Vol. XVII. No. 429. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



-31? 



entirely revolute. When touched, or dry, the leaves 

 emit a strong aromatic odour, which is due to a volatile 

 oil contained in the glands This oil is greenish in 

 colour when pressed out of the ceils, and w^hen left to 

 •dry upon the leaves forms a camphor- like substance. 



There are three species of buchu plant used in 

 medicine: the kloof buchu {Barosma serratifolia), 

 the mountain buchu {B. hetidina), und (B. crenulaia). 

 While containing the same essential oil and camphor, 

 they differ in the shape, appearance, and colour of the 

 leaves. The mountain buchu is probably the most 

 valuable, as it contains the greatest number of oil 

 glands in its small, light-green leaves; it is more com- 

 pact and dwarfed than the kloof buchu, the leaves of 

 which are dark green, resembling somewhat those of 

 the orange tree (Citrus Aurantium). The B. crenu- 

 luta species has larger leaves than the others, but this 

 kind is not so widely distributed, and is consequently 

 not so well known. 



The buchu does not thrive in every soil. In its 

 native state it is not found in earth having limestone 

 ds one of its component parts, nor in brackish or Sindy 

 soil and stiff clay. On the other hand, according to 

 the species, a black or red sandy loam, impregnated with 

 decayed vegetable matter, facilitates its culture. 

 Good results, however, are said to be obtained when 

 the plant is cultivated on sandy loam, properly drained 

 and deeply dug, but not irrigated by brackish streams.- 



Alcohol Production from Wood Waste. 



The demand for alcohol in industry increases enor- 

 mously, and in the present circumstances especially, 

 scientists are directing their energies to new sources of 

 supply. The methods of producing ethyl alcohol may 

 roughly be divided unvler two heads: (1) strictly syn- 

 thetic, such as manufacture from calcium carbide via 

 aceoylene, and (2) fermentation processes, the mater- 

 ials for which are many. 



Among the chief sources ol fermentation of alcohol 

 up to the preser.t have been the various sugars found 

 as such in plants, and the carbohydrates of grain and 

 potatoes, but there are other sources to which much 

 attention is being directed nowadays, and in a paper 

 discussed at a recent meeting of Canadian chemists held 

 at Ottawa, and publishdl in full in The Board of Trade 

 Journal, August 1, considerable importance is foreshad- 

 owed in regard to wood waste as a raw material in alco- 

 hol production. Two plants have within the last decade 

 been installed in the United States, which are said to 

 be economically producing high-grade spirit. The wood 

 almost exclusively used is yellow pine, but it is stated 

 that eijually satisfactory yields are obtained from fir, 

 spruce, and white pine. 



By the process in use — heating under pressure 

 with a dilute hydrolysing acid — as much as 2.5 to 2^ 

 per cent, of the anhydrous wood is rendered soluble, 

 and of this amount as much as 80 per cent, can be 

 delivered as fermentable sugar. It is not believed to 

 be likely that a greater percentage will be obtained by 

 the use of dilute acids. For the present, therefore, a 

 conversion yielding 20 to 22 per cent, of fermentable 



sugars, or from lu to 11 percent, of ethyl alcohol 

 corresponding to a maximum of, say, :io gallons of H-> 

 per cent, alcohol per dry ton, represents the immediate 

 result. The actual average yields on a large scala 

 have hardly exceeded half of this amount, so that there, 

 is a wide margin for improvement, and, to obtain this, 

 investigation is now being carried out. 



The quality of the product was reported to b* 

 one of the purest cologne spirits that had come under 

 the observation of the analyst. It might be added 

 that the plant, giving the above result, is operated at 

 Fullerton, Louisiana. 



Agriculture as a Business Proposition. 



British Agriculture as a Buainess Proposition has 

 been discussed recently at a meeting of the Agricul- 

 tural Club, over which Sir Henry Rew, K.C.B., pre~ 

 sided. The discussion was opened by .\)r. .J. H. Guy, 

 the Assistant Financial .Secretary to the Ministry of 

 Munitions. After describing certain basic conditions of 

 farming in the United Kingdom as they had struck hinx 

 (an American), he asked his hearers to compare such, 

 conditions with those of a commercial undertakings 

 There they had a simple direct aim — the profit of thet 

 holder of ordinary shares. Every transaction is judge. i 

 by that one standard. It was the creed of ma.iy com- 

 mercial men that the more intelligently this objecb 

 was pursued the more easily could it be reconciled with 

 the rising standards of social obligations. 



In farming, the fundamental objectives are much 

 confused, and, for the moment at least, the British people 

 seemed inclined to conduct agriculture as an insurance 

 against a submarine siege of these islands, as a nursery 

 of manhood, and a phase in a scheme for giving the 

 returnnig soldier a strip of the land for which 

 he has fought. However admirable these schemes 

 might be, tkey are not intrinsically business proposi- 

 tions, though they can be reconciled with business, .-»t 

 a price. 



If we grant the premise that farming is to 

 be conducted for profit pure and simple, he wouM 

 concur whole-heartedly in the application of the factory 

 system to the farm, and would accept the conclusion as 

 to farm labour that our choice lies between five labo>n- 

 ers at £1 per week, and two labourers properly equipped 

 and directed at M-i per week. He would, however, 

 assume that any policy to command wide approval ia 

 the United Kingdom must effect a reconciliation be- 

 tween pui'e business and certain State requirements. 

 This, however, was only the beginning of an answer to 

 the questions, what is farming' and who is running it? 

 which ^Ir. Guy thought were vital to the subject. 



In trying to find an answer to thesf questions many 

 phases of our farming were discussed, and among the 

 conclusions arrived at were that the farming industry 

 requires to turn over its capital more fVe<^uently, ta 

 control its purchasing and distributnig machinery •*© 

 that it can not pass on to e\ery unwelcome interloper 

 who can manage to intrude between the farm and the 

 consumer. This <;an only be done by uvpital, com- 

 bined with expert, managemenn. 



