924  Camphor  Industry  in  Foochow.      {December.  i?2o':"'' 
931,600  pounds,  valued  at  $642,929,  were  exported;  during  the  March 
quarter  of  1920,  427,066  pounds,  valued  at  $268,413,  were  exported, 
representing  a  considerable  increase. 
Methods  of  Distillation  and  Transportation. — Trees  fit  to  be  used 
for  camphor  distillation  must  be  at  least  20  years  old.  When  a 
suitable  tree  is  found  a  crude  native  distillery  is  set  up  at  the  spot. 
This  consists  of  a  boiler,  with  an  iron  base  and  a  wooden  top,  con- 
nected to  a  distilling  vat  partially  filled  with  water.  The  camphor 
upon  being  conducted  to  the  vat  precipitates  as  crystals  on  the  inner 
walls,  while  the  nonprecipitable  portions  drop  down  as  oil,  which 
floats  upon  the  water.  About  5V4  pounds  of  camphor  and  camphor 
oil,  in  the  proportions  of  70  per  cent,  camphor  and  30  per  cent, 
camphor  oil,  can  be  produced  from  240  pounds  of  chips. 
The  districts  where  most  of  this  initial  distillation  is  done  are 
Kienning,  Yuchi,  Yungan,  Yenping,  Tatien,  Shaowu,  Shahsien,  and 
Ningte. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  say  how  many  men  are  engaged  in  the 
industry,  but  there  cannot  be  many.  Their  wages  are  equal  at  the 
present  rate  of  exchange  to  about  $0.38  a  day. 
The  crude  product  is  carried  by  porters  to  the  Min  River,  or  one 
of  its  tributaries,  and  then  carried  to  Foochow  by  native  boat. 
Boat  hire  is  approximately  $1  per  hundred  pounds  from  the  interior 
to  Foochow. 
How  Marketing  Is  Done. — The  marketing  of  camphor  is  done  very 
largely  through  brokers  in  Hongkong.  The  distillers  seldom  do  their 
own  marketing,  with  the  exception  of  the  Japanese  and  Portuguese. 
There  are  also  brokers  in  Foochow  able  to  handle  foreign  orders  in 
the  English  language. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  camphor  market  is  an  ex- 
tremely sensitive  and  dangerous  one  for  the  uninitiated.  The  factors 
of  supply,  governmental  supervision,  freights,  stocks  in  Foochow 
and  Hongkong,  and  three  markets — Foochow,  Hongkong,  and  the 
foreign  market — all  enter  into  the  situation.  Hence,  no  better 
scheme  than  the  brokerage  system  can  be  suggested,  unless  the 
foreign  buyer  is  prepared  either  to  go  into  the  producing  end  of  it 
or  into  the  buying  and  holding  of  considerable  stocks  himself. 
The  product  as  it  leaves  the  distillery  in  the  interior  consists  of 
crystals  and  camphor  oil.  The  crystals  are  ready  for  marketing, 
but  the  oil  is  put  through  a  process  of  redistillation  at  Foochow. 
This  process  is  a  simple  one,  and  need  not  be  described  here  in  de- 
