The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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So long, however, as the cultivator can obtain a dollar and a half,
or even one dollar for 100 nuts, he will not find it profitable to
make oil, unless its price greatly rises.

Soap is manufactured at Pondicherry from this oil, but it is not
seemingly in repute; the attempt has not been made in Pinang with a
view to a market.

There is scarcely any coir rope manufactured at this island, so that
the profit which might (were labor cheaper) arise from this
application of the coco-nut fibre, is lost. The shell makes good
charcoal; the leaves are scarcely put to any purpose, the nipah or
attap being a superior material for thatching.

The coco-nut tree is extremely apt to be struck by lightning, and in
such cases it is generally destroyed. It is a dangerous tree,
therefore, to have close to a house. If the trees are widely
planted, coffee may be cultivated under their shade. It is generally
believed that the extracting of toddy from this tree hastens its
decline. The Nicobar and Lancavi Islands used partly to supply the
Pinang market with this indispensable article; but their
depopulation has greatly reduced the quantity.

On the whole it may be said that there is no cultivation which
insures the return of produce with so much certainty as that of the
coco-nut tree; and as Rangoon, the Tenasserim coast, and Singapore
will, probably, always remain good markets for the raw nut, there
appears to be every chance of the value of the produce affording
ample remuneration to the planter.

_Coco-nut beetle._--The chief natural enemy of this tree is a
destructive species of elephant-beetle (_Oryctes Rhinoceros_), which
begins by nibbling the leaves into the shape of a fan; it then
perforates the central pithy fibre, so that the leaf snaps off; and
lastly, it descends into the folds of the upper shoot, where it bores
itself a nest, and if not speedily extracted or killed, will soon
destroy the tree. At Singapore, on account of the depredations of this
beetle, the difficulties have been considerable.

In Pinang and Province Wellesley it has only been observed within the
last two years, and it is believed to have come from Keddah. A similar
kind of beetle is, however, found on the Coromandel coast. The natives
of Keddah say that this insect appears at intervals of two, three, or
more years.

Its larvae, which are also very formidable insects or grubs, about
three inches long, with large reddish heads, are found in decaying
vegetable matter. It is when the tree has made considerable progress,
however, that the parent insect does most mischief. When they are from
one to two years old, throwing out their graceful branches in quick
succession with the greatest vigor, and promising in three or four
years more to yield their ruddy fruit, this destructive enemy begins
to exercise his boring propensities; and, making his horn act as an
auger, he soon penetrates the soft and yielding fibre of the young
tree, and if not discovered in time, destroys the leading shoot or
branch. The only remedy which has been adopted in Ceylon, is the
following:--Several intelligent boys are provided each with an iron
needle or probe, of about a foot long, with a sharp double barbed
point, like a fish-hook, and a ring handle; they go through the
plantation looking narrowly about the trees, and when they perceive
the hole in the trunk, which indicates that the enemy is at work, they
thrust in the barbed instrument and pull him out. Sometimes he may
only have just commenced, when his capture is more easily effected,
but even should he have penetrated to the very heart of the tree, the
deadly needle does not fail in its errand, but brings the culprit out,
impaled and writhing on its point. This is the only known way of
checking the ravages of this beetle, except destroying its larvae. Some
cultivators, however, think pouring salt water or brine on the top of
the tree, so as to descend among the folds of the upper shoots, a good
plan to get rid of the larvae.

Nearly two million coco-nuts are shipped annually from Bahia.

From Ceylon, 114,600 coco-nuts were shipped in 1851, and 70,185 in
1852.

Coco-nut oil; 98,159 gallons were shipped from Ceylon in 1852; 359,233
gallons in 1851.

The prices of Ceylon oil have ranged from L31 to L33 10s. per tun; of
Cochin oil, L34 to L35, within the last two years. The price per
leaguer in Colombo, without casks, has been L8 10s. to L9.

_Copperah_ is the name, given by the natives to the kernel of the ripe
nut after it has been exposed to the sun on mats, until it has become
rancid and dissolved. It has recently been shipped to England in this
state for the purpose of converting into oil. The exports of copperah
from Ceylon were, in 1842, 115 cwts.; in 1843, 2,194; in 1844, 2,397;
and in 1852, 39,174 cwts.

The returned value of the copperah or kernels exported from Ceylon, as
entered in the Custom House books, is--

1840 2,508
1841 1,460
1842 3,022
1843 5,795
1844 6,194
1845 3,282
1846 5,517
1847 6,503
1848 12,639
1849 7,819
1850 4,166
1851 9,678
1852 13,325

632 cwts. of poonac (being the refuse or cake, after expressing the
oil) were exported from Ceylon in 1842. It is worth there about L10
the ton.

The oil from the nut is obtained for culinary purposes by boiling the
fresh pulp, and skimming it as it rises. That for exportation is
usually obtained by pressing the copperah in a simple press turned by
bullocks. Recently, however, steam power has been applied in Colombo,
with great advantage. About 21/2 gallons of oil per 100 nuts, are
usually obtained. It is requisite that care should be taken not to
apply too great and sudden a pressure at once, but by degrees an
increasing force, so as not to choke the conducting channels of the
oil in the press.

In many of the colonies the oil is expressed by the slow and laborious
hand process of grating the pulp.

The quantity shipped from Ceylon was 2,250 tuns, in 1842; 3,985 in
1843; 2,331 in 1844; 1,797 in 1845. The quantity in gallons shipped
since, was 101,553 in 1846; 197,850 in 1847; 300,146 in 1848; 867,326
in 1849; 407,960 in 1850; 442,700 in 1851; and 749,028 in 1852.

The duty on importation is of and from British possessions, 7d. and
7/8ths. per cwt.; if the produce of foreign possessions, 1s. 33/4 d, per
cwt. In the close of 1852, the price of coco-nut oil in the London
market was, for Ceylon, L32, L33, to L33 10s. per ton; Cochin,
middling to fine, L34 to L35.

The following return shows the Custom House valuation of the oil
shipped from Ceylon for a series of years, and which is of course much
below its real value:--

1839 L26,597
1840 32,483
1841 24,052
1842 34,242
1843 43,874
1844 24,067
1845 15,945
1846 7,939
1847 19,142
1848 24,839
1849 34,831
1850 35,035
1851 31,444
1852 58,045

Among the coco-nut oil exported from Ceylon, in 1849, there were
47,4271/2 gallons, valued at L3,595, the whole of which, I believe, was
Cochin oil; the raw material of this kind not being, like the copperah
generally in Ceylon, subjected to the action of fire, the product is
finer, and fetches a better price in the London market.

Amongst the imports from British possessions in Asia, were 2,600
cwts., of copperah (dried coco-nut kernels, from which oil is
expressed), valued at L1,100; amongst the imports re-exported to Great
Britain, we find 870 cwts. of the same article, valued at L300. Of the
oil exported a quantity of 11,000 gallons was shipped for the United
States. About 600,000 piculs of coco-nut oil are annually exported
from Siam.

A large quantity of oil is made in Trinidad, chiefly on the east
coast, where, in one locality, there is an uninterrupted belt of
coco-nut palms fourteen miles in extent. They usually bear when five
years old.

The cultivation of the coco-nut in a proper soil presents a very
profitable speculation for small capitalists. Whether sold at the rate
of a dollar per hundred in their natural state, to captains of ships,
who freely purchase them, or manufactured into oil, they are a very
remunerative product. Each tree in the West Indies is calculated to
produce nuts to the value of one dollar yearly. There is one thing to
which we would draw the attention of chemists and other scientific
men.

For twenty-four or even forty-eight hours after its manufacture this
oil is as free from any unpleasant taste as olive oil, and can be used
in lieu of it for all culinary purposes, but after that time it
acquires such a rancid taste as to be wholly unpalateable. If any
means could be discovered of preventing this deterioration in quality,
and preserving it fresh and sweet, it could compete with olive oil,
and the price and consumption would be largely raised.

COCO-NUT OIL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Imports. Retained for home consumption.
cwts. cwts.
1835 19,838 14,015
1836 26,058 26,062
1837 41,218 28,641
1838 -- 38,669
1839 -- 15,153
1840 -- 37,269
1841 -- 26,528
1842 -- 26,225
1843 -- 29,928
1844 -- 42,480
1848 85,453 54,783
1849 64,451 14,622
1850 98,040 46,494
1851 55,995 2,333
1852 101,863 27,112

A London coco-nut oil soap was found, on analysis by Dr. Ure, to
consist of:--

Soda 4.5
Coco-nut lard 22.0
Water 73.5
-----
100.0

This remarkable soap was sufficiently solid; but it dissolved in hot
water with extreme facility. It is called marine soap, because it
washes linen with sea water.

Of the six principal vegetable oils, namely--palm, coco-nut castor,
olive, linseed, and rape, the first four are imported in the state of
oil only; the two last chiefly as seed. The proportion in which they
were imported is shown in the following tables; and if to these
quantities are added about a million and a half cwt. of tallow, and
nearly twenty thousand tuns of whale oil and spermaceti, they will
nearly represent the total quantity of oil imported into Great
Britain.

IMPORTS IN 1846.
Palm oil. Olive oil. Castor oil.
cwts. tuns. cwts.
Western Africa 475,364 1 --
United States 13,349 -- 290
Naples and Sicily 14 9,661 --
East Indies -- -- 6,315
Canary Islands 3,719 -- --
Malta -- 2,237 --
Turkish Empire -- 1,712 --
Tuscany -- 832 --
Spain -- 753 --
Brazil 525 -- --
Ionian Islands -- 506 --
Morocco -- 368 --
Madeira 353 -- --
Sardinia -- 333 11
Miscellaneous 7 471 65
------- ------- -------
Total 493,331 16,864 9,681

IMPORTS IN 1850
Linseed. Rape seed.
quarters. quarters.
Russia 482,813 3,235
Sweden 870 --
Norway 268 --
Denmark 37 3,092
Russia 87,273 645
Hanse Towns 1,153 2,872
Holland 7,734 201
Naples 1,476 --
Austrian Territories 40 2,580
Greece -- 1,637
Wallachia and Moldavia 910 1,280
Egypt 17,517 --
East Indian Empire 26,142 13,126
Miscellaneous 262 922
-------- ------
Total 626,495 29,495

OIL-CAKE.--It has been observed by Evelyn that one bushel of walnuts
will yield fifteen pounds of peeled kernels, and these will produce
half that weight of oil, which the sooner it is drawn is the more in
quantity, though the drier the nut the better its quality. The cake or
marc of the pressing is excellent for fattening hogs and for manure.

Oats contain, as a maximum, about seven per cent. of oil, and Indian
corn nine per cent. The cake of the gold of pleasure contains twelve
per cent. Indeed the most valuable oil-cakes are those of the
_Camelina sativa_, poppies and walnuts, which are nearly equal; next
to these are the cakes of hemp, cotton, and beech-mast. In France the
extraction and purification of oil from the cotton seed is a recent
branch of labor, the refuse of which is likely to prove useful in
agriculture; its value as a manure being nearly ten times greater than
that of common dung. Oil is obtained from maize or Indian corn in the
process of making whiskey. It rises in the mash tubs and is found in
the scum at the surface, being separated either by the fermentation or
the action of heat. It is then skimmed off, and put away in a cask to
deposit its impurities; after which it is drawn off in a pure state,
fit for immediate use. The oil is limpid, has a slight tinge of the
yellow color of the corn, and is inoffensive to the taste and smell.
It is not a drying oil, and therefore cannot be used for paint, but
burns freely in lamps and is useful for oiling machinery.

Among the various seeds used in the manufacture of oil-cake, flour of
linseed is the most important. Rape seed is also employed, but is
considered heating. In Lubeck, a marc, called dodder cake, is made
from the _Camelina sativa_. Inferior oil-cake is made from the poppy
in India. Cotton-seed cake has lately been recommended on account of
its cheapness, being usually thrown away as refuse by the cotton
manufacturers. It is extensively used as a cattle food, in an
unprepared state, in various parts of the tropical world, and to a
limited extent in this country.

The cost of seed, freight included, was 2d. per lb. from Charlestown
to Port Glasgow. Cotton oil-cake is now ordered at the same price as
linseed cake. The produce of oil-cake and oil from cotton seed, is two
gallons of oil to one cwt. of seed, leaving about 96 lbs of cake; 8
lbs. is the daily allowance for cattle in England.

Cotton seed oil, very pure, is manufactured to a considerable extent
at Marseilles, by De Gimezney, from Egyptian seed; and he received a
prize medal at the Great Exhibition.

Account of the export of linseed and rapeseed cakes from Stettin,
principally to England, in--

cwts.
1834 33,518
1835 27,038
1836 56,581
1837 70,643
1838 119,540
1839 115,416
1840 162,457
1841 143,816
1842 119,814

The quantity of oil-seed cakes imported into the United Kingdom was
in--

tons.
1849 59,462
1850 65,055
1851 55,076
1852 53,616

Cargoes of oil-cake, to the value of L22,207, were exported from the
port of Shanghae, in China, in 1849.

2,467 tons of oil-cake were brought down to New Orleans from the
interior in 1848, and 1,032 tons in 1849.

Seven samples of American oil-cake gave the following results:--

Oil 11.41
Water 7.60
Nitrogen 4.74
Ash 6.35

From the above figures, the scientific farmer will see that the manure
formed by 100 lbs. of oil-cake is more than that derived from 300 lbs.
of Indian corn. 300 lbs. of corn contain about l1/4 lbs. phosphoric
acid; 100 lbs. oil-cake contain about 21/2 lbs.

VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL OILS occur in the stems, leaves, flowers and
fruit of many odoriferous plants, and are procured by distillation
along with water. They are called "essences," and contain the
concentrated odor of the plant. They usually exist ready-formed, but
occasionally they are obtained by a kind of fermentation, as oil of
bitter almonds and oil of mustard. Some of them consist of carbon and
hydrogen only, as oil of turpentine, from _Juniperus communis;_ oil of
savin, from _Juniperus Sabina;_ oil of lemons and oranges, from the
rind of the fruit; and oil of nerole, from orange flowers. A second
set contain oxygen in addition, as oil of cinnamon, from _Cinnamonum
verum;_ otto or attar of roses, from various species of rose,
especially _Rosa centifolia;_ oil of cloves, from _Caryophyllus
aromaticus_.

Those principally obtained from tropical shrubs and plants are
citronella, oil of oranges and lemons, from the rind of the fruit oil
of cinnamon and cloves, croton oil, &c.

The oil of Sandal or Sanders wood _(Santalum album_), grown on the
Malabar coast, is much esteemed as a perfume. Keora oil, from
_Pandanus odoratissimus_, in Bengal. Oil of spikenard, so highly
prized, on account of its perfume, by the ancients, may be procured in
Sagur, Nepaul, and the mountains of the Himalaya.

956 lbs. of essential oils were imported into Hull in 1850. There were
exported from Ceylon in 1842, 902 cases; in 1843, 138; in 1844, 20; in
1845, 25 cases of essential oils, and in the last two years as
follows:--

1852. 1851.
cases. cases.
Cinnamon oil 17 23
Citronella oil 110 87
Essential oil 72 35

Of chemical, essential, and perfumed oils imported from France, the
quantity is about 35,000 lbs. annually, worth L10,000. The duty is 1s.
per lb. We also imported from France, in 1851, 9,596 cwt. of oil or
spirit of turpentine, worth L14,197, on which a duty of 5s. 3d. per
cwt. is levied.

From Western Australia some distilled oil of the Liptospermum was
shown at the Exhibition, which it is stated may be obtained in any
quantity, and a similar oil produced, by distillation, from the
_Eucalyptus piperita_, a powerful solvent of caoutchouc, evidently
very similar, if not altogether identical, with the oil of cajeput.
The characters of these two oils are much alike and without some care
it is difficult to distinguish them from one another by the odor; the
liptospermum oil has a slight tinge of yellow, its specific gravity is
0.9035; the eucalyptus oil is colorless, and has a density of 0.9145.
It is probable that these oils might be used with great advantage in
the manufacture of varnish, they readily dissolve copal, and when its
solution is spread over any surface the oil soon evaporates, and
leaves a hard, brilliant and uniform coating of the resin. These oils,
according to Prof. Solly, are specially worthy of attention.

Dr. Bennett, in his "Wanderings in New South Wales," states that a
large quantity of camphorated oil, which closely resembles the
cajeputi, is produced from the foliage of several species of
_Eucalyptus_. Some of the leaves, which are of a bluish green, contain
it in such abundance as to cover the hand with oil when one of the
leaves is gently rubbed against it.

From the odorous leaves of the _Arbor alba_ is extracted a portion of
the aromatic cajeput oil. This celebrated medicinal oil is principally
made in the island of Borneo, one of the Moluccas.

The leaf of the _Melaleuca minor_ yields, by distillation, the
volatile oil of cajeputi, well known as a powerful sudorific, and a
useful external application in chronic rheumatism. It is an evergreen
shrub, with white flowers like a myrtle, native of the East Indies,
principally flourishing on the sea coasts of the Moluccas and other
Indian islands. Two sacks full of the leaves yield scarcely three
drachms of the oil, which is limpid, pellucid, and of a green color.

Oil of cinnamon and oil of cassia, according to Mulder, have the same
composition. When fresh they are pale yellow, but become brown on
exposure to the air. On exposure they rapidly absorb cinnamic acid,
two resins and water.

More than 22,000 lbs. of essence of bergamot was imported in 1848. It
is obtained by distillation or pressure from the rind of the fragrant
citron.

_Andropogon calamus aromaticus_, of Royle, _A. nardoides_, of Nees v.
Esenb., according to some yields the grass oil of Namur.

The fruits of _Carum carui_, a hardy biennial British plant, popularly
known as caraway seeds, supply a volatile oil, which is carminitive
and aromatic. Oils of a similar kind are obtained from _Coriandrum
sativum_, from anise (_Pimpinella Anisum_), and cumin (_Cuminum
Cyminum_), a native of Egypt.

The production of cinnamon, clove, and cassia oils, have already been
noticed in speaking of those spices.

In Malabar, a greenish sweet-smelling oil is obtained, by
distillation, from the roots of _Unona Narum_, an evergreen climber,
which is used medicinally as a Stimulant.

OIL OF PEPPERMINT.--Mr. De Witt C. Van Slyck, of Alloway, Wayne
county, New York, furnished me with the following particulars on the
cultivation of peppermint, in December, 1849, which may appropriately
be introduced in this place:--

"As an agricultural production, the culture of peppermint in the
United States is limited to few localities; this county and the
adjoining ones, Seneca and Ontario, comprise the largest bed. In the
year 1846 about 40,000 lbs. of oil were produced. In Lewis county,
in this state, it is grown, though to a less extent; the amount of
oil produced there in 1846 was estimated at 4,500 lbs. In Michigan
about 10,000 lbs. are annually produced; Ohio furnishes about 3,000
lbs. and Indiana 700 lbs. per annum. The entire crop in the United
States, in the year 1846, is estimated in round numbers at 58,000
lbs.

The above comprises all the localities of any importance in the
United States, and the above estimates of the annual product of oil
were made from correct data for the year 1846, since which time the
cultivation of mint has rapidly decreased in consequence of a
speculative movement by a New York company, who in the spring of
1847 purchased nearly all the mint then growing in this State, and
stipulated with the growers not to raise it for two years
thereafter, which condition was generally observed on the part of
the growers. The present year (1849), on account of the drought, has
not realised the expectations of those engaged in its culture,
although the amount of oil produced is much larger than the product
of the two preceding years. In this mint district, 8,000 lbs. have
been raised; Lewis county furnishes 1,000 lbs.; Michigan, 8.000
lbs.; Ohio, 1,000 lbs., and Indiana 500 lbs. So that the entire crop
of 1849 will not materially vary from 18,500 lbs.

I have consulted several of the principal dealers in mint oil, whose
opportunities have been ample to form a tolerably correct estimate
of the amount of oil annually consumed, and their opinion fixes the
total consumption, for the various purposes for which it is used in
the United States and in Europe, at from 20,000 to 30,000 lbs.
annually.

The price of mint oil is extremely fluctuating. Like other unstaple
commodities, the value of which depends upon their scarcity or
abundance, it never has assumed a constant and standing value, but
its price has generally been deranged by speculation and monopoly.
It has happened that the amount of oil produced was for several
years greater than the annual consumption, producing an accumulation
in the market, and reducing the price to the very low rate of 75
cents per pound; on the other hand, when the article was scarce, it
readily sold for 5 dollars 25 cents per pound. The average price for
fifteen vears has been about 2 dollars 50 cents, per pound. This
year (1849) it readily sells for 1 dollar 50 cents., (6s. 6d.).

Peppermint began to be cultivated in this vicinity as an
agricultural product about the year 1816, but for several years the
want of a proper knowledge of its culture, and the expense and
difficulty of extracting the oil, prevented its extension beyond a
few growers, who, however, realised fortunes out of the enterprise.
Almost any kind of soil that will successfully rear wheat and maize
is adapted to the growth of mint. Rich alluvions, however, seem to
be most natural, as would be inferred from the fact that the wild
herb is almost uniformly found growing upon the tertiary formations
on the margins of streams. The rich bottom lands along our rivers
and the boundless prairies of the West are eminently adapted for its
successful culture. It is believed by those best acquainted with the
subject, that its cultivation must be ultimately confined to the
western prairies, where it will grow spontaneously, and where the
absence of noxious weeds and grasses, incident to all older settled
lands, renders the expense of cultivation comparatively light, and
where the low price of land will be an important item in the amount
of capital employed, the expense of marketing being slight in
comparison to that of the more bulky products of agricultural
industry.