Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-07-05
new LINES FOR FARMERS.
Cultivation of Drug Plants Is
Suggested.
Investigation Made by Department OF
Agriculture shows That Many Inn
ported Would Grow in This
Country.

which might be undertaken in this com
try with profit, says the Washington cor
respondent of tho Boston Transcript.
Americans imported last year S6i 900. 600
worth of drugs and dyes and nearly every
dollars worth could have been obtained
from plants and weeds grown in the
United States. Investigation of the extent
| to which drugs now imported from
| abroad at high prices could be produced
from plants grown in this country was
recently made by experts In the depart
mont of Agriculture. The results were on
Icouraglsg and what the. found ont should
| increase the cultivation of plants ana
weeds, which many regard as worthless
but which in reality possess great value
| if properly trca tcd.
In commenting on tho results Of tho in
Ivcstigation Secretary Wilson said: This
only shows tnat many farmer has riches
! lying nnoticed about his field. in the
shape Of noxious weeds which, instead or
being utilized, are permitted to remain. on
numbering the land and impovcrishing the
owner. have often wondered why some
of our widc-awakc and rcsourccful farm
ers have not gone ia for tho cultivation of
! drug plants. This is largo and promising
field which has been neglected By our
people"
! Experiments by tho bureau Of plant in
dustry in tho cultivation OF licuricc plants
! nave Demonstrated that although the i'm
ported articl" comes chiefly from the Modi-
/ torranean sea, the licoric1 plant is hardy
as far Corth az PENNSYLVANIA. Warm re-
! EionS suit it better, however and il grows
wild in some parts Of California whore ii
/ has escaped from cultivation. Llcorice cut
| tngs imported from England attained a
goodly growth at Washington until inter-
fered with by accidental conditions and in
South Carolina AN experimental planting
has thus far prospercd finely. though it
/ is too early for the expert in charge to
make final report. The annual importa-
/ ton Of lcorice root and licorico paste is
valued at between $ 1000 and 81. 600 600
The sum paid for the paste-between
So coo and 500, oNn-loaves the great bulk
/ of the purchase in the form of the crude
root
! Not one ounce OF camphOr is now pro-
duccd r this country, although it is sell
ling ut the high price of 81 - per pound
| Experiments under the dcl ertmont of aC-
rtculturc have already demonstrated that
camphor trees will grow IN the United
States. 1t was only a few years ago that
camphor WAS selling at thirty and forty
nonolv of tho ,.o,.,d., s,,rr,I,. ,'
ing the prices at will Dealers say that
c,r,ubo,. Win s.u Co.. o. .,.,. ,s.s, 80.
vosr A,revs,ion Nv 1or,r 30 ~ ;eIar,,
of tor,,osa rar,o,,ea ~. ,,,,,a1o,. a,i,
comnetitor in tho nrodrction ~ c.,,,,,,nr
r. co,,,r,odit,. u,hiob ,s 20. l,,,,. -, ..... -
uand for medicinal r,rrosos bu. :. de-,
necossorv Il, yorious ,o,t,,io,, ,,..a,.,,'..s.
rornected Will, tho r,.nufao,,,,. - ,..ii,
,ofd and of cer+,in nrod,,o,s dori,.,, .r,,,,,
nitrato cellu,ose
Nearly ono n,iIlior do,,.n., ~o.4.
crlda and refined ie rurcboso1 .,,,,,,lI,.
nv m. neonIe of N. I,,,,,od s.atas A..
various times il, tbo mas, ,na do,,o,tr,o,,+
of ,e,,.i,,,l.,,,. tn. i.,,.,, , . -
which have been distributed through the
Southern States over considerable areas
| in the warmer states camphor trees will
grow satisfactorily. In several localities in
| Florida it has been demonstrated bv ex-
pertinent Installations made from trees
| that the leaves and twigs obtained by
pruning trees Of various ages will WELD
from one to one and one-half per cent.
Of crude camphor, calculated on tho fresh
weight Of the clippings 1t is believed that
this yield can he considerably increas-
| ed.
! Among the important minor drug irnpor-
tations are belladonna and digitalis. The