San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-12-27
PEPPERMINT CULTURE.
A BRANCH OF AGRICULTURE PEcU-
LIAR TO A NEW YORK COUNTY.

Pays from $50 to 800 Per Acre-How
the Discovery Made by Yankee Ped
dler Has Been Worked Upon.
Fifty years ago a Yankee peddler named
Burnett included in his rounds the northwest
ern counties of New York. He was from
Massachusetts,, and, besides carrying the usual
stock of goods that the peddlers of that day
found ready and profitable sale for, was
always looking out for a speculation or bar
gain In anything in which he could see the
promise of dollars profit. On one of his
trips into Wayne county he discovered a
plant growing wild here and there, which he
recognized as peppermint. This was quite
common in some parts of Massachusetts,, and
the farmers there added few dollars an
nually to their returns by Disabling and sell
ing its oil Spearmint, or common mint, was
a plant that grew nearly everywhere, but
peppermint had at that time been found
nowhere else in the country outside of Massa-
sets. Burnett had dealt to some extent in
the peppermint oil Of Massachusetts,, and
found it profitable goods, 50 he went to gath
ering the wild peppermint Of Wayne county
and distilling its oil on his own account.
This product he sold about the country,
and for several seasons he was the only one
who thought it worth while to utilize the pep
permint plant of this locality.
SENT TO HAMBURG.
At last some Of the Wayne and Ontario
county farmers woke up to the fact that they
might as well make few dollars themselves
out of this wild product of their waste places,
and began to transfer the plant from its
places of spontaneous growth and cultivate
it as regular crop. The plant did well I'M
der cultivation, but 50 little general import
ance was attached to it that not more than
two or three hundred pounds of oil was dis
titled in any one year. In fact forty-five
years ago not more than 500 pounds Of pep
permint oil were grown in the whole coun-
try, the chief supply Of the article coming
from China and Japan.
In 1874 II. G.. Hotchkiss was keeping little
country store in the village of Phelps, Onta-
rio county. In the. course of his dealings
with the farmers he had taken peppermint
oil in pay ment for goods furnished them I'M
til he had on hand a quantity of the product
for which he must receive 81 900 to make
him even. He resolved to find a wider mar
ket for the oil than it had yet known, and if
possible to introduce it as standard product.
He placed his stock of oil in tin cans and took
a sample Of it to New York None of the
drug dealers would touch it, declaring that it
was not pure Mr.. Hotchkiss returned home
Hamburg, Germany, being a great center
for the sale and distribution of essential oils
he concluded to try the peppermint oil of
Wayne county in that market. Procuring a
sufficient number of the now old fashioned
gl-ounce lip mouthed ink bottles, he removed
bis oil from the tin cans, satisfied himself by
inspection thai it was as pure as any pepper
mint oil then made, and placed it in the bot
ties. He sealed the bottles and put on each
one this label:
Peppermint oil, from Wayne county, New York.
U. j. A Guaranteed pure by II. G. Hotchkiss
He consigned the oil to firm in Hamburg,
naming the sum be should receive for it if 1t
was accepted. Nothing was heard from it
for long time. Then Mr.. Hotchkiss re-
ceived draft for the sum he demanded, with
an order for another consignment of pepper
mint oil. That was the actual beginning of
an entirely new branch of agriculture, not
only in this country, but in the world. Mr..
Hotchkiss gave UP his other business and
went into the growing and distilling of pep
permint on an extensive scale, and the Wayne
county farmers followed his example to such
degree that 80, 600 pounds of peppermint
oil is now distilled from their crop in favor
able seasons.
HOW 1T IS GROWN.
The peppermint crop is not one that re-
turns fancy profit to the farmer, but if he
can get 81 pound for his OIL below which
the price seldom, if ever, goes, he realizes a
good return. Twenty-Five pounds of oil to
the acre is the lowest general average of the
crop. 1t is not an uncommon thing for the
oil to command SIS pound, and the price
has been as high as S..
EThe cultivation of peppermint is simple,
but requires a great deal of labor in keeping
it free from weeds. The ubiquitous daisy
rears its dainty blossom among the pepper
mint rows, as much at home as it is in the
meadows, and the aesthetic golden rod ell
riches the mint borders with its color. But
while the daisy and the golden rod may be
indispensable in my lady's corsage, their ex-
pressed oil mingling with the pungent juices
of the peppermint do not add to the efficacy
of the latter in curing her baby's stomach
ache. Another weed, unknown in New York
state until the Wayne county farmers began
to cultivate peppermint, and which is still
unknown outside of the peppermint fields, is
perpetual menace 10 Une purify Oh Cne Iarm-
er's product. This is locally known as rag
weed, but it is not the old fashioned rag weed
that grows everywhere. 1t looks something
like lettuce, and yields of itself an abundance
of bitter and pungent oil. 1t does not re-
quire a great deal of this weed, if distilled
with the mint, to diminish greatly the value
of farmers crop. No new insect pest has
followed the cultivation Of peppermint; I'M
like almost every other product of the farm,
insects do not interfere with the growth of
mint Keeping the crop free from all weeds
is the principal care that attends its cultiva-