- 67 - 
At the present moment the condition of the Japanese market is 
very strong. Prices have risen about 50 per cent in consequence of 
a considerable shortage of crop. 
Peppermint Oil, Mitcham. The reports from the English 
peppermint districts all agree., that the result of the cultivation has 
been middling. For the best brands, prices are asked which fluctuate 
between 26/- and 30/- per lb. for crude oil, or 64 and 70 marks per 
kilo for the rectified article, and if the producers do not become 
more accommodating, the selling prices will soon have to be raised 
considerably. 
Business in this article has become as difficult as unremunerative 
for the honest middleman, as he has frequently to fight against dis- 
honesty and want of common-sense — the former in the case of most 
of the competing products, and the latter with the merchants, who 
look solely to the name ^'Mitcham" in their purchases, and who can 
only be taught with difficulty that it is impossible to supply a faultless 
original quality at the lowest cut prices. The quotations mentioned 
above leave but a modest profit to the reliable producer, and no longer 
allow him to carry on the cultivation with the same care that was 
bestowed upon it when the value was rarely below 30/-, but mostly 
fluctuated between 33/- and 36/- per lb. In consequence of this, the 
excellent oils to which we were at one time used, and of which we 
still have a recollection, can no longer be obtained, and one has now 
to make the best of the existing circumstances. We only supply the 
best English oils in existence, and we believe that through our London 
branch we are in a position to utilise every advantage in the purchase 
of the oil. 
Peppermint Oil, Saxon. The distillation of the large quan- 
tities of Mitcham peppermint plants, grown here in the neighbourhood 
of our factory, has this year given excellent results. The rainy weather 
has had the effect of producing a luxuriant growth of the plants. The 
yield of oil is satisfactory, and the quality of the manufactured article, 
of which large quantities are ready, is much superior to that previously 
made, thanks to the experience gained in the cultivation of the plants. 
We can with justice claim that our product has reached the highest 
degree of perfection, and we confidently hope that before long w^e 
shall be able to compete with the English distillate. 
Charabot and Hebert^) have recently published in a connected 
form the results of their examinations regarding the chemical changes 
^) Bull. Soc. chim. III. 27 (1902), 204. 
• 5* 
