Bewoe rani MENT OF AGRICULTURE.
> BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY—BULLETIN NO. 90, PART III.
5 oo Ss “

B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau.

BY

ALICE HENKEL,

ASSISTANT, DruG-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS.

IssuED DECEMBER 28, 1905.

Monograph

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1905. ;
i Y

PEPPERMINT.

Weserption _-------.2--+- = -=--------=--+- = i ey oS oe Se nc es
Countries where grown ---------- ---- Pea eee ee i ae
Peppermint cultivation in the United Sintes! Be ee Sey ee ee ere See
RRM anAtOTIE ee eS oo oes Se eS oe = ee eee oe See ee eee

@onditions injurious to crop----.---------------=--------------=+-==----
Harvesting and distillation ---------------- --+-------- pte. Sea eer
Miereripiomior ntl <= - = 5882-2222 Se 2 Pe ge
Peppermint oil and menthol ------------- a Ee a eee eee
Baeporbol peppermint oll= --_--. -.---=---2 ~~ <2 == 22-52 a
erates of poppermunt Oll-----2---<-- 2-2 -¢+<=---<= =< eee

3. Peppermint still (after Dewey, in Bailey’s SGscoeas of Amer ica
Horticulture) ----.----..-----.- ----------====----=-=5-=--=
4. -

B. P. I—189.

Pie Pn VMN T

DESCRIPTION.

One of the most important essential oils produced in the United
States is distilled from the peppermint plant and its varieties. The
three kinds of mint grown in this country for the distillation of pep-
permint oil are the so-called American mint (J/fentha piperita 1.),
the black mint (Mentha piperita vulgaris Sole), and the white mint
(Mentha piperita officinalis Sole), the two last named being varieties
of the American mint.

The American mint, although introduced from England. many
years ago, is so called from the fact that it has long been cultivated
in this country, and the name “ State mint ” has been applied to it in
the State of New York for the same reason.

The peppermint, or American mint, is now naturalized in many
parts of the eastern United States, occurring in wet soil from the New
England States to Minnesota, south to Florida and Tennessee. It is
an aromatic perennial belonging to the mint family (Menthacez),
and propagates by means of its long, running roots (fig. 1). The
smooth, square stems are erect and branching, from 1 to 3 feet in
height, bearing dark-green, lance-shaped leaves, which are from 1 to
2 inches long, and from one-half to 1 inch wide. The leaves are
pointed at the apex, rounded or narrowed at the base, sharply
toothed, smooth on both sides, or with hairy veins on the lower sur-
face. The flowers are borne in whorls in dense, terminal spikes; they
are purplish, with a tubular, five-toothed calyx, and a four-lobed
corolla. (Fig. 2.)

a@In response to a steady demand for information relating to the peppermint
industry, Miss Alice Henkel, Assistant in Drug-Plant Investigations. has been
requested to bring together the most important facts regarding the history,
eulture, and utilization of the peppermint plant. The information here pre-
sented has been obtained in large part from scattered articles on the subject,
and in part from experience with the plant in the Testing Gardens of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. ;
Ropney H:- True, Physiologist in Charge.
OFFICE OF DRUG-PLANT INVESTIGATIONS,
Washington, D. C., October 14, 1905.

or

6 PEPPERMINT.

The two varieties mentioned are closely related botanically, al-
though in general appear-
ance they are quite differ-
ent. The variety known
as black mint (J/entha
piperita vulgaris) has pur-
ple stems and slightly
toothed, dark-green leaves,
while the white mint
(Mentha piperita offict-
nalis) has green stems,
with brighter green leaves,
showing method of Which are more’ lamee

Fig. 1.—Peppermint “runners,”
propagation. shaped and more deeply

toothed. Black mint is much more hardy and productive than either
the American mint or the white mint, x

and is grown on nearly all pepper-
mint farms in this country. The white
mint, which produces a fine grade
of oil, is rarely cultivated on a com-
mercial scale in this country on ac-
count of its inability to withstand the
climate and its smaller yield of essen-
tial oil.

The oils spoken of as Japanese and
Chinese * peppermint ” oils are not ob-
tained from the true peppermint plant,
but are distilled from entirely different
species, namely, Jentha arvensis piper-
ascens Malinvaud and Mentha arvensis
glabrata Holmes, respectively.

* COUNTRIES WHERE GROWN.

The most important —_peppermint-
producing countries are the United
States, England, and Japan. Pepper-
mint is grown on a smaller scale in
Germany, France, Italy, Russia, China,
and southern India.

In Japan, peppermint cultivation
is said to have been undertaken
before the Christian era. The plant

grown there is not, as already Ft. 2.—Leaves and flowering top of
: peppermint.

stated, the peppermint cultivated in
our country, but Ientha arvensis piperascens, which is entirely dis-

CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES. (6
tinct from the true peppermint, not only botanically but also in taste
and odor. :

Peppermint is cultivated on many drug farms in England, espe-
cially at Mitcham, the middle of the eighteenth century marking the
beginning of peppermint cultivation in that country. Up to 1805,
however, there were no stills at Mitcham, and the crops obtained
there were sent to London for distillation. About 1850, at which
time the peppermint industry in England was at its height, the effect
of American competition began to be felt, and caused a decided
check in the production.

PEPPERMINT CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Wayne County, N. Y., in 1816, was the first locality in this country
to distill peppermint on a commercial scale. The supply of root-
stocks was obtained from the wild plants found growing along the
banks of streams and brooks. Adjacent counties soon undertook the
cultivation of peppermint, but Wayne County was then, and is now,
the principal peppermint district in New York.

The cultivation of peppermint was extended to Ashtabula, Geauga,
and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, and also to northern Indiana. Roots -
were taken from Ohio into St. Joseph County, Mich., the first plan-
tation being made on Pigeon prairie in 1835. Other plantations in
St. Joseph County were established the following years, and adjoin-
ing counties soon took up the cultivation of peppermint, and south-
western Michigan has been for thirty-five years or more the greatest
peppermint-producing section in the United States.

About 1844 an interesting peppermint-oil monopoly * was under-
taken by a New York firm, which seems to have put an end to pepper-
mint cultivation in Ohio, for none of the counties just mentioned
has since been heard from as a peppermint-producing section.

The first step taken by this New York firm in its efforts to con-
trol the peppermint-oil market was to send a representative to
Liverpool, England, to ascertain the amount annually demanded by
that market, which was found to be about 12,000 pounds. This done,
another agent was sent West to determine the amount produced annu-
ally, with the result that it was found that the farms in New York
did not produce enough oil for their purposes, the plantations in
Ohio too much, while those in Michigan seemed to produce just about
the right amount to satisfy the Liverpool demand. <A contract was
then entered into by this agent with the producers in New York and
Ohio * whereby he bound them under heavy penalties to plow up
their mint fields and destroy the roots, and not plant any more mint,

8 PEPPERMINT.

period of five years.” For this wholesale destruction of their mint
fields the producers received a bonus of $1.50 per acre. Next a con-
tract was made by the agent with the producers of St. Joseph County,
Mich., agreeing to pay them $2.50 a pound for their mint oil, every
ounce of the mint oil to be delivered for a period of five years to the
agents named in the contract. They also were prohibited during
this period from extending their plantations and from selling roots
to anyone. The producers held to these contracts for about three
years, after which period the New York firm was not so anxious to
enforce them, having, in the meantime, acquired a large fortune
through its peppermint-oil monopoly.

Since that period the area devoted to peppermint cultivation in
Michigan has steadily increased, and northern Indiana, with its prin-
cipal centers of production in St. Joseph, Steuben, and La Grange
counties, continues to place on the market a considerable quantity of
oil. Ohio seems to have abandoned peppermint cultivation, at least
on a commercial scale, and New York, for a number of years and until
very recently, had greatly reduced the area under peppermint, thou-
sands of acres formerly devoted to this crop having been given over
to sugar beets, onions, and celery. In 1889 Wayne County, N. Y.,
had 3,325 acres of peppermint, whereas in 1899 there were only 300.
acres. In 1905, about 933 acres were under cultivation.

Special canvassers appointed by the State of Michigan made a
‘anvass of 299 growers in the peppermint district in that State, cover-
ing 39 townships in nine counties (Allegan, Berrien, Branch, Cass,
Kalamazoo, Oakland, St. Joseph, St. Clair, and Van Buren), and
the total number of acres under peppermint cultivation, the number
of pounds of oil distilled, and the average number of pounds per acre,
as ascertained by this canvass, for the years 1900, 1901, and 1902, are
as follows:

1902.

Items. | 1900. | 1901.
eee = ae =
Mo tal MUM Der Oss ACTOS: STO ya eae 2,112 2, 1822) 6, 4002
Total numberof pounds) distilled) = 2-5 se ee 47,6283) 63,7183 82, 4204
AVverare NUMpPSLOL POUN GS PEI e.CRO meee ee ae eee ee 22.5 23.9 | 12.8
CULTIVATION.

Peppermint cultivation is most profitable on muck lands, such as
are now used in Michigan for this crop and for celery and cranberry
culture. These muck lands were formerly marshes and swamps,
which have been reclaimed by draining, plowing, and cultivating,
the swamp vegetation having been thus subdued, and the decayed

a Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Michigan,
1903, pp. 438447. ;

CONDITIONS INJURIOUS TO CROP. 9

vegetable matter resulting in a very black soil which is most admir-
ably adapted to mint cultivation. Formerly peppermint was grown
exclusively on upland soil in Michigan, but it is a very exhausting
crop on such land. Only two crops can be obtained from uplan«l
plantations, and after the second year’s harvest the land is plowed and
a rotation of clover, corn, ete., is practiced for five years before pep-
permint is again planted. But on the rich muck land peppermint
can be grown year after year for six or seven years, the land being
plowed up after each crop is harvested, and the runners turned under
to form a new growth the succeeding year. The ground is harrowed
in autumn and again in spring, and carefully weeded. Peppermint
will grow, however, on any land that will produce good crops of corn,
the ground being prepared by deep plowing and harrowing.

In Michigan‘ the land is plowed in the autumn, and early in spring
it is harrowed and marked with furrows about 3 feet apart. The
roots selected for planting are from one-eighth to one-quarter of an
inch thick, and from 1 to 3 feet long; and the workmen engaged in
“setting mint,” as the process is called, carry these roots in sacks
across their shoulders and place them in the furrows by hand, cover-
ing the roots with one foot and stepping on them with the other.
The roots are planted so close together in the furrow as to form a
continuous line. An expert workman can plant about an acre in
a day.

In about two weeks the young plants will make their appearance,
and are carefully hoed and cultivated until July and August, when
the plants have usually sent out so many runners as to make further
cultivation difficult. The crop is cultivated with horse cultivators,
but if the land was very weedy in the first place, the weeds will
have to be pulled by hand. It is very necessary that the land be free
from weeds, as any collected with the peppermint crop will seriously
injure the quality of the oil.

It may be interesting to note here that on muck lands, when
necessary, the horses are usually provided with mud shoes to prevent
their sinking into the soft, wet ground, these mud shoes consisting
of wide pieces of iron or wood about 9 by 10 inches, fastened to the
hoofs and ordinary shoes by means of bolts and straps.

CONDITIONS INJURIOUS TO CROP.

Cold and wet weather or extremely dry periods have a very unfa-
vorable effect on the mint crop. Insect enemies also tend to cut down
the mint harvest—grasshoppers, crickets, and cutworms sometimes
doing considerable damage. A rust, causing the foliage to drop off

a Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Michigan,
1903, pp. 488-47.

10 PEPPERMINT.

and leaving the stems almost bare, is apt to follow if very moist
weather occurs toward the latter part of the season. Weeds are
especially to be avoided in a mint field, since, as stated, the quality
of the oil will be seriously impaired if these are harvested with the
peppermint. The weeds generally found in a peppermint field are
Canada fleabane (Leptilon canadense), fireweed (Lrechtites hieract-
Jolia), giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida), pennyroyal (Hedeoma
pulegioides), Eaton’s grass (Hatonia pennsylvanica), June grass
(Poa pratensis), and other low grasses.

HARVESTING AND DISTILLATION.

The first crop of mint is harvested in the latter part of August,
when the plants are in full flower, and the gathering continues until
about the middle of September, the stills running night and day
until all the mint is disposed of. The first crop is usually cut with a
scythe, as mowing machines do not work well on soft cultivated land.
The succeeding crops are cut with a mowing machine or sweep-rake
reaper. The highest yield per acre and the best quality of oil are
obtained from the first year’s crop. Sometimes, if the weather con-
ditions have been very favorable, a second cutting is made. The
yield of oil from peppermint obtained from the same field sometimes
varies very much, the condition of the atmosphere seeming to exert
wn influence upon it, as it is said that mint cut after a warm and
humid mght will yield more oil than that cut after a cool and dry
night. It requires about 330 pounds of dried peppermint to produce
! pound of oil, and the yield of oil from an acre ranges from 12 to 50
pounds.

If the mint crop has been grown on muck land, all that is necessary
after the crop has been harvested is to plow up the land and turn the
runners under for a new crop. If grown on upland, after the second
year’s crop is in, or, at the most, after the third year’s harvest, the land
is plowed and then given up to other crops. Peppermint exhausts
the land, and it is necessary to practice rotation of crops for about five
years in order to put the land in condition if it is desired to use it
again for peppermint cultivation.

After the plants are cut they are usually placed in windrows until
they are dried, but are not allowed to become so dry as to permit the
leaves to shatter off, and are then taken to the distillery. Some grow-
ers believe that if the plants are allowed to dry there will be a smaller
oil content owing to the escape of some of the oil into the atmosphere,
and so have the plants brought to the distillery in the green state;
but Mr. A. M. Todd is of the opinion that no loss of oil will result

aAmer. Jour. Pharm., 60: 328-3832 (1888).

DESCRIPTION OF STILL. ial

from drying, his experiments along this line showing that the dry
plants can be distilled three times as rapidly as the green plants, and
that a larger quantity of oil may be obtained. He states that—

To obtain the best results, both as to quality of essential oil and economy of
transportation and distillation, the plants should be dried as thoroughly as pos-
sible without endangering the loss of the leaves in handling. Distillation
should then take place as soon as convenient to prevent the oxidation of the oil
in the leaf by atmospheric action.

The smaller producers, who have no stills of their own, have their
mint crop hauled to the nearest peppermint distillery, where it is
distilled for them at a cost of 25 cents per pound of oil.

DESCRIPTION OF STILL.

The apparatus used in peppermint distillation in the early years
of the industry in this country consisted of a copper kettle, from
the top of which a pipe connected with a condensing * worm.”
Water was placed in the kettle and the plants were immersed in it,
and direct heat was applied to the bottom from a furnace. With
such a still only about 15 pounds of oil could be obtained from a
charge. In 1846, large wooden vats were substituted for the copper
kettles, and the plants were distilled by steam passing through them.
The kettle formerly used as the still was now employed to generate
steam, a long pipe conveying the steam to the bottom of the vats.
With this method of distillation from 75 to 100 pounds of oil could
be obtained from a charge without much additional expense.

A modern peppermint still (fig. 3) may be briefly described as fol-
lows: The apparatus required consists of a boiler, a pair of large
circular wooden vats, a condenser, and a receiver. The boiler, of
course, is used for the generation of steam.

Two wooden vats are used in order that they may be filled and
emptied alternately. These vats are about 6 feet high and about
5 feet in diameter, with tight-fitting removable covers and perfo-
‘ated false bottoms. Steam pipes are led from the boiler into the
bottom of the vats.

The condenser consists of a series of pipes of block tin, either
immersed in tanks of cold water or over which cold water is kept
running, the condenser being connected with the top of the dis-
tilling vats. The condensed steam, together with the oil, flows into
a metallic receiver, in which the oil, being lighter than the water,
rises to the top and can be drawn off.

The perforated false bottoms with which the vats are supplied
permit the passage of steam. <A strong iron hoop is placed about
this false bottom, and two pairs of stout chains, which meet at the top

12 PEPPERMINT.

of the vat in a pair of rings, are attached to it. After the charge
has been distilled it is drawn from the vats by means of this arrange-
ment.

The plants are thrown into the vats and are closely packed by two
or three men tramping upon them, and as the vat becomes about
one-third full the packing is still further assisted by turning in a
small supply of steam, which softens the plants. When the vat is
filled the tight cover is replaced and a full head of steam turned on.
In the largest distilleries the vats have a capacity of from 2,000 to
3,000 pounds of dried plants each.

Fic. 8.—Peppermint still. (After Dewey, in Bailey's Cyclopedia of American
Horticulture. )

A, boiler; B, steam pipes leading to vats; C, valves for shutting off steam; D, mint
packed in vat ready for distilling; #, mint being lowered into vat; IF, tight-fitting cover
used alternately for both vats; G, pipe from top of vat, joined at H so as to swing to
other vat; J, perforated pipe, from which cold water drops over condensing tubes; K,
supply pipe for cold water; MW, condensing pipes; V, outlet for condensed oi] and water;
O and P, water and oil in separating can; R, outlet for water; S, floor of distilling room.

Large tanks are used for storing the oil, and cans holding 20
pounds each are employed for shipping, three of these cans being
placed in a wooden case.

The peppermint hay which remains after distillation is used as a
fertilizer or is fed to stock.

PEPPERMINT OIL AND MENTHOL.

Peppermint leaves and flowering tops are official in the Eighth
Decennial Revision of the United States Pharmacopeeia. as are like-
wise the following products and preparations derived from these
parts: Oil of peppermmt, menthol, spirit of peppermint, and pepper-
mint water.

EXPORT OF PEPPERMINT OIL. 13

The United States Pharmacopoeia describes oil of peppermint as
“a colorless liquid, having the characteristic strong odor of pepper-
mint and a strongly aromatic pungent taste, followed by a sensation
of cold when air is drawn into the mouth.” It is largely used in medi-
cine, internally as a stimulant and carminative, and externally to
relieve neuralgic and rheumatic conditions. It is also used for flavor-
ing and scenting confectionery, cordials, and cosmetics. There is a
slight difference in the odor of white and black peppermint oil, the
black being more pungent and less agreeable in fragrance than the
white, which has a much finer odor, but, as already indicated, the
white mint is less hardy than the black and yields a smaller quantity
of oil.

The Japanese oil of peppermint, which, as pointed out elsewhere in
these pages, is obtained from a different species of mint than that
which produces the true oil of peppermint, is very inferior to the last
named. It has a very unpleasant odor and a bitter, disagreeable
taste, but it is a heavy oil and contains a higher percentage of menthol
and, being a very much cheaper oil, it is liable to be used as an adul-
terant of true peppermint oil.

Menthol, formerly known as peppermint camphor, is the solid con-
stituent of oil of peppermint, obtained by subjecting the distilled oil
to an exceedingly low temperature by means of a freezing mixture.
Its properties are about the same as those of oil of peppermint, only
somewhat intensified. It is very largely made up into cones or pencils,
which furnish a popular remedy, to be applied externally or inhaled,
for the relief of headache, neuralgia, catarrh, asthma, and kindred
affections. It is also largely employed in other forms of medication.
The name * pipmenthol” has been applied to the menthol obtained
from the American oil, to distinguish it from the Japanese menthol.
Pipmenthol is said to have a distinct odor of peppermint, while the
Japanese menthol has but a sheht peppermint odor.

EXPORT OF PEPPERMINT OIL.

The exports of peppermint oil during the fiscal year ended June 30,
1904, amounted to 42,939 pounds, valued at $124,728. Germany and
the United Kingdom were the largest consumers, the former receiving
22,372 pounds,-valued at $65,505, and the latter 11,558 pounds, worth
$31,798.

The following tables show the export of peppermint oil, by coun-
tries, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1904, and the quantities and
values of peppermint oil exported for a period of ten years, from
July 1, 1894, to June 30, 1904, inclusive:

14 PEPPERMINT.

Baports of peppermint oil, by countries, for the fiseal year ended Jiune 30, 1904.4

‘ 5 uan-
Country. hey | Value.
Pounds.

Belgium 2 22.4 ped = Seas So Ee Be ee ee ae ea ee | 473 $1,585
NTANGE oS ease a eae ee Se ee a eis Se eee 3, 054 10,059
Germany:=se=22 6 fies" eee ee et ee ee es eee 22,312 6D, 505
Dtaly oo ee sh ey eS Sn Si ee Si is eae ee 826 2,471
Netherlands (2.25 228 22-53. is ee ee eee eee 590 1, 984
United: Kingdom 22-5 ese ee ee a ee eee 11,558 | 31,798
Dominion of Canada:

Novas cotia News Stun SWAG key CiGsaa sees sea ee eee en ee 85 234

Quebec; OntariosManibobay ete aes aa = sae ee ee eee | 1,165 3, 306
Newfoundlandiand}tabradorss-s 52s eee a ee a ee ee ee ee 94 204
West Indies:

BPE GIGI ese 22% se 5 ey ate ee cts a Ee aR eee 183 7

Cuba se es ee eee a eee ee 1S Sa ae eae ee 29 87

Danish: : 2). 22282 ae ee. Se ea Eee De ein ware eee 17 5d

EY Ua be Dass Se a re eee ok a ah ene ema oe 20 61
Argentima. sa. sees ee ee ee et 2 ee See ee ee 1, 237 3,504
British Garian aoe ps2 ee ae RE) a ek Co | en a 10 31
Peri: holon 22 Be SO ae She ES 5 cas ge ne er | 50 175
British Australasia es aie Se oe ee ee Boss. os eee | 1,176 3,019

otal sas 2 .oa. Pepys Bae ae Se re oe a ene Ca: ee | 42,939 | 124,728

“The Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States for the year ending
June 30, 1904, vol. 1, p. 531, Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor.

Quantities and values of peppermint oil exported during the fiscal years 1895
to 1904, inclusive.4

| F
Fiscal year. | cee Value. | Fiscal year. | Pe Value.

| Pounds. | Pounds.
1895-23 Se cee ede tee ok Se 815633] / 5194616" 00 eee ae ee ORT SS $90, 298
LS OG se oo a se ere ae SDS 20H ALAS S10 Ns OO) 1s ee eee ae ere 60,166 68, 672
USO f= rao Eee a were eee GOP PREETI 2 a ee | 36,301 | 54,898
| hei! lo eee he ape aes Se. Dae 1452375) 180. Sih |p 190872 eee eee 13, 033 34,948
1890S 552 ne eet See 117,462 | 118,227 LOSS ae Sore See 2S ee | 124, 728

“From The Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States for the year ending
June 30, 1902, vol. 2, p. 309, Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department; and The
Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States for the year ending June 30,
1904, vol. 1, p. 192, Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor.

PRICES OF PEPPERMINT OIL.

The price of peppermint oil was very low for a few years prior to
1900, the enormous production of 1897 resulting in a great drop in
price. Thé lowest price paid for it was in 1899, when it brought
only 75 cents per pound. As a result of the low price a great many
mint farmers restricted the area of their mint plantations or alto-
gether abandoned peppermint cultivation. The smaller output of
the following seasons again sent prices up, and in 1902 the oil sold
as high as $4.75 a pound, which price was maintained until early in
1903, when it gradually declined, until toward the end of that year it
reached $2.20 per pound.

a |

PRICES OF PEPPERMINT OIL. 1

The following table® gives the highest and lowest prices of pepper-
mint oil in bulk from 1873 to September 16, 1905:

Year. jpeshest, Lowest. | Year. Highest. Lowest.

| | |
iia | $3.15 $3.15 || 1884 _____- $3.00 | $2
Lf a oe eae 5. 25 BOu| | ALSCo eee seen 4.37 2,
1875 5.50 Sra U Wakes) Bowen. oe 3.60 2
TESS veeceeseaes 3.15 2.40 || 1887 2.75 1
eV eee ee 3.00 75s SL GS8 meee ne 2.40 1
Sie eee 2.00 TON asks ee ee 2.30 | 1
1879 2.65 45 Yh SO0 eres 2.40 1
itclell eae ee 2.87 ree) MY Ase See 2.50 z
HOON 3a 2.85 2.35 || 1892 - 2.50 2
Tels Pj e eens 2.50 2.25 || 1893 ---___-- 2.45 2
ith S\s eee 2.60 2.20 || 1894 _____.__ 2.45 1

}

* To September 16.

The good prices of the past few years have caused many farmers
to look again to peppermint as a profitable crop, as noted in increased
areas under cultivation in many localities. This is the case not only
in Michigan and Indiana, but also in New York, where for many
years the peppermint industry has been declining. Thus, if favor-
able conditions of growth prevail, an increased production may be
looked for within the next few years, which will have the effect of
again depressing prices.

As is the case with other products the prices of which are subject
to great fluctuations, the condition of the market for peppermint oil
needs to be closely observed. The cost of cultivation per acre has
been stated at from $12 to $14, and, with a charge of 25 cents per
pound of oil for distillation, the market price may easily fall below
the cost of production.

@From Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter, September 18, 1905, p. 7.

O

WU MiiNN TTT
0 022 264 940 7