Hingra, the asafcetida of European commerce, obtained from the root of Narth.ex asafetida, reaches Bombay from both Persia and Afghanistan. That prodnced in the former country, mainly in the province of Laristan, and hence known locally as anguze-i-Lari, arrives at Bombay via, Afghanistan and the Bolan Pass ; it is often in a moist condition when received, containing opaque milky te,ars, sometimes 1-2 in. long, but soon harden& The Afghan product, according to Dr. Dymock, goes by tho Indus route, and generally arrives in a hard, dry condition, very flue samples being not uncommon. Only the very poorest classes in India will use this product, which is there officinally replaced by the much more powerful hing, and it is received almost exclusively for re-export to Europe.
The cultivation of all the asafcelida-yiebling plants would appear to be a matter of the greatest simplicity under suitable conditions of soil and climate, and the subject is one that commends itself to the attention of planters in India, Australia, and Africa. The great centre of the trade in asafcetida is Bombay. The Indian imports of the drug from Persia range between 5000 and 7250 owt. a year, of which, only about 1800 cwt. are re-exported. In 1872-3, Bombay Presidency im ported 535,360 lb. of hingra from the Persian Gulf, and exported of the same kind, 348,480 lb. to foreign ports, and 48,958 lb. to other presidencies. The imports of hing in the same year were 345,072 lb. from the Persian Gulf, 448 lb. from Bengal Presidency, 896 lb. from Bladras Presi dency, and 30,688 lb. from Scinde ; the exports of hing in the same year were 1218 lb. to foreign ports, and 147,349 lb. to other presidencies. The exports of asafcetida from the Persian Gulf ports in 1879 were valued as follows:—From Bushire, 12,000 rupees (of 2s.) to India ; from Lingah, 7300 to India, and 300 to Muscat ; from Bahrein, 75 to Koweit, Busrah, and Bagdad. Shanghai imported 37i pietas (of 133i lb.) of asafootida from Hong Kong in 1879, of which, 10i piculs were rc-shipped to Chinese ports. The consumption of the gum-resin in England is comparatively trifling, and wholly medicinal (see Drugs, p. 793); on the Continent, it is in much more extensive pharmaceutical use, and is esteemed as a condiment ; while in the East, including both Hindus and Mahomedans, it is ranch more important as a flavouring for pulse dishes than as physic.
The approximate London market value of asafcetida is 12-70s. a cwt. for common to fine.
It is quite possible that other species of Ferula occurring throughout Central Asia might or do contribute somewhat to the supply of the gum-resin, but actual information on this point is wanting.
Balata.—The gum known as balata is a product of the bullet- or bully-tree of Central and S. America, Mimusops Balata [Sapota Achras Balata]. This tree is found very abundantly in British, French, and Dutch Guiana, British Honduras, and Brazil, flourishing best on the river banks. As a timber-tree, it was known to the earliest colonists, and its plentifully-secreted sweet milk has been used as food by the natives since titne immemorial ; but it was only 111 1860 that experiment was made to introduce the conereted juice as a substitute for indiarubber in European industry. The first specimens were obtained from the lowlands of the swampy Canje river, and tho success attending the experiments soon created a new article of commerce fur Canje Creek. The supply seems still to be derived mainly from this locality, where the trees have a diameter of 6-30 in. and a height of 20-60 ft. to the lowest branches.
There would appear to be two species or varieties of the tree, one with an oval fruit giving a more ruddy milk. In French Guiana., where the tree occurs most numerously in the upper Marinoni, it bears the several names balata rouge or franc, b data saignant, balata des Galibis, and borome des Arrouages. Several other Sapotaccce are said to be called balata in Guiana and the Antilles.
The extraction of the milk is performed in the following rnanner. The coarse, woody, outer bark of the tree is flrst stripped off; the tree is then " tapped" by making a number of incisions with a cutlass, usually in nn oblique direction, and extending as high up the trunk as the man's arm ill reach, generally about 7 ft. Below the wounds, a ring of clay is wrapped around the tree, and serves to catch the escaping milk, which is then collected in calabashes or other non-metallic vessel& The quantity of milk thus obtained Naries from 6 to 30 oz., which, when dried, gives i-1 lb. of solid balata. This process is not injurious to the trees, the incisions being filled up by new bark in the course of a year or two. A second method of securing the milk is to cut down the tree, and make circular cute 1 in. broad at about 1 ft. apart throughout the whole length, placing a receptacle beneath each. An average tree will thus afford 4-111b. of dry balata, as much as 45 lb. being sometimes obtained from large trees, The gum is less coloured in this case, but the tree is destroyed.