1 Fes., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 141 
General Notes. 
A SIMPLE GATE LATCH. 
A simple but effective latch for a gate or door is shown in the accompanying 
diagrams. It is cheap, and easily made—any country blacksmith could forge 
out the parts from the sketches. The latch is in two parts. One has a spike 
8 inches long for driving into the door or gate post. The upright part of this 
: 1 . 
section is about 2 inches long, and has a nut screwed on to the top to prevent 
the latch from slipping off. At A this upright is squared 1 inch by 13 inches, 
and at B itis rounded. The latch C is made to fit the squared upright portion 
of the bolt. When slipped down, it forms a firm catch as shown. To open the 
gate the latch has to be lifted to the rounded portion and swung back. 
A NEW METHOD OF ADULTERATING WINE. 
The English Mechanic and World of Science takes the following from an 
American paper :—It has recently been ascertained that a peculiar method of 
wine adulteration has come extensively into vogue in European wine-growing 
countries, and which involves the conversion by chemical means of red into 
white wines. A French chemist, in the course of certain investigations upon 
the constituents of the ashes of certain wines, found present therein about one- 
half of 1 per cent. of manganese protoxide per litre of wine. Further 
investigation of the subject seems to have confirmed the suspicion that the 
investigator had to deal with a red wine which had been treated with animal 
charcoal (boneblack) and potassium permanganate, for the purpose of effecting 
its decolorisation It was also shown that this artifice rad assumed large 
proportions among the wine-producers since the public had begun to show a 
preference for white wines, which, consequently, had increased in price. The 
following method of detecting this method of adulteration has been proposed :— 
Ten cubic centimétres of white wine should be treated with 1 to 2 cubic 
centimétres of caustic soda solution, followed by | cubic centimétre of hydrogen 
dioxide. When these constituents are thoroughly mixed, the liquid will 
instantaneously take on a mahogany-red colour. In the case that hydrogen 
dioxide is not available, the same reaction will occur, though more slowly, by 
using in excess of caustic soda. 
GROWING TOBACCO UNDER SHADE. 
An enthusiast on the subject of growing tobacco under shade estimates that 
within the next five years there will be no less than 6,000 acres producing 
wrappers under cheese-cloth in this country. At, say, 1,500 lb to the 
acre, the yield would be 9,000,000 lb —enough to wrap the cigar product 
of the country, and something left for export. The samples of the tobacco grown 
under shade in Connecticut which have been shown in the market are absolutely 
without a defect. 
