moment  obtainable, 
and  that  the  stock  on  hand  does  not  exceed  four  or 
five  thousand  hundredweight. 
The  greater  poi-tion  of  our  camphor  comes  from 
China  and  Japan.  Before  the  war  it  was  cheap, 
hut  as  soon  as  hostilities  were  begun  the 
price  went  up.  With  the  close  of  the  war  the 
manufacturers  thought  camphor  h.ad  reached  its 
top  price  a»id  must  recede,  so  they  did  not 
increase  their  stocks.  But  it  turned  out  that  they 
were  wrong,  and  those  who  delayed  buying  had  to 
pay  a higher  figure  for  camphor,  the  price  of  which, 
like  that  of  everything  else,  is  regulated  by  the 
relation  of  demand  to  supply.  Camphor  costs  today 
from  £7  to  £8  per  case  of  a hundredweight ; but  a 
few  years  ago  the  price  touched  £9,  and  at  a former 
period  even  reached  £20.  There  is  no  reason  why 
the  price  should  not  advance  beyond  the  very 
moderate  figure  it  stands  at  now,  which  is  not 
excessive  compared  with  what  it  was  in  former  years. 
Camphor  is  dearer  in  China  today  than  in  London, 
a case  that  costs  £7  16s  here  being  sold  in  China 
for  £9. 
It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  there  is  less 
camphor  in  England  today  than  is  necessary  to  meet 
the  rcipiirements  of  the  manufacturers;  and  when 
the  Continental  buyers  begin  to  purchase  heavily, 
it  is  more  than  likely  that  camphor  many  fetch 
612  or  perhai)s  even  £14  a case.  A good  deal  of 
camphor  is  held  by  a syndicate,  who,  however,  will, 
it  is  understood,  sell  to  manufacturers  at  a moderate 
price  sufficient  camphor  to  carry  on  their  business. 
15ut  speculators  who  have  sold  camphor  they  did  not 
have,  and  could  not  now  obtain,  will  suffer.  Should 
a warm  summer  bring  dysentery  or  cholera  to 
I'lngland,  the  demand  for  the  drug  will  be  very  great. 
Camphor  has  been  nearly  all  obtained  by  tbe  Chinese, 
who  are  greatly  demoralized  by  the  results  of  the 
wai',  or  by  the  .Japanese,  whose  Government  have 
restricted  (he  i)roduction  by  passing  a law  that  the 
camphor-tre.es  shall  not  be  eut  down  but  011I3'  tapiJed. 
It  will  take  the  Chinese  seven  or  eight  mouths  to 
prepare  the  new  crop  of  camphor  for  the  market, 
camphor-making  from  the  gum  being  a very  tedious 
process.  The  gum  has  to  be  washed  and  spread  in 
the  sun  to  dry,  and  undergo  other  treatment. 
Camphor-making  is  not  a regularly  organized  in- 
dustry, ljut  a monopoly  of  certain  tribes  in  China, 
some  of  whom  are  now  in  rebellion  against  the 
Government. — £7.  Janicu’D  Hmhjcf,  May  31st. 
OUVAIl  COFFEE  COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
Report  to  be  presented  to  the  Thirty-second  Ordinary 
General  IMectingof  the  Company,  to  be  held  at  No.  5. 
Dowgate  Hill,  Ijondon,  on  Wednesday,  the  19th  day 
of  .lime,  1895,  at  12-30  o’clock  p.m. 
Tlic  following  annual  accounts  are  now  presented 
to  shareholders  viz.: — Profit  and  IjOss  Aecount  for 
Crop  1893-4,  Balance  Sheet  made  up  to  31st  March, 
1895. 
ciior  1893-4. 
In  the  Directors'  last  report  the  coffee  crop  of  the 
above  seasoi  was  estimated  at  about  f>(X>  ewts.,  and 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  actual  weight  sold  inLoudou 
amounted  to  556  cwt.  2 qrs.  6 lb. 
