Part 3

When the retort is filled with aromatic plants and steam is admitted through the pipe from the boiler, the volatile oil is extracted in the form of a vapor, which is carried over with the steam to the condenser, where both are condensed to liquid form. The oil and water together flow from the condenser into the receiver, one type of which is constructed like an ordinary milk can and is fitted with a siphon leading from the bottom, through which the water is drawn off to prevent the receiver from overflowing.

Many volatile oils will float on the water and may be drawn off from the top of the receiver at will. Other oils, such as sassafras and wintergreen, are heavier than water, and should be collected in a receiver provided at the bottom with an outlet tap through which the oil may be drawn off.

The cost of setting up a still will depend upon what facilities are already at hand and upon the size and efficiency of the apparatus installed. It may easily range from a small sum to several thousand dollars.

YIELD.

The yield that can be obtained from drug plants in different localities will naturally vary according to the suitability of the situation for the plants selected for cultivation. Even in the same locality wide variations in yield will result from differences in the lay of the land and in soil, drainage, and seasonal conditions. The skill of the grower and the degree of care and attention which he bestows upon his crop are also factors affecting yield.

Many of the drug plants mentioned in this bulletin have not been grown on a scale large enough to give a very satisfactory basis for calculating yields. Acreage yields calculated from the product of small garden plats are generally untrustworthy, since in such plats the plants are usually more favorably situated with respect to soil and are given better culture than when under field conditions. Moreover, as the area increases, it becomes more difficult to maintain an approximately perfect stand and to protect the crop from the ravages of insects or other destructive agencies. The returns from small experimental areas can at most be regarded as only an indication of the yield that may be expected under favorable conditions, and the prospective grower will do well to proceed cautiously until he has determined for himself the possibilities of yield in his particular location.

MARKETING.

The commercial grower of drug plants can not give too much attention to the problem of securing a satisfactory market for his product. Growers who live near the cities in which dealers in crude drugs are located or in sections where wild medicinal plants are collected may be able to find a local market, but in many situations the local marketing of crude drugs in quantity will not be possible. In such cases the grower should send samples of his product to dealers in crude drugs or to manufacturers of pharmaceutical preparations and request them to name a price at which they would purchase his crop. The material for the samples should not be specially selected or so prepared as to represent a quality higher than that of the whole lot, since this would give the purchaser just cause for making a reduction in price on delivery or for rejecting the whole shipment. It is well to send samples to a number of dealers, since their prices will be found to vary with the stock on hand and trade prospects. Before selling, the state of the wholesale drug market should be learned. The prices to producers are, of course, always lower than the wholesale price; nevertheless, the grower who is informed in respect to the wholesale market will be in a position to judge of the fairness of the prices offered for his crop by dealers.

Under special conditions some crude drugs can be sold at a material advance over the prevailing market price. By always supplying a well-prepared, carefully selected drug of high quality some growers have built up a trade in their particular product for which they secure extra good prices. Dealers and manufacturers also sometimes make contracts with reliable growers to take the entire crop of a particular drug, thus insuring to the grower a definite market and good prices for the product.

COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS.

At the close of the year 1919 there existed a general and widespread shortage in botanical crude drugs, and prices in consequence had reached unusually high levels. The demand in other lines for unskilled labor at high wages has attracted elsewhere many persons who were formerly engaged in the collection or production of botanic drugs in this country. It is therefore probable that prices for most crude drugs will remain at a high level until the prices of other commodities undergo a general reduction and the present supply of labor greatly increases.

Although the average value of crude drugs, expressed in terms of money, has more than doubled since 1913, it does not follow that their production offers a corresponding increase in profit to the producer. The prices of food and clothing, labor, and supplies of all kinds have for the most part more than doubled in the same time and the prospective producer of crude drugs will do well to consider carefully the comparative prices of the necessities of life which he must purchase before he engages in this enterprise. The unusually high prices now offered for many crude drugs are due to the underproduction, which has resulted largely from labor conditions and do not necessarily indicate any large increase in the demand for consumption. In view of the present disturbed economic conditions and the uncertainty as to the future course of prices, the general stimulation of drug growing in this country does not appear to be the best policy at this time.

However desirable it may be to increase the available supply of crude drugs or to diminish the amount of money now sent to foreign countries for these products, the most important consideration for the American farmer who would grow drug plants is the probable profit to be derived from such an enterprise. Many statements to the contrary notwithstanding, the commercial production of crude drugs does not normally present unusual opportunities for quick returns and large profits. Knowledge respecting the cultivation and handling of medicinal-plant crops is far less widespread than in the case of such generally distributed crops as fruits, vegetables, and cereals, and certain individuals have taken advantage of this lack of information to lead the public to believe that extraordinary profits may be realized from growing medicinal plants, even in a situation no more promising than the average city back yard. Such persons are interested usually only in the sale of the plants and seeds for propagation or the questionable directions for their cultivation, and the extravagant claims often set forth in their alluring advertisements are not only misleading, but frequently have little basis in fact.

The market demand for any given crude drug is naturally a large factor in determining the prospects for its commercial production under cultivation. The demand for a number of drugs is quite variable or exceedingly limited, and hence insufficient to make it advisable to raise them on a large scale. In the case of other drugs, although the demand is fairly constant and steady, it could probably be fully satisfied by the product of a very few acres of good land. It is evident that the cultivation of any considerable acreage might easily result in overproduction, with a consequent decline in market price to a point where production would not be profitable.

The cultivation of drug plants, to be successful in this country, will probably require the introduction of improved methods and the extensive use of machinery to replace hand labor so far as possible. Growers of mints and numerous other plants yielding essential oils will find it desirable to equip themselves with a suitable distilling plant, although the latter can not be operated most economically when only a small quantity of material is available for distillation. The natural tendency will be to increase the acreage in the interest of more efficient operation, but here again there is danger of overproduction, and prospective growers should thoroughly acquaint themselves with market conditions before bringing very large areas under cultivation.

Very few, if any, drug plants are used in quantities sufficient to make them a promising crop for general cultivation. Many of the common ones, which can be grown and prepared for market with little difficulty, bring but a few cents a pound, and their cultivation offers little prospect of profit. A number of the high-priced drug plants must be given care for two or more years before a crop can be harvested, and, since expensive equipment is usually required for their successful culture, the production of such crops offers little encouragement to inexperienced growers who are looking for quick returns and large profits from a small investment. The production of drugs of high quality requires skilled management, experience in special methods of plant culture, acquaintance with trade requirements, and a knowledge of the influence of time of collection and manner of preparation on the constituents of the drug which determine its value. Small quantities of drugs produced without regard to these conditions are apt to be poor in quality and so unattractive to dealers and manufacturers that the product will not be salable at a price sufficient to make their production profitable. In general, the conditions in this country seem far more favorable to the growing of drug plants as a special industry for well-equipped cultivators than as a side crop for general farmers or those whose chief interest lies in the production of other crops.

Although a number of plants which yield products used as crude drugs are common farm weeds, they usually occur in scattered situations and in such small quantities that their collection would scarcely prove profitable for the farmer. Even when relatively abundant it is a matter for careful consideration whether the time and labor necessary for their collection might not be otherwise employed to better advantage. Moreover, it is not always easy to distinguish medicinal plants from others of similar appearance, and collectors not infrequently find that they have spent their time in gathering plants practically worthless as crude drugs. In proportion to the labor required in their collection, relatively low prices are paid for most crude drugs obtained from wild plants, and the farmer who turns to drug collecting as a source of additional revenue will probably meet with disappointment.

THE CULTIVATION AND HANDLING OF DRUG PLANTS.

The following cultural directions and suggestions regarding the handling of a number of drug plants have been compiled in part from the records of the Office of Drug, Poisonous, and Oil Plant Investigations and include data secured by various members of the staff of that office connected with testing gardens in several widely separated localities. The probable yields per acre are in many cases estimates calculated from smaller areas, and considerable variation from the figures given must be expected in actual practice. The prices mentioned are given merely to indicate the comparative value of the products concerned and not to fix the actual price which the grower of drug plants may expect to receive. This will depend very largely upon the state of the market at the time the crop is offered for sale.

The plants mentioned in the following pages were selected for discussion because information regarding their cultivation is in constant demand. The purpose of this bulletin is not to recommend these plants for cultivation, but to give information concerning their culture which may be helpful to persons who are considering the production of drug plants on a commercial scale.

For information in regard to weeds used in medicine not herein considered, see Farmers' Bulletin No. 188, which may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, for 5 cents.

ALETRIS.

Aletris, star-grass, or true unicorn root (Aletris farinosa, fig. 5) is a native perennial herb of the lily family, found occasionally on sandy soil throughout the eastern half of the United States; also frequently occurring in the pine and oak barrens of Alabama and Tennessee and elsewhere in the South. The root is used medicinally.

Aletris is a slow-growing plant which seems to thrive best on a moist and sandy soil. It may be propagated either by division of the root stocks or from seeds. The seeds mature late in the summer, and should be sown soon after ripening, in a well-prepared and protected seed bed. In the following spring the seedlings may be transplanted to their permanent situation and set about a foot apart in rows 20 inches or more apart. The soil about the plants should be stirred frequently and kept free from weeds.

The root, consisting of a short horizontal rootstock bearing numerous small rootlets, may be harvested in the fall of the second or third year. In preparing the root for market the stem and leaves are broken off and the dirt is removed by shaking (or washing, if necessary), after which it is well dried. There are no available data on the probable yield. The prewar prices paid to collectors for aletris usually ranged from 12 to 25 cents a pound. The prices in June, 1920, were about 70 cents a pound.

ACONITE.

Aconite (Aconitum napellus) is a hardy perennial, introduced from Europe and sparingly grown in this country as an ornamental garden plant. Both leaves and roots are very poisonous, the latter forming the official drug. Other varieties than Aconitum napellus are also grown in flower gardens, and several species occur wild in the United States. Since the official species readily hybridizes with related varieties, often to the detriment of its medicinal properties, it is frequently difficult to secure seed which will come true to name.

Aconite seems to thrive best in a rather cool climate and will grow in any rich garden soil, but a well-drained gravelly loam in an elevated situation appears most suited for the cultivation of this plant. It may be grown from seed sown in the open late in the fall or early in the spring, or plants may be started in a seed bed and the seedlings later transplanted and set about a foot apart in rows 2 feet apart. The preferable method of propagation is by division of the roots after the stems have died down in the fall, since thereby hybridization may be avoided.