A \ B \ C \ D \ E \ F \ G \ H \ I \ J \ K \ L \ M \ N \ O \ P \ R \ S \ T \ U \ V \ W \Z

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

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




The method of cultivation is nearly uniform. The mode of propagation
is by transplanting the roots, which may be done in autumn or
spring, though generally the latter, and as the herb is perennial,
it does not require replanting till the fourth year. To ensure a
good crop and obviate the necessity of extra attendance the first
season, the ground intended for planting should be fallowed the
preceding summer, though this is not necessary if the land is
ordinarily clean. The ground should be prepared as for maize, as
soon as possible in the spring furrowed, and roots planted in drills
twenty inches apart, and covered with loose earth, two inches deep,
the planter walking upon the drill and treading it firmly. The
proper time to procure roots is when the herb is a year old, when
from six to eight square rods of ordinary mint will yield a
sufficient quantity of roots to plant an acre, and the crop from
which the roots are taken will not be deteriorated, but rather
benefited by their extraction. As soon as the herb makes its
appearance it requires a light dressing with a hoe, care being taken
not to disturb the young shoots, many of which have scarcely made
their appearance above the ground. In the course of a week or two
the crop requires a more thorough dressing, and at this stage of
growth the cultivator may be used with advantage, followed by the
hoe, carefully eradicating weeds and grass from the drills, and
giving the herb a light dressing of earth. Another dressing a week
or two later is all the crop requires.

The two following years no labor is bestowed upon the crop, though
it is sometimes benefited by ploughing over the whole surface, very
shallow, in the autumn of the second year, and harrowing lightly the
following spring, which frequently renews the vigor of the plant and
increases the product.

The mint should be cut as soon as it is in full bloom, and the lower
leaves become sere; the first crop will not be fit to cut as early
as the two succeeding ones. It is then to be hayed and put in cock,
and is then ready for distillation.

I have consulted many mint growers, who have cultivated it for a
series of years, in regard to the average yield per acre, and have
arrived at the following estimate, which I think is low, provided
the land is suitable, and is properly cultivated. I estimate the
average yield per acre for the first year at 18 lbs.; the second
year at 14 lbs.; and the third year at 8 lbs.--making the product
for three years 40 lbs., which I think will not materially vary from
the actual result, though growers aver they have raised from 30 to
40 lbs. per acre the first season.

Several years since, the only method of extracting the oil then
known was by distilling the herb in a copper kettle, or boiler, and
condensing in the usual manner; a slow and tedious process, by which
about 12 or 15 pounds of oil could be separated in a day. But
recently steam, that powerful agent, which has wrought such immense
changes in our social and national economy, has been applied to this
subject with its usual attendant success. The present method
consists in the use of a common steam-boiler, of the capacity of
from 100 to 150 gallons, from which the steam is conveyed by
conductors into large wooden air-tight tubs, of 200 gallons
capacity, containing the dried herb; from which it is conveyed,
charged with the volatile principle of the plant, into a water-vat,
containing the condenser. The water collected at the extremity of
the condenser, although it does not readily commingle with the oil,
is highly tinctured with it, and is used to feed the boiler. Two
tubs are necessary, in order that when the "charge" is being worked
off in one, the other can be refilled. The oil is then to be
filtered, and is ready for market. The expense of a distillery is
estimated at 150 dollars, which, with the labor of two men, and a
cord of dry wood, will run 40 lbs. of oil per day. The usual price
for distilling is 25 cents per pound.

The cost of production is of course greatly modified by
circumstances. If grown on rich bottom lands, or prairie, unusually
free from weeds and grass, the labor required will be comparatively
trifling. From information derived from the principal mint growers
in this vicinity, I have prepared the following estimate of the cost
of production of an acre of mint for three years:--

FIRST YEAR.
Dollars.
Rent of an acre of land one year 8.00
One day plough and drag, one hand and team 2.00
Half day furrowing, digging roots, one hand and horse 1.00
Three days planting, at 75 cents 2.25
Two days dressing with hoe, at 75 cents 1.50
Two days with cultivator and hoe, 1.00 2.00
Two days with cultivator and hoe (third dressing) 1.50
One and a-half days cutting new mint, at 75 cents 1.13
Curing and drawing to distillery 1.50
Distilling 18 lbs. oil, at 25 cents 4.50
Can for oil 25
-----
25.63

SECOND YEAR.
Rent of an acre of land one year 8.00
Cutting one acre of old mint 75
Curing and hauling to distillery 1.50
Distilling 14 lbs. oil, at 25 cents 3.50
Can for oil 25
-----
14.00

THIRD YEAR.
Rent of an acre of land one year 8.00
Cutting, curing, &c. 2.25
Distilling 8 lbs. of oil, at 25 cents, and can 2.25
-----
12.50
-----
Total expenses for three years 52.13

Forty pounds of oil, at dollars 1.371/2 per pound 55.00
Deduct expenses 52.13
-----
Net profit 2.87

In the above estimate I have omitted the expense of roots, for the
reason that the crop will yield as many as are required for
planting. The price of roots is about 50 cents per square rod, and
if they are in demand, the profit of the crop will be greatly
enhanced by selling them at that, or even a lower price.

It will be readily perceived that the culture of peppermint promises
no great return of profit in sections of country where land is
valuable, and where the expense of production is nearly double what
it is in newly-settled districts. It is a fact that in Michigan, and
other Western States, the actual expense of production is about
one-half less than the above estimate, and the yield is a fourth
greater; the greater distance from market, which is usually New York
city, not being taken into account, the freight on oil being
comparatively trifling. Another consideration in favor of prairie
cultivation is, that the mint will endure for years by simply
ploughing over the surface every second year, which seems to
invigorate the herb, and obviates the necessity of replanting every
second or third year, as must be done in older settled localities."

In India the perfumed oils are obtained in the following manner:--The
layers of the jasmine, or other flowers, four inches thick and two
inches square, are laid on the ground and covered with layers of
sesamum or any other oil yielding seed. These are laid about the same
thickness as the flowers, over which a second layer of flowers like
the fruit is placed. The seed is wetted with water, and the whole mass
covered with a sheet, held down at the end and sides by weights, and
allowed to remain for eighteen hours in this form. It is now fit for
the mill, unless the perfume is desired to be very strong, when the
faded flowers are removed and fresh ones put in their place. The seed
thus impregnated is ground in the usual way in the mill and the oil
expressed, having the scent of the flower. At Ghazipoor the jasmine
and bela are chiefly employed; the oil is kept in the dubbers, and
sold for about 4s. a seer.

The newest oils afford the finest perfume. In Europe a fixed oil,
usually that of the bean or morerja nut, is employed. Cotton is soaked
in this, and laid over layers of flowers, the oil being squeezed out
so soon as impregnated with perfume. Dr. Johnson thus describes the
culture and manufacture:--

_Cultivation of Roses_.--Around the station of Ghazipoor, there are
about 300 biggahs (or about 150 acres) of ground laid out in small
detached fields as rose gardens, most carefully protected on all
sides by high mud walls and prickly pear fences, to keep out the
cattle. These lands, which belong to Zemindars, are planted with
rose trees, and are annually let out at so much per biggah for the
ground, and so much additional for the rose plants--generally five
rupees per biggah, and twenty-five rupees for the rose trees, of
which there are 1,000 in each biggah. The additional expense for
cultivation would be about eight rupees eight annas; so that for
thirty-eight rupees eight annas you have for the season one biggah
of 1,000 rose trees.

If the season is good, this biggah of 1,000 rose trees should yield
one lac of roses. Purchases for roses are always made at so much per
lac. The price of course varies according to the year, and will
average from 40 to 70 rupees.

_Manufacture of Rose-water_.--The rose trees come into flower at the
beginning of March, and continue so through April. Early in the
morning the flowers are plucked by numbers of men, women, and
children, and are conveyed in large bags to the several contracting
parties for distillation. The cultivators themselves very rarely
manufacture.

The native apparatus for distilling the rose-water is of the
simplest construction; it consists of a large copper or iron boiler
well tinned, capable of holding from eight to twelve gallons, having
a large body with a rather narrow neck, and a mouth about eight
inches in diameter; on the top of this is fixed an old dekchee, or
cooking vessel, with a hole in the centre to receive the tube or
worm.

This tube is composed of two pieces of bamboo, fastened at an acute
angle, and it is covered the whole length with a strong binding of
corded string, over which is a luting of earth to prevent the vapour
from escaping. The small end, about two feet long, is fixed into the
hole in the centre of the head, where it is well luted with flower
and water. The lower arm or end of the tube is carried down into a
long-necked vessel or receiver, called a bhulka. This is placed in a
handee of water, which, as it gets hot, is changed. The head of the
still is luted on to the body, and the long arm of the tube in the
bhulka is also well provided with a cushion of cloth, so as to keep
in all vapour. The boiler is let into an earthen furnace, and the
whole is ready for operation. There is such a variety of rose-water
manufactured in the bazar, and so much that bears the name, which is
nothing more than a mixture of sandal oil, that it is impossible to
lay down the plan which is adopted. The best rose-water, however, in
the bazar, may be computed as bearing the proportion of one thousand
roses to a seer of water; this, perhaps, may be considered as the
best procurable.

From one thousand roses most generally a seer and a half of
rose-water is distilled, and perhaps from this even the attar has
been removed. The boiler of the still will hold from eight to twelve
or sixteen thousand roses. On eight thousand roses from ten to
eleven seers of water will be placed, and eight seers of rose-water
will be distilled. This after distillation is placed in a carboy of
glass, and is exposed to the sun for several days to become pucka
(ripe); it is then stopped with cotton, and has a covering of moist
clay put over it; this becoming hard, effectually prevents the scent
from escaping. The price of this will be from twelve to sixteen
rupees. This is the best that can be procured.

_Attar of Roses_.--To procure the attar, the roses are put into the
still, and the water passes over gradually, as in the case of the
rose-water process; after the whole has come over, the rose-water is
placed in a large metal basin, which is covered with wetted muslin,
tied over to prevent insects or dust getting into it; this vessel is
let into the ground about two feet, which has been previously wetted
with water, and it is allowed to remain quiet during the whole
night. The attar is always made at the beginning of the season, when
the nights are cool; in the morning the little film of attar which
is formed upon the surface of the rose-water during the night is
removed by means of a feather, and it is then carefully placed in a
small phial; and, day after day, as the collection is made, it is
placed for a short period in the sun, and after a sufficient
quantity has been procured, it is poured off clear, and of the color
of amber, into small phials. Pure attar, when it has been removed
only three or four days, has a pale greenish hue; by keeping it
loses this, and in a few weeks' time it becomes of a pale yellow.
The first few days distillation does not produce such fine attar as
comes off afterwards, in consequence of the dust or little particles
of dirt in the still and the tube being mixed with it. This is
readily separated, from its sinking to the bottom of the attar,
which melts at a temperature of 84 degrees. From one lac of roses it
is generally calculated that 180 grains, or one tolah, of attar can
be procured; more than this can be obtained if the roses are
full-sized, and the nights cold to allow of the congelation. The
attar purchased in the bazar is generally adulterated, mixed with
sandal oil, or sweet oil; not even the richest native will give the
price at which the purest attar alone can be obtained, and the
purest attar that is made is sold only to Europeans. During the past
year it has been selling from 80 to 90 rupees the tolah; the year
before it might have been purchased for 50 rupees.

_General Remarks_.--Native stills are let out at so much per day or
week, and it frequently occurs that the residents prepare some
rose-water for their own use as a present to their friends, to
secure their being provided with that which is the best. The natives
never remove the calices of the rose-flowers, but place the whole
into the still as it comes from the garden.

The best plan appears to be to have these removed, as by this means
the rose-water may be preserved a longer time, and is not spoiled by
the acid smell occasionally met with in the native rose-water. It is
usual to calculate 100 bottles to one lac of roses. The rose-water
should always be twice distilled; over ten thousand roses water may
be put to allow of sixteen or twenty bottles coming out; the
following day these twenty bottles are placed over eight thousand
more roses, and about eighteen bottles of rose-water are distilled.
This may be considered the best to be met with. The attar is so much
lighter than the rose-water, that, previous to use, it is better to
expose the rose-water to the sun for a few days, to allow of its
being well mixed; and rose-water that has been kept six months is
always better than that which has recently been made.

At the commencement of the rose season, people from all parts come
to make their purchases, and very large quantities are prepared and
sold. There are about thirty-six places in the city of Ghazeepore
where rose-water is distilled. These people generally put a large
quantity of sandal oil into the receiver, the oil is afterwards
carefully removed and sold as sandal attar, and the water put into
carboys and disposed of as rose-water. At the time of sale a few
drops of sandal oil are placed on the neck of the carboy to give it
fresh scent, and to many of the natives it appears perfectly
immaterial whether the scent arises solely from the sandal oil or
from the roses. Large quantities of sandal oil are every year
brought up from the south and expended in this way.

6. The chief use the natives appear to make of the rose water, or
the sandal attar as they term it, is at the period of their
festivals and weddings. It is then distributed largely to the guests
as they arrive, and sprinkled with profusion in the apartments. A
large quantity of rose water is sold at Benares, and many of the
native Rajahs send over to Ghazipoor for its purchase. Most of the
rose water, as soon as distilled, is taken away, and after six
months from the termination of the manufacture there are not more
than four or five places where it is to be met with.

I should consider that the value of the roses sold for the
manufacture of rose water may be estimated at 15,000 to 20,000
rupees a year; and from the usual price asked for the rose water,
and for which it is sold, I should consider there is a profit of
40,000 rupees. The natives are very fond of using the rose water as
medicine, or as a vehicle for other mixtures, and they consume a
good deal of the petals for the conserve of roses, or goolcond as
they call it.

The roses of Ghazipoor, on the river Ganges, are cultivated in
enormous fields of hundreds of acres. The delightful odor from these
fields can be scented at seven miles distance on the river. The
valuable article of commerce known as attar of roses is made here in
the following manner:--On 40 pounds of roses are poured 60 pounds of
water, and they are then distilled over a slow fire, and 30 pounds
of rose water obtained. This rose water is then poured over 40
pounds of fresh roses, and from that is distilled at most 20 pounds
of rose water; this is then exposed to the cold night air, and in
the morning a small quantity of oil is found on the surface. From 80
pounds of roses, about 200,000, at the utmost an ounce and a-half of
oil is obtained; and even at Ghazipoor it costs 40 rupees (4_l._) an
ounce.

Five guineas have been often paid for one ounce of attar of roses.
The most approved mode of ascertaining its quality is to drop it on
a piece of paper; its strength is ascertained by the quickness with
which it evaporates, and its worth by its leaving no stains on the
paper. The best otto is manufactured at Constantinople.

A volatile oil, erroneously called oil of spikenard, is met with in
the shops, which is obtained from a plant which has been named by Dr.
Royle, the _Andropogon Calamus aromaticus._

The true spikenard of the ancients is supposed to have been obtained
from the _Nardostachys Jatamansi_, a plant of the Valerian family. Dr.
Stenhouse describes rather minutely ("Journal Pharm. Soc." vol. iv. p.
276) a species of East India grass oil, said to be the produce of
_Andropogon Ivaracusa_, which he believes to be what is usually called
the oil of Namur. It has a very fragrant aromatic odor, slightly
resembling that of otto of roses, but not nearly so rich. Its taste is
sharp and agreeable, approaching that of oil of lemons. It has a deep
yellow color, and contains a good deal of resinous matter.

LEMON GRASS (_Andropogon schoenanthus_).--This fragrant grass, which is
now cultivated very generally throughout the West Indies, in the
gardens of the planters, as an elegant and powerful diaphoratic, was
doubtless introduced from the East. The active principle of the leaves
seems to reside in the essential oil which they contain. Lemon grass
oil forms an important article of export from Ceylon, amounting in
value to nearly L7,000 annually.

The _Andropogon schoenanthus_, which may be seen covering all the
Kandian hills, is the best possible pasture for cattle--at least as
long as it is young. This species of grass is very hard, and grows to
the height of seven feet, and sometimes higher, and has a strong but
extremely pleasant acid taste. It derives its name from having, when
crushed, an odor like that of the lemon, so strong, that after a time
it becomes quite heavy and sickening, although grateful and refreshing
at first. It covers the hills in patches--those, at least, that are
not overgrown with jungle and underwood--and it is to be found nowhere
but in the Kandian district. Spontaneous ignition frequently takes
place, and the appearance of the burning grass is described as most
magnificent. A few days after, from the midst of this parched,
blackened, and apparently dead ground, lovely young green shoots begin
to arise--for the roots of this extraordinary grass have not even
been injured, far less destroyed, by the fire; and in a very short
time the whole brow of the mountain is again overspread with tufts of
beautiful green waving grass.--("Journal of Agriculture.")

Otto of khuskhus or scented grass, from another species, _A.
digitalis_, obtained at Ulwar in the States of Rajpootanah, was shown
at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and Newar oil (from _A. maritima_)
from Agra.

CITRONELLA OIL.--In the Southern province of Ceylon some half dozen
estates about Galle are cultivated with citronella grass. The exports
of this oil from Ceylon in the last three years have been as
follows:--1850, 86,048 oz., valued at L3,344; 1851, 114,959 oz.,
valued at L3,742; in 1852, 131,780 oz., valued at L2,806.

PATCHOULY.--Under this name are imported into this country the dried
foliaceous tops of a strongly odoriferous labiate plant, growing three
feet high in India and China, called in Bengalee and Hindu, _pucha
pat_. About 46 cases, of from 50 to 110 lbs. each, were imported from
China, by the way of New York, in 1844. The price asked was 6s. per
pound. Very little is known of the plant yielding it. Mr. George
Porter, late of the island of Pinang, stated that it grows wild there
and on the opposite shores of the Malay peninsula. Dr. Wallich says,
that it obviously belongs to the family Labiatae. Viney, in the "French
Journal of Pharmacy," suggests that it is the _Plectranthus
graveolens_ of R. Brown. It forms a shrub of two or three feet in
height. It is the _Pogostemon patchouly_. The odor of the dried plant
is strong and peculiar, and to some persons not agreeable. The dried
tops imported into England are a foot or more in length. In India it
is used as an ingredient in tobacco for smoking, and for scenting the
hair of women. In Europe it is principally used for perfumery
purposes, it being a favorite with the French, who import it largely
from Bourbon. The Arabs use and export it more than any other nation.
Their annual pilgrimship takes up an immense quantity of the leaf.
They use it principally for stuffing mattrasses and pillows, and
assert that it is very efficacious in preventing contagion and
prolonging life. It requires no sort of preparation, being simply
gathered and dried in the sun; too much drying, however, is hurtful,
inasmuch as it renders the leaf liable to crumble to dust in packing
and stowing on board. The characteristic smell of Chinese or Indian
ink is owing to an admixture of this plant in its manufacture. M. de
Hugel found the plant growing wild near Canton. By distillation it
yields a volatile oil, on which the odor and remarkable properties
depend. This oil is in common use in India for imparting the peculiar
fragrance of the leaf to clothes among the superior classes of
natives. The origin of its use is this:--A few years ago, real Indian
shawls bore an extravagant price, and purchasers could always
distinguish them by their odor; in fact, they were perfumed with
Patchouly; the French manufacturers at length discovered this secret,
and used to import the plant to perfume articles of their make, and
thus palm off homespun shawls as real India! Some people put the dry
leaves in a muslin bag, and thus use it as we do lavender, scenting
drawers in which linen is kept; this is the best way to use it, as
this odor, like musk, is most agreeable when very
dilute.--("Gardeners' Chronicle.")

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

Various - "The American Missionary, Volume 49, No. 3, March, 1895"

Henry Bibb - "Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself"

John Cotton Dana - "A Library Primer"

Various - "St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 2, December, 1877"

Audio slideshow: Robert Shaw discusses his production of Sylvia Plath's only play
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Books

Stephen King fan publishes Shining's Jack Torrance's novel
Three Women was first heard as a radio drama and then published as a poem. Robert Shaw explains his desire to stage the piece as it was intended

Video: Costa prize winners

A Stephen King fan has published an 80-page version of the book which novelist Jack Torrance obsessively writes during King's The Shining, where his descent into madness is revealed when his wife discovers that his work consists of just one phrase, endlessly repeated.

Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in terrifying form in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, is a frustrated writer who goes with his wife and son to spend the winter in the isolated Overlook Hotel in an attempt to get the novel he has always wanted to write started. But the hotel's grisly past and unquiet ghosts have their way with him, and his wife Wendy eventually finds that the manuscript he has been working on actually only contains the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", typed over and over again.

Now New York artist Phil Buehler, who describes himself as "a big fan of Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King", has self-published a book credited to Torrance, repeating the phrase throughout but formatting each page differently, using the words to create different shapes from zigzags to spirals.

"The idea has probably been marinating for years, because I loved the movie and the Stephen King book," said Buehler. "I'd just finished my own obsessive art project [and] it was an idea I had over the Christmas holidays."

He said he decided to stick to type and formatting that could have been created on a typewriter, with the first ten pages duplicating shots of Torrance's work from the film. "I thought 'if he continues to get crazier, what would those pages look like?'" he said. "I hit writer's block about 60 pages in, and I had to get to 80 - that went on for about a week." His fiancée, who had neither read the book nor seen the film, became a little concerned about his actions. "I finally showed her the movie, and she realised I wasn't really losing it," said Buehler.

He's included a spoof review from the blog OverThinkingIt.com on the book's back jacket, which compares it to "the best of Beckett" in its "lack of forward momentum", and considers the struggles of the author, "heroically pitting himself against the Sisyphusean sentence". "It's that metatextual struggle of Man vs. Typewriter that gives this book its spellbinding power," the review says. "Some will dismiss it as simplistic; that's like dismissing a Pollack canvas as mere splatters of paint."

So far, Buehler says that around 1,000 people have viewed the book, for sale on Blurb.com for $8.95 in paperback, or $22.95 in hardback, and he's sold "a few" copies, with sales now starting to pick up steam. "A few people have asked me to sign it - they're looking it as a piece of art rather than a funny thing to give to a Kubrick fan," he said. "If you're not a Kubrick or King fan, you might not even get it."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds