Klarinet Archive - Posting 000030.txt from 2003/03

From: "Patricia A. Smith" <patricia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Allergies, reed treatment chemicals?; was, Wood allergies
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 21:55:59 -0500

Kelly Abraham wrote:
> Patricia,
>
> I am not sure of the process for making or shipping reeds, but
> luckily, I do not seem to have any reed allergies.

IIRC, it was a young high school student who wrote in with the reed
allergies - this thread about the cocobolo wood allergies simply brought
the other one back to mind.

On the website for Reeds Australia, it is stated directly:

> No chemicals or artificial fertilizers are used on our cane.

Argendonax has a similar policy stated on their website:

> Our cane are grown with worm humus and goat manure. We do not make use
of pesticides, herbicides or agrochemicals.

Earlier, I said that most reeds seem to have a rather funky taste to
them. While I have not tried any of Reed Australia's products, I have
played on Zondas (an argendonax product) and, though not really
recently, they didn't seem to have as strong a flavor as other brands.

Maybe it's just me, but as I'm sensitive to some chemicals, it was
something I would consider a possible allergen for that particular
student.

HOpefully, the problem has been solved. But it's also good to know at
least some folks are getting away from the use of all those nasty
artificial chemicals used to grow the cane. (One note of caution -
nothing was mentioned about anything used to treat cane after it is cut)

Patricia A. Smith

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