Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
November,  1915.  / 
Correspondence. 
527 
The  wooden  boxes  used  were  of  two  sizes,  viz.,  4  x  4^8  x  6  inches 
and  6^4  x  7  x  85^  inches,  the  smaller  holding  about  one  pound,  and 
the  larger  about  four  pounds  of  whole  cloves. 
All  duplicates  showed  close  agreements,  except  No.  2,  which,  for 
the  six  months'  period,  lost  3.95  and  4.85  per  cent.,  and  for  the  54 
months'  period  6.83  and  7.27  per  cent.,  respectively. 
It  is  noted  in  the  analysis  of  this  sample  that  the  moisture  was 
10.76  per  cent.,  which  is  2.75  per  cent,  higher  than  No.  3,  which  in 
54  months  showed  a  loss  of  only  2^/2  per  cent.  Both  of  these  lots, 
as  well  as  No.  4,  were  shipped  from  London  and  arrived  in  this 
country  on  the  same  steamer. 
Nos.  1,  5  and  7  were  shipped  from  Zanzibar  and  No.  6  from 
Rotterdam,  all  arriving  about  the  same  time,  although  on  different 
steamers. 
Eight  separate  determinations  were  made  on  sample  No.  1,  part 
of  them  in  one-pound  boxes  and  part  in  four-pound  boxes,  in  which, 
however,  only  two  pounds  of  cloves  were  placed. 
The  average  loss  on  all  samples  for  the  six  months'  period  was 
2.42  per  cent,  and  for  the  54  months'  period  4.70  per  cent.,  and  the 
maximum  loss  for  this  period  was  7.83  per  cent. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Cultivation  of  Medicinal  Plants. 
The  Editor, 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy, 
145  North  Tenth  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Dear  Sir: 
We  have  just  been  reading  an  article  on  the  "Cultivation  of 
Medicinal  Plants,"  by  Dr.  Fred.  B.  Kilmer,  in  your  August  issue, 
which  has  been  brought  to  our  notice,  and  we  have  read  this  article 
with  considerable  interest. 
Many  of  the  facts  put  forward  by  Dr.  Kilmer  we  agree  with,  but 
we  must  very  strongly  dissent  from  some  of  the  remarks  referring 
to  English  growers  of  medicinal  plants.  On  page  345  he  says  (refer- 
ring to  our  firms  among  others)  "  that  English  growers  carefully 
prepare  the  leaves  of  Digitalis,  Henbane,  Belladonna  and  sell  to  the 
American  buyers  at  high  prices,  and  the  portion  of  the  plants  which 
the  Americans  reject,  they  make  into  extracts  and  other  compounds 
for  home  consumption." 
