March  2,  i8g6.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
597 
becoming  exhausted.  In  the  island  of  Formosa 
the  camphor  trees  are  said  to  be  by  no  means 
plentiful,  and  they  grow  only  in  certain  favourable 
situations,  as  far  as  the  climate  is  concerned,  with 
savage  tribes  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Here  the 
trees  arc  not  considered  worth  taking  until  they 
are  fifty  years  old,  and  the  wood  only  of  the  roots 
and  stems  is  subjected  to  distillation. 
Cultivation  in  India. — The  camphor  tree  grows 
very  well  in  India.  The  Ciloutta  Botanic  Gardens 
possess  a tine  avenue  of  trees,  which  were  introduced 
in  180‘2.  It  grows  well  in  the  Ootacamund  Botanical 
Gardens  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Nilgiris.  It  has 
been  planted,  as  an  experimental  measure,  at  Jhansi 
in  the  North  Western  Provinces,  and  in  other  dis- 
tricts in  the  plains  Camphor  has  been  known  and 
used  in  India  for  many  centuries.  In  a.u.  64‘2  In- 
dian princes  sent  camphor  as  a tribute  or  offering 
ing  to  the  Chinese  Emperors.  At  one  time  the 
tree  flourished  in  Nepal  and  Tipperah,  a large  tract 
of  1 ind  lying  beween  Bengal  ahd  the  upper  Irra- 
waddy. Witliiii  the  present  century  camphor  was 
imported  from  Chittigong  but  it  has  been  said  that 
the  discovery  of  the  hill-men  of  distilling  it  from  the 
root  led  to  the  extinction  of  the  trees, 
Othkh  Countiues. — In  Ceylon  the  camphor  tree 
grows  well  at  elevations  of  5,000it.  and  less;  and  it 
grows  for  ornamental  purposes  in  Naples  and  other 
parts  of  Italy  Professor  Maisch  in  1891  reported  on 
the  cultivution  of  camphor  in  Florida,  where  it  flour- 
ished in  almost  any  soil.  California  has  lately  become 
the  scene  of  an  industry  which  has  for  its  objects  the 
planting  of  the  laurel  camphor  and  the  preparation  of 
the  oil  for  the  American  market.  Thetree  has  also 
become  naturalised  in  Java,  Brazil,  Jamica,  and 
other  isles  of  the  West  Indies,  Mauritius,  and  Ma- 
deira. It  is  very  evident  that  the  camphor  tree  is  able 
to  grow  very  luxuriantly  and  extensively  in  tlva  warmer 
temperate  and  tropical  parts  of  the  world,  far  re- 
moved from  China  and  Japan,  but  the  slow  growth 
of  the  tree  would  prevent  all  but  large  capitalists 
from  opening  up  plantations  and  waiting  for  the 
plants  to  sufficiently  mature. 
Distilling  the  Leaves. — As  there  is  no  definite 
information  on  this  point  to  be  found  in  any  des- 
cription of  the  industry,  it  was-  deemed  interesting 
to  try  the  effect  of  distilling  the  leaves.  The  first 
sample  of  loaves  came  from  an  .umbrageous  tree  grow 
ing  in  the  Giveriiment  gardens  at  Ootacamund. 
Fifty  pounds  of  the  leaves  in  a fresh  state  was  dis- 
tilled in  a large  copper  still  with  sufficient  water  for 
six  hours.  Eight  fluid  ounces  of  oil  were  separated 
from  the  distillate,  giving  the  yield  of  essential 
oil  1 per  cent.,  yielding  10  to  15  per  cent,  of 
camphor.  The  second  sample  was  obtained  from 
some  younger  trees  grown  at  Naduvatam  on  the 
Nilgiris,  a district  more  than,  a thousand  feet 
lower  than  Ootacamund.  The  leaves  were  distilled 
in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  previous  experiment, 
but  a large  quantity  of  camphor  condensed  during 
the  process  and  almost  choked  up  the  warm  of 
the  still.  About  four  ounces  of  liquid  w'cre  col- 
lected. having  a mass  of  crystalline  matter  sus- 
pended ill  it.  The  oil  from  the  Naduvatirn  leaves 
contained  75  per  cent  of  camphor,  which  is  a very 
satisfactory  result.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
a large  proportion  of  camphor  can  be  obtained 
from  the  oil  of  the  leaves,  and  from  the  leaves 
themselves,  and  probably,  if  taken  from  the 
trees  grown  at  a much  lower  elevation,  a much 
larger  proportion  of  this  useful  substance  could  be 
collected. — 11.  rC.  C.  Mail.  Jany.  24. 
UUUG  KEFOBT. 
(From  the  Cheniitit  and  Tlriuffjisl.) 
London,  January  16th. 
Ks-sential  oils.— Oil  of  cimiainon-leaf  i.s  again  some- 
what dearer,  5jd  lias  been  paid  on  the  spot,  and  there 
is  no  more  to  lie  had  at  tliat  price.  Lemongrass  oil  un- 
altered. Native  oils  on  the  spot  2.jd  per  oz  ; for  arrival 
Zgd.  Citronella  oil  again  slightly  dearer,  whicli  .sales  of 
fair  quality  ; usual  eouditious,  on  the  spot  at  Zs  ]ier  lb. 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  more  can  be  had  at  that 
Cgure,  2s  2d  being  the  general  quotation. 
AMSTERDAM  CINCUDNA  SALES. 
London,  January  16. 
Our  Amsterdam  correspondent  telegraphing  on  Thursday 
afternoon,  .states  that  at  today’s  public  sales  of  Java 
cinchona  liark  .s, 149  packages,  re]iresenting  tive-sixths  of 
the  supply  ottered,  sold  at  an  average  unit  of  3c  per 
half-kilo,  wlncli  is  equal  to  the  price  paid  at  the  last 
sales.  The  principal  buyers  were  : G Briegleb  of  Amster- 
dam, renresentmg  the  American  and  Knglish  nvinufact- 
urers  who  bought  an  eipiivalent  of  5,925  kilos  of  sulphate 
of  quinine  ; the  Auerbach  Factory  4,111  kilos  ; the  Bruns- 
wick Factory  4,610  kilos;  the  Amsterdam  anil  .Mannheim 
works  6S1S  kilos  ; the  F’rankfort-on-Maine  and  Stntt<>-art 
works  2,066  kilos  ; and  general  buyers  3,906  ■ ilos.  The 
prices  paid  ranged  from  7jc  to  40c  (equal  to  Ijd  to  7Id) 
for  Druggists’  barks,  and  from  9|c  to  70j-c  (equal  to  IJd 
to  Is  Ofd)  per  lb  for  manufacturing  barks  Tlie  tone 
throughout  the  auctions  was  firm.  The  total  supply  con- 
sisted of  6,13!  bales  and  268  cases  of  Java  cinchona-bark 
weighing  .59 i, 219  kilos,  are  to  be  offered.  The  bark  con- 
tained the  largi  quantity  of  32,178  kilos  of  sulpliate  of 
quinine,  being  an  average  of  5'53  par  cent  f ir  the  manu- 
facturing bark  — C/eo/i  isf  nud  Dra;)ijist. 
MR.  G.  W.  CHRISTISON  ON  TEA. 
On  Monday  week  Mr.  G.  W Christison  gave  one  of 
his  practic.al,  instructive,  and  much-needed  lectures  on 
tea  at  Goose  Green,  East  Dulwich,  Loudon.  The  sub- 
ject was,  “Tea  Gu  ture  and  Manufacture  in  Darjeel- 
ing.” At  the  outset  the  lecturer  gave  a brief  account  of 
the  origin  and  development  of  Darjefeling  as  a British 
territory  as  well  as  a tea-producing  district,  showing 
that  up  till  1815  it  was  a terra  ineognita  ; that  the 
first  effort  to  grow  tea  was  made  by  Dr.  Archibald 
Campbell,  the  first  resident  Government  official  there- 
and  that  experimental  plots  of  a few  acres  in  extent 
were  planted , fourteen  years  later,  the  first  tea  garden 
on  a commercial  footing  having  been  s arted  in  1858 
or  possibly  a year  earlier.  In  a few  words  the  features 
and  situation  of  the  district  were  sketched,  and  the 
area  under  tea  and  population  ( native  and  European) 
employed  on  the  tea  gardens  and  resident  other- 
wise employed  were  giv  n. 
Every  operation  in  connection  with  cultivation 
and  manufacture  was  described  and  illustrated  by 
effective  lantern  representations,  from  the  clearance 
for  planting  out  on  the  hi-l  side  with  the  felled 
timber  strewn  over  it  (a  graphic  account  being  given 
of  the  lively,  and  exciting  scene  during  the  burning), 
to  the  carrying  of  a tea  chest  up  the  mountain  path 
on  the  way  to  market  by  a hardy  Nepali  hill-man, 
to  whose  climbing  qualifications  and  powers  of  en- 
durance an  evidently  hearty,  and  no  doubt  well-de- 
served, tribute  was  p.iid. 
We  shall  not  attempt  a full  account  of  the 
lecture,  but  may  allude  in  a few  lines  to  one  or 
two  points  that  struck  us  most  forcibly.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that,  as  pointed  out  by  the 
lecturer,  a matter  of  extreme  importance  on 
estates  so  excessively  steep  (as  shown  by  the 
views)  is  careful  cultivation,  by  terracing  and  drain- 
age, to  prevent  loss  of  soil  not  only  by  the  operations 
Iheraselve.  but  by  wash  from  the  great  rainfall  which 
often  comes  down  in  sudden  and  heavy  downpours. 
From  the  several  views,  and  the  description  of  the 
coolie  houses,  and  their  w-ater  supply,  which  was  given 
we  can  not  only  easily  credit  that  “space,  comfort,’ 
and  sanitation  are  provided  up  to  and  in  most  instan- 
ces in  advance  of  the  tastes  and  wishes  of  the  occu- 
pants,” and  that  “ in  most  cases  all  is  now  being  done 
for  the  coolies’  comfort  that  is  practicable  and  wise," 
and  we  fancy,  from  what  we  have  learned  from  friends 
from  the  tea  districts,  that  these  dwellings  can- 
not fall  so  very  far  short  of  some  of  those  pro- 
vided for  European  assistants  in  other  districts 
within  the  last  few  years.  The  system  of 
leaf-plucking  was  fully  illustrated  by  views,  diagrams, 
and  description,  also  by  groups  of  coolies  at  work 
on  the  hill  sides.  In  regard  to  manufacture  every 
operation  was  made  clear  from  the  weighing  of  the 
leaf  on  its  entry  to  the  factory,  “ green,  fresh,  but 
often  wet,”  till  its  discharge  from  the  drying  ma- 
chine, “ crisp,  wiry,. and  black,”  and  up  till  the  chest 
w'as  sent  on  its  way  to  market  as  referred  to.  The 
changes  that  take  place  upon  the  leaf  during  the 
various  operations  were  clearly  pointed  out.  Spe- 
cimeus  of  the  vavious  raaubiues  were  placed  ou  the 
