Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-02-06
AGRICULTURAL HINTS.
PEPPERMINT.

PEPPERMINT.
Of Distillatton-EAstern Farmers Find
It Profitable Crop-A Hint to Farmers
OF Other Sections.
The production of peppermint oil may
appear like small matter, but the peo-
pie of Wayne County, N. Y, could not
easily be made to believe so, says the
American Agricu1turist. The pepper
mint industry pours nearly, and some
times perhaps fully, a million dollars
into that single county per year. From
Wayne County comes a very large
share of the peppermint oil produced in
the United States, the balance being
produced mostly in Michigan. The oil
is used in limited way for medicinal
purposes, much more largely by confec-
TONERS for favoring, and also in print
ing cotton fabrics. The plant is one of
the numerous members of the Ldbiat0
family. genus Mentha, and known boz
tanically as Mentha piperito. Its culture
is by no means complicated or difficult.
The chief point is to begin right, es-
pecially in the matter of clean culture.
Patches of peppermint are often met
with in a wild state along the edges of
swamps, ponds or streams, and the
plant, in such positions, seems to thrive
remarkably well. It succeeds, however,
on almost any soil, and even yields
more oil when grown upland than in low
situations. The crop always succeeds
best when planted early.
The land selected for the crop should
be we'll drained and in fair average
state of fertility. No manure of any
kind is ever applied, as it is thought to
cause excessively rank growth and con-
sequent dropping of the leaves. AS
early in April as possible the land is
plowed and narrowed, and burrows
marked out twenty inches apart and
two to three inches deep. The sets used
for planting are pieces of the creeping
root stock or underground stem, from
one to two feet long, dug in spring from
a plantation started the year before.
From six to eight square rods of such
plantation will furnish roots enough to
plant an acre. In planting the grower
takes an armful of the roots and drops
two or three in place and so thi"kly in
the burrows that there will be no bare
spaces, and covers the sets with his feet
as he goes along. One man will plant
from one-quarter to one-half acre day.
The plants soon begin to grow, and
cultivation and hoeing should not be
long delayed. Some of the plants may
be little backward in starting. and the
hoe should not be struck into the rows
until all the plants are up. The Guilt
vator should run shallow and not be al
lowed TO throw soil on the young plants.
Many of the growers use cultivator
teeth made for the purpose in the
nearest blacksmith's shop. The Planet,
Jr., horseshoe works we'll. but the
Planet, Jr., or Ruhlman's hand-wheel
hoe do still better for keeping
the narrow rows clean of weeds. The
patch has to be kept worked by Guilt
vator and hoe until the plants begin to
cover the ground No more attention
is required after this. except to an
nually NOW, cure and disti1l the mint.
Usually but three crops are taken off
one plantation, the ground getting too
much overrun with grass and weeds to
pay for further cropping.
When the peppermint is in blossom.
usually in August, it is ready for work
ing up. Some growers NOW it with the
scythe, especially the first year, while
the second and third crops are often cut
with a mower, care being taken not to
work in it during very hot weather, or to
handle it more than necessary, as the
oil volatilizes very readily When cut,
it is left on the ground to cure When
the leaves are we'll wilted, but before
they begin to crumble, the crop is put
up in small cocks, like hay
The process of distillation is quite
simple and the illustration will make it
plain to the reader. In side room is
the boiler, which may be portable or
stationary, but capable of giving sixty
pounds pressure. The watts or tubs are
steam-tight, five or six feet in diameter,
and about the same in depth. When
filled with the peppermint freshly
drawn from the field. the vaSs are closed
with tight-fitting covers. The steam is
then turned on at the bottom. 1t vapor-
ICES the oil, and the mixture of steam
and oil escapes through tin pipe at
the top of the tub, to be condensed in