558 
Elder  Flowers. 
$  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     August,  1921. 
tion  may  be  directed.  The  flowers  open  early  in  July  and  last  in 
abundance  only  for  about  three  weeks,  during  which  time  only  it  pays 
to  collect  them.  The  bunches  of  flowers  do  not  open  all  the  buds  at 
once,  and  it  needs  a  little  judment  to  collect  those  on  which  the 
majority  of  the  corollas  are  expanded,  leaving  those  in  bud  for  a  sub- 
sequent collection  or  for  forming  fruit.  When  the  flower  bunches 
are  collected,  if  placed  on  the  floor  in  heaps  they  soon  heat  and  turn 
black,  and  care  is  necessary  to  spread  them  out  on  a  clean  floor,  or 
on  trays  or  shelves,  so  that  the  ripe  corollas  can  be  easily  collected  as 
soon  as  they  fall  off,  which  they  easily  do  when  only  a  very  slight 
heating  takes  place.  The  separation  can  easily  be  done  by  the  use  of 
a  coarse  sieve,  the  bunches  with  unopened  flowers  being  returned  to 
their  places  for  a  second  operation.  Some  buyers  like  to  distil  the 
flowers  as  soon  as  gathered  for  elder-flower  water,  but  for  the  distil- 
lation at  more  convenient  times  the  flowers  are  salted,  i  lb.  of  salt 
being  added  to  2  lb.  of  flowers.  For  the  distillation  of  essential  oil, 
for  which  there  is  a  demand  for  the  flavoring  of  the  more  delicate 
white  whines,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  no  stalks  and  no 
flowers  that  have  turned  brown,  as  this  spoils  the  delicacy  of  the 
flavor.  Clean  barrels  or  other  containers  are  usually  supplied  by  the 
buyer,  as  it  is  not  always  possible  to  get  them  in  small  country  vil- 
lages. These  should  be  sent  about  the  middle  of  May  whenever 
salted  flowers  are  wanted,  so  as  to  be  clean  and  ready  for  use  as  soon 
as  the  flowers  are  ready.  When  the  barrels  are  filled  to  the  top  with 
salt  and  flowers,  no  more  should  be  added,  but  the  flowers  allowed 
to  sink  down,  the  top  tided  over  with  clean  Hessian  canvas,  and  la- 
belled "To  be  kept  upright." 
With  regard  to  the  collection,  it  must  be  remembered  that  at  the 
rate  of  I  cwt.  per  day  only  iy2  tons  can  be  collected  during  the 
month,  and  a  month  is  practically  the  limit  of  time  for  collection  of 
the  flowers.  Under  present  conditions,  local  advertisement  is  neces- 
sary to  ensure  a  sufficient  supply  being  brought  in,  accompanied  by  a 
printed  notice  to  the  effect  that  flowers  turned  brownish  cannot  be 
accepted.  Fresh  flowers  are  sometimes  required  for  immediate  dis- 
tillation. In  such  cases  they  should  be  sent  in  sacks  containing  not 
more  than  20  lb.,  and  so  loosely  packed  as  to  allow  freedom  from 
pressure  by  not  tying  up  the  sack  too  tightly,  so  as  to  permit  move- 
ment of  the  flowers  inside  and  avoidance  of  heating,  and  they  should 
be  labelled,  "By  passenger  train,  at  owner's  risk  rate.  Perishable." 
Or,  by  arrangement  with  the  buyer,  sacks  containing  10  lb.  each, 
