The herald., 1897-10-21
LOS ANGELES ERALD THURSDAY MORNING. OCTOBER H. 1897

N
have grown and fruited in protected To-
calities, but when exposed have been
killed down repeatedly by frosts
While this tree Goes we'll on most
soils, II thrives best on we'll drained.
loamy soils. and responds quickly 10
fertilizers. 1t is stated that a tree in
Italy. eight years from the seed. is
one foot in diaulater and ninety feet
high. This growth is very exceptional.
A height Of 80 feet and a diameter of &
to inches may generally be expected
in about ten years from the seed The
products from the camphor tree are
gum and oil. The gum is used, extern
sively in medicine and to prevent insect
ravages. The oil may be used as is
turpentine in varnishes, enters largely
into toilet soaps and is used in Japan for
illuminating purposes. The tree is
| largely used in Japan for orname n tai
planting, as it has also been in South
ern Europe and America. The wood is
hard and valuable for cabinet work,
and the leaves and branches, packed
w,sH clothing, keep insects from doing
damage.
While the camphor tree will grow on
| 81
mercial purposes--eiiber eum or for
| cabinet use-the minimum temperature
must not go below 20 degrees Fahren-
heit, and this minimum reached only
rarely; the soil preferred is we'll drained
sandy loan, and unless the rains are
copious irrigation must be liberal
Fifty inches Of water is none too much,
and more Is desirable where the air
is very dry. The same conditions of fer
tilizing the soil that serve in growing
citrus trees answers well in. growing the
caanphor.
| The plants may be grown from seeds
or secured by use of cuttings. Those
from seeds are most common. Seeds
are gathered in October and sown in
early spring, as early as February in
California. They are sown in a rich
seed bed in drills. The seed bed should
be kept moist ard shaded from the di-
rect rays Of the sun in case the weather
| is hot. The soil tempera ture is best at
about 70 to rs degrees Fahrenheit. The
seedlings are sometimes grown In pots,
to render transplanting easy. or set in
nursery rows. At two years old they
often reach a height of 40 inches, when
they are ready for planting.
For Ornamental planting they may be
25 or 80 feet apart, but for commercial
purposes as close as 10 feet, and alter
nate rows cut and reset every five years
1t might be wiser to give more room and
cut all every Is or 20 years. The data
are not at hand to warrant positive atS
vice regarding setting or age best TO cut
In Japan camphor has been taken only
from trees 10 or so years old Yet with
more skill and care they may be profit
a bly, cut when much younger. Camphor
gum of excellent quality has been. ex-
tracted from Florida trees less than 20
years old, 1t took n pounds of twigs
and leaves for one pound Of crude gum
One third of a tree may be prun ed away
annually and used with no harm to the
tree. The most gum can be extracted
from the large roofs then in decreasing
amounts from trunk, limbs, twigs and
leaves. Trees killed by frost sprout
freely from the ground. If cut igl fail
the same would be true Whether this
would be more profitable than 10 dig
out and reset is as yet unkno own.
In Japan, Fukien and, Formosa gum
is almost wholly extracted from the
roots, trunks and larger branches. The
me.oo6 of distlllation is very crude. Ii
is fully described.
1t consists, in brief, in passing steam
through the chips, which is afterward
condensed in cool chamber, kept cool
by running water passing ever it. Amer
| lean ingenuity would soon make the dis
| tillation much more simple and easy
The chips are afterward dried and
burned in the furnace. Twenty to forty
pounds of chips are required for one
pound of crude gum. Uniform temper
ature, producing a steady supply OF
steam, and wooden, not metal, vessels
are the two requisites TO secure a good
quality of gum. Machinery for cutting,
better distilling apparatus, and preven-
tion Of waste, which is now very great,
will give much bette profits.
The late tariff imposes duty Of six
cents on refined camphor. but crude gum
| is left on the free list. Japan has i'm
proved her methods Of refining so that
there has been more refined imported
into the United States, though the crude
has greatly fallen off. The reasons for
this may be destruction OF camphor
trees, trade restrictions in Formosa, de-
struction by the native Formosans of
stills, China-Japan war. etc. All these
causes have sufficed to increase the
price of gum, and to produce substitutes,
among which are peppermint and car
bolic acid, derivatives ard insect powder
The outlook would not be encouraging
for the camphor industry in our country
except for the reasonable hope and ex-
pectation that American enterprise
coupled with our superior inventive
genius, will enable us to reduce the
price so as to compete with these sub
stitutes, and still secure a good margin
of profit 1t is not too much to hope
that Southern California may yet add
to her profitable industries that of
growing the camphor tree, and manu-
featuring gum and oil.
Flax Raising
A circular has been received from the,
Flax Decorticator company, of Bakers
field, Cal, which speaks in warm est
| r1rn ica nf Cal 10 ~ Nov