10 
VII. 
Essentia! Oils and other Minor Industries. 
Cinnamon bark is still being exported instead of being 
distilled' locally. The quantity exported amounted to 765 tons 
valued at Us 61,560. The steam distillation process having- 
been adopted in the four (4) Essential Oil distilleries of: the 
Colony it is difficult to obtain locally the cinnamon bark 
essential oil which is worth as much as Rs 30 p>er kilog. This 
oil requires a high temperature for distillation and to obtain it 
it is necessary to macerate the bark in salt water and to distil 
it afterwards in the same solution in order to raise the boiling 
point pending distillation. It is of course easier to export the 
bark but it would be much more economical to adopt in one or 
two distilleries a slightly modified process of distillation and 
export the much more valuable essential oil. The cinnamon 
which were wild trees were not treated with the same care and 
trouble which would have been the case, had they been culti¬ 
vated plants. They have almost everywhere disappeared except 
on Crown Lands and on a few private estates. The exportation 
of cinnamon bark is for this reason declining. 
Another method of making use of cinnamon trees, which 
have escaped destruction or which were considered too small 
for being barked, has been adopted this year in a much more 
sensible and economic way. The leaves and twigs are lopped 
with the least possible injury to the trees and another crop of 
mature leaves obtained 13 months after. This method allows 
an indefinite yield of about 20 litres of cinnamon leaf oil per 
acre per annum worth Rs 100, and this figure is higii enough 
to warrant the process being adopted by the planters of the 
Colony on a larger scale. The cost of purchasing the leaves 
and of distilling amounts to about Rs 2 per litre of oil leaving 
a nett profit of Rs 60, per acre. 
The small twigs which are distilled together Avith the 
leaves give up a certain percentage of hark oil (10 o/o) which 
readily mixes with the leaf oil but a certain amount of care 
is needed in order not to loose this hark oil which is lighter 
than water while leaf oil is heavier. Over 3054 litres of 
cinnamon leaf oil out of a total quantity of 4142 litres 
worth Rs 1 7,480 of various oils were exported during the year. 
The other essential oils distilled in the Colony are obtained 
from—- 
lo. Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) 
2o. Clove (Caryophyllus aromaticus) 
3o. Vetiver (Cymbopogon muricatus) 
while the following plants are being actively propagated for 
ultimate distillation: 
lo. Cochin lemon grass (Andropogon flexuosus) 
2o. Ceylon citronella (Andropogon nardus) 
3o. Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata) 
4o. Basil (Ocymum basilicum) 
A consignment of other lemon grasses was obtained from 
Ceylon this year but unfortunately the best varieties, viz: 
Andropogon Martinii (Palmarosa oil grass) and Java citronella 
which yield much more valuable oil did not stand the voyage. 
Another consignment is expected. 
Cochin lemon grass produces also a valuable oil and it 
grows very luxuriantly in this Colony reaching 8 feet high 
under favourable conditions flower stalks expanded. The 
quantity of leaves per acre of Cochin grass is much larger 
than the yield of Ceylon lemon grasses which never floAver in 
Seychelles. 
With regard to Ylang-ylang, a sample Avas prepared at 
the Botanic Station from trees scattered about from various lo¬ 
calities. The sample was submitted to the Director Imperial Ins¬ 
titute who found that its constants agreed Avith those recorded 
by Bacon for first grade Manilla ylang-ylang oil. Although the 
tree producing ylang-ylang (Cananga odoranta)' flowers very 
nearly in this Colony and reaches colossal dimensions in 
