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ESSENTIAL OILS AND MINOR INDUSTRIES. 
Cinnamon. 
Although attempts are being made to distill cinnamon, 
bark in Seychelles, the greater part of it mostly used a3 
incense, is for exportation. The quantity exported is however 
declining but reaches as much as 600 tons valued at Rs 44,619 
for 1914, a decrease of 165 tons compared with last year. It is 
worth recording that this Ceylon tree, introduced by Poivre ia 
the middle of the 18th century, was mistaken for the Chinese 
cinnamon (C. Cassia) and no notice of it was taken until 1908 
although it had been identified by this Department as far 
back as 1902. From 1908 to this date more than four million. 
Rupees worth of cinnamon bark has been exported. It is one 
of the predominating trees here growing as well on the sea 
shore and alongside rivers a3 on the highest summits. Under 
the action of the late heavy rainfall, some plants which had 
been nearly stripped of the whole of their bark by planters, 
are now producing new shoots from the base of the stem. The 
exportation of the bark will be inconsiderable pending the 
growth of the new shoots. It is to be regretted that most of 
the trees are barked while standing instead of being carefully 
felled and allowed to grow again from suckers. The tree is 
also propagated naturally by mynahs and pigeons which are 
very fond of its oily seeds. No plant is less likely to disappear 
from the jungle than the cinnamon tree in spite of its being 
the prey of scale insects (Lecanium tessellatum). Useful for 
their leaves which on distillation produce an oil heavier than 
water, the smaller trees as stated last year are simply trimmed 
for their leaves every 18 months. This is a much more econo¬ 
mical way of working cinnamon trees in Seychelles and one 
likely to produce beneficial results of a more permanent 
character. The quantity of cinnamon leaf oil exported 
amounted to 8406 litres worth Rs 33,749 or double the quantity 
produced last year. Two more small distilleries were erected 
during the year under review, one at Bel Air and the other 
at Bel Ombre. Other essential oils exported were clove oil, 
lemon grass, and vetiver oils, but in much smaller quantities. 
CITRATE OF LIME. 
The quantity of citrate of lime manufactured at Silhouette 
amounted to 800 kilogs. It is obtained mostly from Bigarades 
(Citrus limonellus), but this small industry is carried on with, 
up to date machinery. According to the Manager of Silhouette 
Island 1000 kilogs of bigarades yield 26 kilogs of citrata 
and 350 kilogs of lime yield 12 kilogs 500 grammes. As 61 
bigarades and 22 limes weigh one kilo, it follows that 1000 
limes yield less than 2 kilogs of citrate. In 1905 when I first 
recommended the production of citrate of lime in the Colony 
I obtained 3 kilogs per 1000 limes and the average weight of 
a lime was 55 grammes. The lime trees since then have been 
attacked by scale insects principally the Lecaaium viride and 
the Aspidiotus ficus to which the small size of the fruits and 
their inferior yield is attributed. At high elevations scale 
insects are held in check by fungus parasites. For this reason 
a planter decided to start the cultivation of bigarades in Mahe 
at about 1000 feet elevation for the ultimate production of 
citrate of lime which is a paying industry and one not likely 
to suffer from overproduction. 
BANANA. 
The shortage in vanilla crops since 1907 and the giving 
up of the coconut oil industry for the more profitable making 
of coprah induced small planters to take up banana planting 
on a larger scale than formerly. The moitie system planters 
care very little for vanilla plantation at present owing to the 
uncertainty of the crops and as they can no longer depend on 
the byproduct (poonac) formerly obtained at a cheap price 
from coconut oil mills. They have adopted banana planting 
in order to feed cheaply their cattle and poultry and obtain a, 
more regular produce which they can dispose of at remunera* 
tive prices. 
