The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-07-30
DRUG FARMING
BY Frederic j. Haskin.

1T that is annually imported THIS
amount necessarily shows how muca
tho demand In this country exceeds
the supply. and, therefore how much
room there is for an increase OF pro-
lduetion. Horehound IL = medicinas
herb. the cultivation OF which has
been strongly recommended as prof
table side line for farmers and gar
denefsE Under good conditions TOE
| Of the dried herb may De produces
upon an acre. The annua fmlporsa-
ton of dried horehouhd seIdom ez-
ceeds sixty or seventy tons. In q
word, IL sixty or seventy acres In. THIS
country were planted In horehoun0
the demand would be fully supplied.
Thus, one 1air-sfEed farm IS about All
that the trade would support. while
two or three Of them would flood thc
market until the plant could not be
Praised at profit at all.
Unmatched Chickens.
The belief that fabulous prices are
paid for dried drug plants is respon-
sib1e for many of the hopeless ven
lures In drug farming. Thus it may
be correctly stated that from two
cents to four dollars a pound is
paid for drug plants, and that many
of them may be produced at the rate
of a ton to the acre. Naturally, the
I.he will raise the more expensive va
iTieties and get at least two or three
dollars a pound. Counting chickes
before they are Matched is4not, In it
as fascinating occupation compared
with figuring the possible profits
from an. acre In medicinal plants.
l. a glance at the price list of any
dealer In crude drugs reveals the in
teresting fact, however, that about
six or seven cents is. the average
price per pound paid to collectors for
crude drugs, and that these prices
are subject to the most remarkable
Quotations. Thus drug plant might
Ebef bringing high price per pound
because OF its extreme scarcity in
the market, but the arrival Of a single
shipload of that drug from Europe
might force the market down fifty
per cent, while If number of people
l'began the cultivation OF it, few
years would suffice to. swamp the
market
Furthermore. the prospective drug
farmer should take into account in
raining drug plants that he is
competing with cheap labor both in
Europe and in this country. In Eu-
rope, drug plants can be raised at a.
much lower cost than Is possible in
this country; while in the United
States there is a reliable source of
supply of large number of crude
drugs in the mountain regions Of
West Virginia, Tennessee and thel
Carolinas where the wild herbs are
gathered by the mountaineers.
Women and children extensively en-
gage in the work. 1t is difficult for
la farmer, paying high rates for his
Tabor, to compete with these gather
lers OF wild herbs. AS soon as the
supply exceeds the demand the far-l
meF will rfIv lie 1rndaren1d
One Woman's Experience.
Considerable experience is neces-
tsary both to find and to identify the
herbs that can be profitably gathered
! In the wild states<and after they are
gathered fndinga good market is not |
an easy matter. The propaganda for
the production of medicinal plants in !
this country led many persons to be-
lieve that they had fortunes growing
wild upon their farms. The burdock. !
La common weed growing wild in
many parts of the United States, has
certain amount of medicinal value.
II lady in New England, who owned
large country place, wrote to the
department of agriculture about her
experience in trying to place burdock |
upon the market. She read in varf-l
Gus publications about the high |
medicinal value of this herb which !
grew wild upon her farm in large
tQuafttes. Determined not to neglect
what seemed an easy opportunity
she wrote to several manufactures
who used burdocts in their product |
and to one man who advertised the
crude drug for sale. Both of the,
manufacturers replied that they OBJ
tanned their material in an advanced
state of preparation and were not In
! terested in the collection OF thel
tcrude drug. The third man, who
lived in a nearby city, replied that
he obtained all of the plants which he |
could use from convenient source
and was not in the market to pur-
chase any. Further investigation of
this dealer revealed the fact. that he |
lived not far from the lady's farm
and was, in fact, accustomed to gath
erfng his burdock in her back pas
lture. --s-.'a-- $500 s's-t
Only a, Common Plant. s.
In one; article on drug farming, |
Silver Cfnefaria was described as a |
drug plant which was a native of
South America, but which thrives in |
this country, especially in Pennsylva- |
MA. It was represented as drugf
used largely by eye specialists, and
the Implication was that this use ere |
ated a steady demand for the plant. |
Silver cinerarfa, as matter OF fact,
is rather common ornamental plant
In this country, generally known az
ssdusty miller" As. drug 1t has
fallen almost entirely into disuse,
being employed only to very lin
1ted extent by homeopathists. Each
fall enough of II is cut and thrown
away by the park gardeners of many
cities to supply the demand for sever
al