H.—22.

* Black mustard, Sinapis nigra (Europe). * White mustard, Sinapis alba (Europe). * Linseed, Linum usitatissinium. Buchu, Barosma crenulata (Cape of Good Hope). Tragacanth— Astragalus ascendens (Persia), Astragalus gummifer (Armenia, &c), Astragalus stromatodes (North Syria, at an altitude of 5,000 feet), Astragalus Jeurdicus (Cappadocia, &c). The tragacanth exported from Smyrna alone is valued at upwards of £70,000 per annum, and the demand is increasing. * Liquorice-root, QlycyrrMsagldbra (South Europe, Central Asia). This is cultivated in England, and imported to a largo amount, both crude and manufactured. The latter alone amounts to upwards of £80,000 per annum. * Gum kino (Ceylon, India). Eucalyptus gum has been found equal in value to this costly tropical kino, especially that produced by Eucalyptus rostrata, JS. citriodora, and IS. corymbosa. Hemlock, Oonium maculatum (Europe, Asia Minor). * Caraway, Carum carui. Cultivated in England, and imported to the extent of 20,000 cwt. * Coriander, Coriandrum sativum, Ij. (Europe, &c). Cumin, Cuminum cyminnm, L. (Egypt, China, &c). * Peruvian bark, Cinchona succirubra, O. calisaya, &c. Chamomile, Anthemis nobilis (Europe). Santonine, Artemisia maritima, v. stechmanniana (Turkestan). Arnica, Arnica montana (Central Europe). Lactucarium, Lactuca virosa, L. scariola, L. altissima, and L. sativa —garden lettuce. This drug is chiefly manufactured at Zell, in Ehenish Prussia, where about I,ooolb. per annum are manufactured, the price on the spot averaging 10s. per pound, according to quality. It is manufactured to a small extent in Britain. At Zell the plant is chiefly grown in cottage-gardens. Shortly before flowering the stem is cut off about 12 or 10 inches below its apex, the juice collected and transferred to cups, in which it soon hardens so that it can be turned out in solid cakes, when it is dried by exposure to the air. After the first piece is cut off the stem, a thin transverse slice is cut every day, so as to expose a fresh surface. This is usually continued until September. * Manna, Fraxinus ornus (Southern and Central Europe, Asia Minor). Exported from Sicily alone to the value of £20,000 per annum. Gentian-root, Q-entiana lutea (Southern and Central Europe). Scammony, Convolvulus scammonia (Greece, Asia Minor, South Russia, &c). * Belladonna, Atropa belladonna (Europe). * Stramonium, Datura stramonium. (Naturalized in New Zealand.) * Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger. * Digitalis, Digitalis purpurea. (Naturalized in New Zealand.) * Lavender, Lavandula vera. * Peppermint, Menth piperita. Extensively cultivated in several parts of Europe and the United States for the sake of its essential oil, one distiller alone sending out over 60,000 lb. per annum. The oil produced at Mitcham, in Surrey, where it has been cultivated for more than a century, commands the highest price in the market, realizing more than twice the value of the finest American kinds. At Mitcham, "Wisbeach, and Market Deeping, stills are possessed only by the large growers: these are hired by small growers at so much per charge. The dried herb is preferred to the fresh, as a larger quantity can be placed in the still. The stills contain from 1,000 to 2,000 gallons. In America the percentage of oil by weight ranges from O'll to o'ls per cent.; at Mitcham it equals 026 per cent. * Spearmint, Mentha viridis; pennyroyal, M. pulegium, are cultivated for the essential oil which they contain and for the dried herb. Ehubarb, Mliewm officinale. The root is cultivated in England, and is imported to the value of £63,000 per annum, chiefly from China. * Camphor, JLaurus camplwra (China, &c). Sassafras, Sassafras officinale (Canada). * Castor-oil, Sicinus communis. In addition to its medicinal value, the oil is largely used in the manufacture of soap, and for lubricatimg machinery. The annual value of the castor-oil imported into Britain exceeds £85,000. The plant is naturalized at Great Omaha and other places in the North Island, where it produces seeds abundantly. Virginian snake-root, Aristolochia serpentaria (United States). * Orris-root, Iris germanica, Iris pallida, Iris florentina (Europe). The first of these is naturalized at the Bay of Islands and other places in the North Island. Dye-saffron, Crocus sativus (Greece, Asia Minor). Squill, Urginea maritima (Southern Europe, Asia Minor, <&>c), White hellebore, Veratrum album (Central and Southern Europe, Asiatic Eussia, and China). Meadow-saffron, Colcliicwni autumnale (Europe).

Tobacco. No. 36. Mr. B. W. G-OTcn to Mr. Commissioner T. F. S. Tinne. Sib,— Opotiki, 21st April, 1880. Having read with deep interest your admirable letter of the 14th instant, published in the Weekly News of the 17th, I feel it my duty, both for my own personal interest and in behalf of the cause you so warmly advocate, " the fostering of local industries," to lay before you the particulars of my own case ; which, as one of peculiar hardship, and as an instance of the utter extinguishment of a promising local industry, will stand unequalled in the Colony of New Zealand. I refer to the

45