10 Report of Schimmel 8j Co. 1921. 



Buchu Leaf Oil. — The imports from South Africa of b'uchu leaves 1 ) were 



weight value 



1917 124110 lb. 20154 £ 



1918 ....... 89675 „ 16948 „ 



The countries of import were Great Britain and, above all, the United States of 

 America, since the main portion of the drug coming to England went further to America. 

 As we mentioned already, a few years 2 ) ago, the gathering and the sale of buchu 

 leaves is under legislative control in the Cape Colony. The Government 3 ) has recently 

 made this control more stringent, and it is not surprising that the export of buchu 

 -leaves is constantly decreasing. 



In the last few years attempts have been made to cultivate the buchu shrub in 

 Kirstenbosch, in the National Botanic Gardens. On the sunny hillsides of the Wyn- 

 berg, where the soil consistes of a red sandy loam, rich in iron and poor in lime, 

 the seeds of Barosma betulina which had been planted in 1914, were doing well. In 

 June 1916 further seeds were, in the same spot, put in rows 4 feet apart, the soil not 

 having been manured. Of these seeds 80 per cent, developed, though slowly. Of the 

 seeds raised in tins, which had been kept moist, only 20 per cent, germinated. The 

 experiments indicated that the seeds do not bear moisture well during germination. 

 The replanting of the seedlings when about one year old was also connected with 

 great losses (50 per cent.). 



To gather the leaves, the plant, when about eighteen months old, is cut back to 

 nearly the crown in the first instance, cutting in each successive season a little above 

 the previous year. In this way it is possible to gather every year and to realise gradually 

 increasing crops. 



In May 1918 shrubs two years old, standing in a row 80 yards long, gave 8V2 lbs. 

 of dry leaves. With a distance between the rows of about 4 feet this quantity would 

 correspond to a yield of 400 lbs. per acre. After harvesting the cut down plants 

 throve quite satisfactorily; none of them died. 



The experiments made in Kirstenbosch have, therefore, shown that the cultivation 

 of the buchu shrub will be profitable under certain conditions; but the cultivation 

 should be limited to the Barosma betulina, Bartl., which is the favourite species. This 

 plant thrives especially on dry, sunny hillsides where other kinds do not prosper. 



Camphor Oil. — We mentioned in our last Report, on page 12, that P. Carmody 

 had estimated the annual demand of the world for camphor at 10 million pounds. 

 According to other information 4 ) the demand for camphor had, already before the war, 

 been estimated at 12 and even 16 million pounds per year. The latter figures, are 

 probably the more correct, particularly in view of the fact that the demand for camphor 

 has increased considerably during the last 20 years and that it far exceeds the supply. 

 The deficiency of camphor made itself particularly felt during the war, when the syn- 

 thetic camphor which was made principally in Germany disappeared from the market. 

 In spite of the strong demand the camphor production went steadily down, even in 

 the chief country of its production, Japan. By the end of 1918 the Japanese Govern- 

 ment had appointed a commission to enquire into the causes of this diminution. The 

 results of this enquiry have not yet become publicly known. The Government further 

 sent several expeditions under military escort into the interior of Formosa in order 



*) Bull. Imp. Inst. 17 (1919), 588. — 2 ) Cf. Report 1918, 10. — 8 ) Chemist and Druggist 92 (1920), 909 

 — *) Weltivirtsch. Nachr., Inst, f Weltivirtsch. u. Seeverkehr in Kiel 1921, No. 284, p. 2215. 



