Am.  Tour.  Pharm.  I 
May,  1921.  ) 
Pelargonium-Oil. 
313 
be  shortened  by  50  or  70  cm.  In  the  second  cut,  which  takes  place 
in  June,  the  branches  are  shortened  by  only  25  or  30  cm.  Under 
good  conditions  there  is  a  third  cut  in  November.  For  only  two 
cuts,  the  months  of  May  and  October  are  chosen.  The  branches  are 
gathered  in  open  baskets  and  vats,  to  avoid  fermentation.  The  ma- 
terial must  be  worked  up  immediately.  For  distillation  the  leaves  of 
the  young  shoots  only  are  used.  According  to  the  accounts  of  Heuze 
(p.  307),  there  may  also  be  used  leaves  which  have  been  carefully 
dried  by  turning.   They  are  said  to  produce  a  better  oil. 
DISTILLATION. 
Distillation  is  done  in  retorts  with  double  bottom,  to  avoid  ir- 
regular heating  of  the  contents.  In  Algeria  and  Reunion  almost 
every  plantation  has  its  own  retort.  The  substance  is  distilled  with 
water  and  produces  an  oil  of  yellowish,  greenish  or  brownish  color. 
In  the  Sahel  of  Algeria  and  the  Metidja,  there  were,  according  to 
Heuze  (p.  308)  about  48  retorts  in  the  year  1893,  producing  annu- 
ally 300  kg.  of  oil.  According  to  Cordemoy  (p.  171),  there  existed 
in  Reunion  about  250  retorts,  every  one  of  which  yielded  a  tax  of 
10  francs. 
Concerning  the  output  of  the  harvest  there  are  two  accounts. 
According  to  Charabot  and  Gatin  (p.  293)  from  1000  to  1800  kg.  of 
leaves  yield,  in  Reunion,  1  kg.  of  oil.  One  hectare  yields,  in  Reunion, 
from  30  to  50  kg.;  in  Algeria,  from  20  to  30  kg.  Heuze  (p.  307) 
relates  that  every  individual  plant  yields  1  kg.  of  leaves,  one  hectare, 
consequently,  40,000  kg.  But  since  100  kg.  of  leaves  yield  only 
from  7  to  yy2  g.  of  distillate  oil,  one  hectare  yields  400  times  jy2  g., 
that  is,  30  kg.  of  oil,  a  result  which  nearly  agrees  with  the  preceding. 
Plants  of  Southern  France  are  said  to  produce  less  oil  than  those  of 
Algeria. 
PROCEEDS. 
Charabot  and  Gatin  (p.  293)  publish  two  accounts  for  the  year 
1901. 
Jolivet  in  Algeria  calculates  the  annual  expense  per  hectare  in 
the  following  manner : 
Cultivation  and  expenses  of  distillation,     300  francs 
Annual  amortization  of  the  expenses,  60  " 
Lease,  75  " 
