Am.  jour.  Pharm.  )    Production  of  Lemon-Grass  Oil. 
April,  1917.       }  J 
secured  from  the  two  sorts.  In  the  essential-oil  trade  it  long  has 
been  recognized  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  characteristics 
of  lemon-grass  oils  from  different  regions.  It  is  not  the  purpose 
of  this  paper,  however,  to  discuss  any  questions  of  systematic  rela- 
tionship or  nomenclature  of  the  plant,  but  since  a  wide  difference 
has  been  found  in  the  commercial  value  of  the  strains  under  experi- 
mental cultivation,  a  brief  discussion  of  these  will  be  of  interest  to 
the  prospective  grower. 
During  the  course  of  the  experiments,  plants  were  obtained  from 
a  number  of  sources,  and  altogether  13  different  strains  have  been 
tested.    Following  are  the  sources  of  the  various  strains : 
1.  Secured  from  a  nursery  in  Florida.    The  original  stock  was  from 
Havana. 
2.  A  local  form  sold  in  the  Florida  nursery  trade. 
3.  Isle  of  Pines. 
4.  Porto  Rico. 
5.  Cochin  China. 
6.  Ceylon. 
7.  Mexico. 
8.  India. 
9.  India. 
10,  11,  and  12.  Origin  unknown. 
13.  Ceylon. 
These  13  strains  fall  into  the  following  classes  as  regards  growth 
characteristics : 
(1)  The  West  Indian  type,  represented  by  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  and  4.  The 
plants  are  2l/2  to  3  feet  high,  with  lax,  drooping  leaves  and  of  light  color. 
(2)  The  East  Indian  type,  represented  by  Nos.  5,  8,  and  9.  The  plants 
are  3^  to  4  feet  high  and  erect.  The  leaves  are  rather  erect  and  more 
scabrous  than  the  West  Indian  form. 
(3)  The  Mexican  form,  represented  by  No.  7.  This  is  a  weak  form, 
very  drooping  in  habit,  with  lax  leaves  and  very  light  in  color. 
No.  6  has  the  typical  West  Indian  appearance,  but  is  markedly 
different  in  oil  yield.  No.  13  has  the  typical  East  Indian  appearance, 
except  the  color,  which  is  very  light,  almost  yellowish.  Nos.  10,  11, 
and  12  are  of  the  approved  East  Indian  type. 
Table  III  shows  the  variations  in  the  yield  of  oil  and  the  citral 
content  of  the  oil  from  these  various  types  for  the  season  of  191 5. 
It  has  been  found  year  by  year  that  there  is  considerable  varia- 
tion in  both  the  yield  of  oil  and  the  citral  content,  yet  the  figures 
given  in  Table  III  may  be  taken  as  representative  of  the  varieties 
