Substitute For

Tung Oil

THE following interesting material, about Oiticica (an oil-producing tree of Brazil that is regarded as supply ing an excellent substitute for Tung Oil, now in great demand), is taken from the “Brazil Trade Journal”.

The history of oiticica dates further back than the days of the discovery of Brazil; and despite the recognition of its drying qualities more than a centurv ago, its industrial and commercial history starts in 1927.

It is true that the Baron of Ibiapaba mounted two hydraulic presses and other machinery imported from France in the Capital of the State of Ceara, Fortaleza, in 1876 and thus may be said to have brought the history of this oil back to the days of Imperial Brazil. But this enter prise was abandoned, due to the dis agreeable and strong odour of the product, and resulted in a loss of 100 contos to its proprietor.

The second phase of oiticica history, opens 50 years later, when another plant was opened in the State of Rio Grande do Norte for the utilization of the oil in the manufacture of soap. This was a theoretically ingenious idea, because of the lack of cattle (and hence, tallow) due to the devastating droughts that strike the arid region. However, among many reasons, the undesirable qualities of the product precluded its further use and thus resulted in the second failure in this oil.

The successful phase of this industry coincides with the utilization of this oil in another industry, that of paints, which was initiated in 1927 by the Sardinha Company of Rio de Janeiro. Following this new start was the impelling force given the oil by the small but active

Miriam Plant, in Fortaleza, which de voted all its energies and capital to proving the drying qualities of the oil in the principal industrial countries of the world.

Later, there was installed the first modernized factory for exploiting this oilseed, which in turn led to the estab lishment of over 22 factories in the north-east, the sole source of this oil seed in the world.

Indigenous, and known for centuries in the north-east, this tree, with a beautiful spread of thin leaves, presents a bushy appearance and prefers the banks of rivers and brooks, the surrounding al luvial plains and the margins of lakes and ponds. The trunk, short and stout, is about a metre in diameter and is sup ported by a strong network of roots which withstand the corrosive action of the occasional floods which strike the region. The tree also endures the effects of droughts which repeatedly strike the region. The life of the tree is estimated to be about a century, the production of seeds beginning in the fourth year, the maximum being attained during the tenth year. One tree is estimated to produce an average of about 150 kilo grams of seed.

Harvesting consists merely of the col lection of the seeds which fall on the ground. In 1937, the recorded Brazilian output of these seeds was estimated at 14,800 tons. Production in 1938 rose to 20,300 tons and the output of 1939 totalled about 36,000 tons.

Rev. E. A. Wale, a well-known mission ary of Aulua, Malekula, New Hebrides, who has been in Australia on short fur lough, has been ordered to take at least another six months’ furlough, on the grounds of ill health, and accordingly he does not expect to return to Malekula much before the end of this year.