936 Advisory Council on Horse Breeding, [fee., 



harvesting may most profitably take place, some experiments have 

 been carried out in the United States, and are mentioned in Bulletin 

 No. 195 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



The oil of the peppermint plant owes its characteristic fragrance 

 to esters, which admit of being measured quantitatively with some 

 accuracy. In the experiments mentioned, distillations for oil were 

 carried out at three different stages — (1) before flowering of the plant 

 (or in the budding state) ; (2) at flowering ; and (3) after flowering (or 

 during the fruiting stage), with the following results : — 



Stage of Growth. 



Yield of Oil. 



Ester Content as 

 Menthyl Acetate. 



Alcohol Content 

 as Free Menthol. 



Before flowering (July 22) 

 At flowering (Aug. 21) 

 After flowering (Sept. 25) 



Per cent. 

 0-23 

 020 



O'lO 



Per cent. 

 9*5 

 I4'5 

 24*0 



Per cent. 

 31 -o 

 23-6 

 34 -o 



The aromatic quality as represented by the percentage of esters 

 increased gradually during growth, but the yield of oil decreased very 

 markedly in the case of plants harvested after the flowering period. 

 The oil was noticeably more fragrant in the "after flowering" stage 

 than at the two previous periods. 



From these experiments, it would seem that to delay the harvesting, 

 until the "after-flowering" stage would increase the quality of the oil,, 

 but that this would be accompanied by a decrease in quantity. Both 

 these factors are affected by the handling and partial drying of the 

 plant before it enters the still, and a comparison of results obtained 

 from fresh and dry plants, distilled after an interval of five months, 

 showed that the latter yielded 63 per cent, less oil than the fresh. 

 This marked decrease is probably in part due to the long period of 

 drying, but it indicates a general tendency to a loss of oil as a result 

 of drying, and it is therefore desirable that distillation should take 

 place immediately after harvesting. 



Similar experiments were also made with bergamot and wormwood. 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND CIRCULARS. 



The President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has ap- 

 pointed a Council to advise the Board on all matters pertaining to the 



. , . „ encouragement and improvement of the horse- 



Advisory Council breeding must ^ 



on . The Council is constituted as follows, and 



Horse Breeding. is appomte( j f or a term 0 f f our years ; _ 



H.R.H. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, K.G., The Duke of 

 Portland, K.G., The Marquess of Tullibardine, M.P., the Earl of 

 Granard, K.T. (Master of Horse), the Earl of Dalkeith, the Earl, of 

 Erroll, K.T., the Earl of Fortescue, A.D.C., the Earl of Donoughmore, 

 the Earl of Minto, K.G., the Viscount Helmsley, the Lord Middleton 

 (Chairman), the Lord Ribblesdale, the Hon. Alexander Parker, Colonel 



