— 31 — 



rich in oil, showed a serious falling-off, and notwithstanding the decline 

 in prices this year's harvest cannot therefore be regarded as a normal 

 one. As a result the prices of all varieties of caraway oil are firm, and 

 under the prevailing conditions there does not appear to be any hope of 

 a decline. We hear that considerable sales of caraway oil, for delivery 

 after completion of the harvest, have been made in various quarters at 

 exceedingly low prices, and it will be advisable to submit the oil tendered 

 in fulfilment of these contracts to a most careful examination for quality, 

 as it is to be feared that this year, as on previous occasions, some very 

 inferior material will be distilled in certain quarters. 



In completion of previously published figures, we give below the 

 returns published by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture for the caraway 

 crop of 1909: — 



Province 



Area under culti- 

 vation, Hectares 



1909 1908 1907 



Yield (in bales of 

 50 kilos) per hectare 



1909 1908 1907 



Groningen . . 

 Friesland . . 

 Utrecht . . . 

 North Holland 

 South Holland 

 Zeeland . . . 

 North Brabant 



2,024 



50 



10 



2,806 



276 



1,131 



817 



922 



22 



4 



1,874 



173 



736 



674 



1,162 



83 



9 



2,200 



163 



703 



655 



25,8 

 24,8 

 20,0 

 23,4 

 22,6 

 24,1 

 23,0 



25,2 

 22,3 

 20,0 

 20,2 

 25,6 

 28,6 

 23,4 



25,7 

 23,0 

 20,0 

 22,7 

 23,9 

 25,4 

 20,6 



Total for the 

 Kingdom : 



7,114 



4,405 



4,925 



24,1 



23,3 



23,6 



Total production 1909 ...... 171740 bales 



1908 102906 „ 



1907 116028 „ 



1906 100825 „ 



Cardamom Oil. The most minute care is taken in the selection of 

 our raw material for this oil, and we are therefore always in a position 

 to supply the very best quality. We especially draw attention to this fact 

 on the present occasion, because only too many firms fall seriously short 

 of the standard in this respect. We have met with samples which, although 

 possessing a normal odour, are only distantly reminiscent of the genuine 

 distillate. 



The proposed incorporation of cardamom oil into the revised edition 

 of the National Formulary, has induced G. M. Beringer 1 ) to collect information 

 from several firms as to the preparation, properties, and keeping power of 

 this oil, from which we quote the following particulars: — 



*) Americ. Journ. Pharm. 82 (1910), 167. 



