Camphor tree

“ Camphor.—The camphor tree, according to the United States consular report from Osaka, Japan, is a tree of the laurel family growing in southern Japan, the wood of which is valuable in ship-building. It grows in mountainous regions far from the sea. ”

“ The tallow tree (Stillingia sebifera) is abundant in the valleys of Chusan, and large quantities of tallow and oil are yearly extracted from its seeds: tallow mills are erected in several parts of the island for this purpose. The Laurus Camphora, or camphor tree, is also abundant, but no camphor is extracted or exported from the island. The green tea shrub [Pg 68] (Thea viridis) is cultivated every where; but, if we except a small quantity which is annually sent over to the main land—to Ningpo and the adjacent towns,—the whole is used by the inhabitants themselves. ”

“ Camphor-wood promises to become, at no distant day, an important article of commerce. It grows freely in tropical countries, without cultivation. The tree attains large proportions, being sometimes found fifteen feet and upward in diameter, and of proportionate height. ”

“ It acts as a nervous stimulant, and is a favorite domestic remedy.--So you see, Malcolm, that camphor really amounts to a great deal, and we could not very well do without it."
"How can people tell when there is any camphor inside the tree?" asked Clara.
"They cannot tell," was the reply, "until the trunk is split open, although a tribe of men in Sumatra say that they know before-hand, by a kind of magic, which is the right tree to cut down. ”

“ Its age is incalculable, being a tree of very slow growth, and continually multiplying itself, so that it may be said to live forever. There is one remarkable avenue of Palmyra palms in these grounds, which we have never seen excelled in beauty of effect even in the plantation avenues of Cuba, where the family of the palm form the pride of the coffee planters. Here was also to be seen specimens of the sacred bo-tree and the camphor-tree of great size ”

“ In usefulness the bamboo is most remarkable, growing to a height of sixty feet, and entering into the construction of house-frames, screens, many household articles, mats, pipes, and sails. The camphor-tree, which is seen in such abundance, is a grand ornament in the landscape, lofty and broad-spread. The camphor of commerce is extracted from both the stem and the roots of the tree, which, being cut into small pieces, are subjected to a process of decoction. ”

“ Probably Maṣ'ūdī wrote correctly Fanṣūrah.
1298.—"In this kingdom of Fansur grows the best camphor in the world, called Camfera Fansuri."—Marco Polo, bk. iii. ch. xi.
1506.—"... e de li (Tenasserim) vien pevere, canella ... camfora da manzar e de quella non se manza...." (i.e. both camphor to eat and not to eat, or Sumatra and China camphor) .—Leonardo Ca' Masser.
c. 1590.—"The Camphor tree is a large tree growing in the ghauts of Hindostan and in China. A hundred horsemen and upwards may rest in the shade of a single tree.... ”

“ Dammer is used in India for most of the purposes to which pitch and rosen are applied in Europe. Wood oil either alone, or thickened with dammer, supplies a com- mon, but useful, varnish for wood, possessing the valuable property of, for a long time, repelling the attacks of white ants, as well as of resisting the influence of the climate. The Camphor tree of Sumatra is a species of Vatica, (Shorea camphor if era, Roxb.) and produces the finest camphor. ”

“ It is common in Texas west to the Brazos River on the drier soils, and is one of the first broad-leaved trees to grow on abandoned fields, where the seeds are dropped by birds. The species is closely related to the camphor tree of Japan. The BARK is red-brown and deeply furrowed while the bark of the twigs is bright green.
The LEAVES are unusual in that they vary widely in shape on the same tree, or even on the same twig. Some are oval and entire, 4 to 6 inches long; others have one lobe, resembling a mitten; while still others are divided at the outer end into 3 distinct lobes. ”

“ Sometimes a cordon of straw rope plaited in the style of the New-Year shimenawa is drawn about such sacred trees; sometimes they are fenced off, and sometimes a shrine with a box for thank-offerings is placed under their boughs by persons not indisposed to derive profit from their fellow-beings' piety. The cedar and camphor-tree are notable objects of such respect. Plants growing in an abnormal manner or presenting any peculiar features are also thought to possess miraculous power. Many pretty legends grew out of that conviction. ”

“ There is another species of camphor tree (Dryobalanops camphora) growing in Borneo; and a single tree is found on the island of [pg 306] Sumatra, a very giant in dimensions, even amid the huge growth of those dense forests. The gum yielded by this species is found occupying portions of about a foot or a foot and a half in the heart of the tree. The Malays and Bugis make a deep incision in the trunk about fifteen inches from the ground with a b'ling or Malayan axe, in order to ascertain whether the gum is there ”

“ The tree from which camphor is obtained is a species of laurel indigenous to Formosa, and it is on the mountains overrun by these terrible hordes of head-hunters that the extensive forests from which practically the world draws its supply of camphor are found. ”

“ Ceylon, California, Texas, Florida, Jamaica, Malay, Italy and German East Africa have successfully introduced the tree, and will in time help to supply539 the world’s growing requirements for the arts and industries, which synthetic camphor can not do, because of the deforestation of America’s southern pine, which now supplies the necessary oil of turpentine. Camphor can be distilled from any part of the tree, even the dead leaves, and some conservation foresters, especially Americans and Germans, are urging a world movement to use the leaves, dropped twigs and cuttings alone for this purpose. ”

“ The camphor is extracted from chips taken from the roots or from the stem near the root, the wood yielding about five per cent of camphor, and the root a larger proportion. The annual export of Japan camphor averages about five million pounds. The forests in Japan owned by the people are now almost denuded of timber, but the Government still possesses large woods of camphor trees, which, it is estimated, will maintain a full average supply of the gum for the next twenty-five years. ”

“ It is possible that these decayed portions may arise from former seekers cutting holes in the tree to discover whether there were sufficient camphor to render it worth while to fell the tree, a practice they carry on to the present day. An oil is also collected from this tree, which rubbed over a chest of drawers will effectually prevent the invasion of insects. ”

“ The juice of which the camphor is made runs out from a hole bored in the upper part of the tree, is received in a vessel, where it grows thick, and becomes what we call camphor; and the juice thus drawn out, the tree withers and dies. ”

“ Besides the crystals, there is always an abundance of oil, useful as an embrocation; and there is also usually a quantity of soft camphor, called ‘Kapor Bata,’ not yet crystallised; yellow, resinous crystals are of no value. The blossoms of the tree have a strong smell of camphor, and near its roots is usually found a peculiar luminous fungus.
Many tribes when on an expedition for camphor must not talk among themselves in their own language about their quest, but must use ‘camphor language.’ The Malanau tribes are herein very strict ”

“ This scarcity tends to enhance the price. The tree when cut down is divided transversely into several blocks, and these again are split with wedges into small pieces, from the interstices of which the camphor, if any there be, is extracted. That which comes away readily in large flakes, almost transparent, is esteemed the prime sort or head; the smaller, clean pieces are considered as belly, and the minute particles, chiefly scraped from the wood, and often mixed with it, are called foot ”

“ Cabinets made of camphor-wood are much esteemed, not only for the fine grain and silky sheen of the wood, but for its efficacy against the attacks of insects.
The camphor-laurel ranks among the stateliest of trees, frequently attaining to an enormous height and girth,—thirty, forty, and even fifty feet in circumference. Grand specimens may be seen at Atami, at Atsuta, and at Dazaifu,—all places on or near the ordinary lines of travel. Such giant trees are often worshipped by the simple country folk, who hang ropes of straw or paper round them in token of reverence. ”

“ Thatched roofs, whose ridge poles are beds of lilies, shaded by glorified green plumes of bamboo-trees, tall, red-barked cryptomerias, crooked pines, and gnarled camphor-trees, everywhere charm the eye. ”

“ There is no lack of fruit-trees, as the orange, lemon, peach, plum, fig, chestnut, and apple; but the vine yields only a small, sour grape, perhaps for want of culture. Timber-trees grow only in the mountainous districts, which are unfit for cultivation. Camphor is produced abundantly in the south, and large quantities of it are exported by the Dutch and Chinese. ”

“ In the Northern Pampas, or the fourth region, all kinds of fruit trees can be grown, soil permitting, orange, fig, persimmon, vines, mulberry, almond, peach, apricot, plum, cherry, walnut, [280] chestnut, pear and quince trees. This is the forest tree region of the plains: hardwood, native willows, the paradise tree, ombú, laurel, sequoia, cypress, sycamore, maple and many others. The caldén tree covers immense stretches, likewise the carob tree.
The fifth or Southern Pampean region differs from the preceding one in the cooler and even colder climate in its southern part. ”

“ When the maple tree is tapped they catch this flow of sap, because it is near to the outside. When farmers want to destroy a tree, all they have to do is to girdle it, or, in other words, cut the bark down to the wood all around the tree, and thus stop the circulation of sap, and the tree soon withers and dies. Such a tree can not stand too much abuse. If it is chopped and hacked and peeled, or girdled, it seems to discourage it, and it gives up and dies. Not so with the palm tree. It has its life at the center. One may rip it and peel it and girdle it, and it grows just the same ”

“ The camphor occurs only in small fissures, from which the natives, having felled the trees and split up the wood, scrape it off with small splinters or with their nails. From the oldest and richest trees they rarely collect more than two ounces. After a long stay in the woods, frequently of three months, during which they may fell a hundred trees, a party of thirty persons rarely bring away more than 15 or 20 pounds of solid camphor, worth from 200 to 250 dollars. ”

“ There are always, however, palm-trees in sight, massed in groves, standing in lines, or waving their single tufts in the blue. These are the date-palms, which have no branches on their long poles; each year the old stalks are cut off for fuel, and the trunk, a mass of twisted fibres, comes to have a rough bark, as if the tree had been shingled the wrong way. ”

“ Other timber trees are known here by the names of Pink-wood, Carpodontos lucida, Hard-wood, a species of Olea, Sasafras, Athosperma moschata, Stinkwood, Zieria arborescens, &c. Forest Tea Tree, a species of Leptospermum, is valued for fuel; some crooked portions of its trunk are finely veined, and well adapted for fancy-work. The black substance forming part of the stems of tree ferns, is used for reeding, in inlaying, for which purpose it is superior to Ebony. ”

“ But in a greenhouse they do not grow very large. In hot countries they sometimes reach a height of 150 feet. The bud at the top must not be broken off, else the tree will die; for, unlike Northern trees, palms do not branch, but continue always to grow straight up. As the leaves become old, they drop off, leaving curious scars on the trunk. New leaves grow one at a time from the apex. A maple-tree branches in all directions, and you may pinch off its buds anywhere without interrupting its growth. ”

“ The disc flower is small; yellow turning to brown; the rays, 12 to 16 in number, are long and slender, of a very delicate texture, and pale lilac (sometimes nearly white it is asserted) in color. The cup is cylindrical, and slightly sticky, as are the foot-stems. The heads are arranged in a loose, terminal cluster.
An odor of camphor mingles with the sweet scent of these flowers, and is distinctly perceptible at a distance. The decorative quality of the leafage is of unique excellence.
(347)
BROAD-LEAVED ASTER: A. macrophyllus.
(348)
Found chiefly on the edges of pine woods in September. ”

“ Over on the ridge, some miles to the westward of the Macwahoc-Kingman road, stands a sole survivor of the old-time pumpkin pines. Forty and fifty feet from the earth toward its limbs the birches and beeches lift whispering leaves. Timber and cat-spruce and resinous fir spire higher yet and fling incense toward him. Sixty and seventy feet they reach, growing tenuous to the tip of nothingness, yet the stately column of his trunk soars half a hundred feet beyond their tops, lonely and unapproachable. ”

“ Where poles are required, it is better to treat the trees as coppice and to cut the trunk level with the soil. The wood of S. fragilis is used for cricket-bats; there is a great difference in the value for this purpose of timber from different soils; and wood of the female tree is said to be preferable to that of the male. S. caprea (fig. 1) , a hedgerow tree, generally grows in drier situations. It is a useful timber tree, and its wood, like that of S. alba, is prized in the manufacture of charcoal. ”