Am.  Tour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1921.  J 
The  Cultivation  of  Buchu. 
49 
the  plants  is  indicated,  similar  information  having  been  given  in  this 
journal  from  time  to  time.  Although  these  measures  will  doubtless 
help  to  preserve  the  wild  plants  from  extermination,  there  is  no 
question  that  the  best  way  to  obtain  a  continuous  and  regular 
supply  of  the  leaves  is  by  cultivating  the  plants.  A  further  ad- 
vantage of  cultivation  is  that  it  would  ensure  the  leaves  being 
marketed  in  a  pure  state.  At  present  the  three  standard  forms  of 
buchu  are  sometimes  found  to  be  adulterated  with  leaves  of  other 
species  of  Barosma,  while  those  of  Empleurum  serrulatum  are 
occasionally  present  in  considerable  quantities  in  parcels  of  long 
buchu  (B.  serratifolia) .  Cultivation  experiments  with  buchu  have, 
been  made  from  time  to  time  by  private  persons  (see,  for  example, 
Agric.  Jour.  Union  of  S.  Africa,  6:80,  1913),  and  more  recently 
experiments  with  B.  betulina  have  been  conducted  at  the  National 
Botanic  Gardens,  Kirstenbosch,  particulars  of  which  are  given  in 
the  South  African  Journal  of  Industries  2:  748,  1919.  From 
this  account  it  appears  that  seed  was  sown  in  19 14  in  four  plots 
situated  in  different  positions  on  the  slopes  of  Wynberg  Hill.  At 
the  base  of  the  slope,  where  the  soil  consisted  mainly  of  a  black, 
sandy  alluvium,  which  was  occasionally  flooded  during  the  winter, 
only  a  few  seeds  germinated  at  the  driest  end,  and  those  did  not 
survive  the  first  winter.  The  best  results  were  obtained  on  a  plot 
in  an  open,  sunny  position  well  up  the  slope  of  the  hill.  Here  the 
soil  was  a  red,  gritty  loam,  rich  in  iron  and  deficient  in  lime,  the  sub- 
soil being  dry  and  consisting  of  clay  containing  a  large  quantity  of 
quartz  grit,  with  here  and  there  a  seam  of  ironstone  gravel.  In 
June,  1916,  a  further  sowing  was  made  at  this  spot  in  rows  four  feet 
apart,  the  land  being  trenched  and  no  manure  added.  About  80 
per  cent,  of  the  seed  germinated  in  this  case,  which  was  much  higher 
than  in  any  previous  sowings.  The  germination,  however,  was  slow. 
Seed  was  also  sown  in  tins  in  a  nursery,  to  supply  plants  for  filling 
gaps  in  the  plantation,  but  not  more  than  20  per  cent,  germinated. 
The  seed  shown  in  situ  was  not  watered,  and  rain  fell  on  only  two 
days  in  the  first  fortnight,  whereas  the  surface  soil  in  the  nursery 
was  kept  moist  by  watering.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  seed 
dislikes  much  moisture  during  germination.  When  twelve  months 
old  the  seedlings  were  thinned  out,  and  some  were  transplanted  but 
not  more  than  10  per  cent,  succeeded.  When  two  years  old  the 
plants  sown  in  19 16  were  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  high,  very 
bushy,  and  some  of  them  flowered  and  seeded.    It  is  suggested  that 
