344 
AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 
No. .8.] AUGUST, 1909. [Von. VIII 
CAMPHOR. 
Preliminary Notes on the Preparation of Camphor 
in the F. M. 8. 
In view of the forthcoming Agricultural Show at 
Penang in August, the following notes on investigations 
which are now being carried on in the preparation of 
Camphor from the common Formosan or Japanese Cam- 
phor tree together with notes on the cultivation and growth 
of the plant in the Malay Peninsula have been published, 
since it is hoped that an exhibit of this product among 
others prepared by the Agricultural Department of the F. 
M. 8. will be on view at the Show and may be of interest to 
planters. 
Considerable attention has been attracted to this pro- 
duct during recent years owing to the Japanese monopoly; 
— indeed to such an extent that the synthetic product has 
already been placed on the market at home and in Europe 
to compete with the natural product and this has been due 
to the prevailing high prices of the natural Camphor owing 
to the monopoly by Japan. The synthetic product however 
has been (for the time at any rate) short lived, as owing to 
a fall in the price of the natural product it was soon unable 
to compete successfully with natural camphor. It must, 
however, still be borne in mind that cheaper sources of raw 
material may eventually be found from which to prepare 
the synthetic compound, than oil of turpentine, which is 
