Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-01
THE PEPPERMINT CROP
INNOCENT DECEPTION PRAC-
TICED ON TRADE BY DEALERS.
Bulk Of Product From Michigan and
Is Sold as New York State
Gfowth.

From the New York Times
Information from that part of Michigan
where peppermint Is grown leads to the be-
lief that this years crop will be a little
heavier than the past average, and there
Is no fear of any one getting corner
on the market. was the case last year.
To one who Is not thoroughly informed on
the subject 1t may be somewhat of a sur
prise to learn that there is no more New
York state peppermint, and it can be an
nounced without fear of offending any one
in the trade that little deception has
been used for the past few years in con-
nection with the source from which we
derive this most necessary article
For sixty-five years prior to a few years
since, the greater part of the peppermint,
and. In fact, 1t can be said that all of the
peppermint that was produced in this coun-
try, was raised in the vicinity OF Lyons
and Newark, Wayne county, N. Y. 1t
was known as Wayne County Pepper
mint the world over, and, in fact, it is
known by the same name today, but in
reality it is not the product of Wayne coun-
ty, N. Y, but Wayne county, Mich. The
inception and development of this enter
prise are replete with interesting facts.
Jim Burnett.
Had not Jim Burnett, an old Yankee ped
dler, more than sixty years ago decided
to experiment in the production of pepper
mint, we would doubtless today be pur-
chasing our Oil from the Japanese, who
were the first producers. Burnett was
driving through Wayne county, N. Y, one
day when he espied Strengthening plant
growing by the waysfde. He examined 1t
and found 1t was peppermint. He knew
of man in Massachusetts, who, 1t was
said, was making a little money by raising
peppermint, and Burnett thought he would
give 1t a trial. In his travels he gathered
all the plants from the roadside and fields,
and distilled them on his own account. For
number of years the farmers of Wayne
county kept their eyes on Peddler Burnett,
as he gathered the wild peppermint crop
from their fields. before 1t occurred to them
that he was making quite a sum of money
each year out Of the oil he distilled. Finally
they began to transplant the root from
the place of its wild and spontaneous
growth to places where 1t could be cult
waited as a regular farm crop, and from
that time until year or two ago Lyons
was the shipping point of nearly all the
peppermint Oil produced in the United
States.
The Hotchkiss Family.
H. G. Hotchkiss was country storekeep-
err in Phelps, Ontario county, just over the
line from Wayne county, and in the pep
permint belt. He took the peppermint oil
from the farmers in trade until he had on
hand about $1,000 worth. He brought a
sample to New York and attempted to find
a market, but none of the drug houses here
would touch 1t, not believing that 1t could
possibly hold it's own against the product
of Japan. Hamburg, Germany, being the
great center for the distribution of essen
tial oils. Hotchkiss determined to test the
merit Of his oil in that worlds market.
The obsolete twenty one-ounce lip
mouthed ink bottles were new then. and
Hotchkiss purchased enough to bottle up
all the oil he had. These he Theoretically
sealed and labeled as follows: Peppermint
oil from Wayne county, n. Y, u. S. A.
Guaranteed pure by II. G. Hotchkiss" He
then consigned 1t to Hamburg house,
naming his price if accepted. He waited
several months for an answer, and then he
received a draft for more than he expect
ed, and a request for another consignment
of the Wayne county oil. The Hotchkiss
oil had been exported back to New York.
where the druggists bought 1t with much
eagerness and demanded more. Then
Hotchkiss unfolded hts trick to the essen
tial oil dealers in this market, and from
that time H. G. H. peppermint OIL has
been the standard article the world over.
Hotchkiss from that time until his death
few years ago was known as the Pepper
mint King" and since his death his sons
have carried on the business. They pur-
chase the Michigan crop and bring it east
to Lyons, from which 1t is shipped as
Wayne county OIL, and the Hotchkiss
family today virtually dictates the pep
permint oil market of the country
Oil Adulterated.
pure but in the hands of the dealers it is
adulterated with Japanese menthol and
other inferior essential oils. The whole
saler makes two pounds of oil from every
one he receives from Lyons, and the re-
taller makes six pounds out of every pound
he buys from the wholesaler If the farm
err gets 81 a pound for his oil the whole
saler may sell 1t for the same price and
yet get 81 for it, while the retailer may
dispose of it at the same price and yet get
$12 for 1t. The fact is that the pure oil
would not supply one-tenth of the worlds
demand. The farmer does not get heavy
price for his crop. but he is usually salts
fed with 81 a pound, below which price it
seldom goes. The enterprise is growing
because of the increased uses to which the
oil is put, although it is believed that fully
% per cent of the output of peppermint oil
in the United States goes into three arti-
cles-chewing- gum. candy and medicines.
small quantity is exported to England,
the particular brand being known as the
"Mecham peppermint" The local market
today is strong. the ruling price being $375
pound, compared with $2.35 in 1908
and 81 in 1902.