The San Francisco call., 1905-05-14
UNCLE SANS
POISON FARM
Many Plants That Produce
Useful Drugs Are Grown
on Government Grounds
PRACTICAL TEST GARDEN
Once Raised All We Needed,
Now Import Yearly More
Than S16,0OO,OOO Worth

Time was when the United States
raised all. or nearly all OF the drugs
used within its borders. They grew In
the forests. in the fields. they cum
bered the land.
The early pioneers considered their
herb and medical gardens of prime i'm
portance. but with the development OF
medicine. and particularly in the es-
tablishment OF the ubiquitous drug
store. this practice fell into disuse.
There was no need to raise your own
medicinal plants. They could be OBJ
tanned much easier~and at little ex-
pense at the apOthecary's.
So medicinal gardens were abandon
ed; the drug plants. particularly the
poisonous ones. growing in the fields
were rooted out as noxious weeds
With the disappearance Of the forests
went many more.
And now the United States. once so
rich in drugs. finds herself in the pc
culiar position OF sending $16O000O0
abroad each year for what she threw
away at home.
Why does such a condition exist2
Why should not all the drugs we need
be raised right here at homer
Government experts are busying
themselves with practical answer TO
this problem.
In other words. they have started an
experimental farm near Washington.
mine whether or not drug plants can
be grown in America upon CONNER
cial scale.
This poison farm as it Is called by
facetious neighbors. is situated on the
Potomac flats, just outside the city
limits of Washington. In test gar
den, conducted there by DR.. Rodney
T. True. psychologist in charge Of drug
and medicinal plants Investigations Of
the Agricultural Department, large
plots have been laid out for the culture
of opium poppy. nightshade, belladon-
ma, Hcorice, capsicum, caraway, anise,
coriander. burdock, dandelion, fox
glove, pokeweed, mullen. lobelia, tan
sy, gum plant. boneset. feabane, bless
ed thistle and jfnson weed.
OFTEN CLASSED AS WEEDS.
Some Of these plants are classed as
cumbersome weeds and are even now
uprooted and thrown out Of the land,
although. did agriculturtsts only real
ize il, they are very valuable.
At one time golden seal, for instance.
was so abundant in the East that it
was torn up and burned by farmers
to keep it from overrunning their fields.
But to-day it is worth 70 cents a
pound wholesale IN the market and
It is eagerly hunted for by drug plant
collectors. There are scarcely 10000
pounds collected annually In this coun-
| try and the actual demand Is several
times this amount.
This country imports some 10000
mounds Of thyme OIL which Is made
I -. r@l old Naxrr
England gardens, while great quanti-
ties of the leaves are used for culinary
purposes. The commercial growing OF
thyme on a small scale, the Agricul-
tural Department thinks, should prove
a profitable industry, especially as a
side issue in gardening or farming
where land Is cheap and plentiful.
Shortage in the supply Of snakeroot
has sent prices soaring in this country
and promises to make its cultivation
profitable.
Fair prices are quoted In the drug
trade for dock and dandelion roots and
the cultivated varieties are so much
superior to those found growing wild
that there is said to be big money in
supplying them.
GROW IN THE OLD WORLD.
All of these plants grow in Europe
and some in Asia, but there they are
than that, not only is the local trade
supplied. but great quantities are ex-
ported to other countries, our own
among them.
The growing Of drug plants" ex-
plains DIR. True, If practiced In the
United States sufficiently to supply the
demand would give employment to con-
siderable areas Of fertile soil located
within easy reach of transportation
lines.
This class Of land is now devoted
to other crops. The returns from drug
plants to the farmer, / believe. how
ever, would be much greater. Whether
or not such is the fact is now to be de-
termined by actual experiment.
THE best method of procedure must
also be established by experiment
Every possible labor-saving device is
to be employed for the purpose of re-
ducing cost TO a minimum AS yet.
however. our efforts are hardly begun
'-As result OF such study OF the
situation as has thus far been made.
the Southern States, 1t would seem.
offer the best advantages for the pros
pective grower OF drugs. The long sea-
son required by many such plants. the
low price OF labor and the usual low