The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1920-10-14
SUPPLY CUT OFF
DURING BLOCKADE
DIGITALIS, OR FOX GLOVE,
AND BELLADONNA CAN
BE CULTIVATED IN
FARM GARDENS
Puget Sound Climate Just Right
For Ready Growth. University
Will Provide Seeds for Starting
Home Gardens.

Up to the time of the Great War
practically all of our medicines and
chemicals were of German origin. The
blockade stopped the supply even be-
fore we entered the war. When we
went into the war the immediate ne
cessity of supplying our army with
certain medicines caused call to be
sent out for certain roots and herbs
with medicinal properties.
For a number of years the pharmacy
department of the University of Wash
ington has maintained a garden for
the growing of herbs with medicinal
properties largely that the pharmacy
students might study the drugs in
their original state, but also to see
which of the plants could be grown in
this climate with success. When the
war call went out this department was
able to help gather a great number OF
plants that grow wild in this section
and maintain the supply of medicines
to the troops.
Now that the war is thing of the
past the necessity for drugs still ex-
lists and the production of those plants
is still possible by persons having
spare ground and a little time to give
at certain seasons to their cultivation.
Two of the plants will be dealt with
in this article and others in later
stories.
The Fox Glove
The purpurea digitalis or fox glove
grows wild in this part of Washington
and when cultivated it yields large
crop and responds to care with Wig
orous growth. 1t is planted from seed
and a small crop may be gathered the
first year in the fall. The second year
the leaves may be gathered during
June and again in the fall. 1t is in the
second year that the plant blossoms.
Commonly known as biennial the
fox glove will grow for at least three
years when cultivated before dying
out. The seed should be sOwn early
in the spring and the small plants
transplanted to the field. If planted in
rows at least three feet apart it is
possible to cultivate them with a horse
cultivator and eliminate good deal
OF hand work. The plants can be set
about a foot apart in the rows, but at
that distance the row will be full
when the plants are full grown.
River Bottoms Good
The soil should be kept more or less
damp, bottom land that gets the drain
age from the surrounding hillsides, or
near spring or river is best, or it
may be artificially watered during the
dry months of the summer. If the soil
is reasonably fertile it need not be
fortified although that would of course
promote the growth.
The leaves of the plant are from
four to twelve inches long and nearly
oval in shape. The leaf stalk is fieshy
and the leaf blade is continuous down
both sides of the stalk. The average
yield issreported to be from 500 to 600
but in this climate the experiment sta
ton has found that nearly twice that
amount can be easily grown. The
present price ranges from twenty to
twenty-five cents pound.
BelIadonna
Atropa belladonna, or deadly night
shade, is also grown from seed and is
a perennial. Both the plant and it's
fruit are poison and care should be
used to see that no one, especially
children, eat them. The seeds are
slow in terminating sometimes taking
a month to show after planting. The
plants should be transplanted when
four or five inches high to rows about
six feet apart, the plants three feet
apart in the row.
The leaves may be picked in June
and again month or two later. In
the fall the entire plant is cut into
pieces about four inches long and
dried, but it does not bring as high
price as the leaves. If the grower de-
cides to go out of the business he can
dig up the roots and sell them for the
same price as the leaves or about
800 a pound at the present rate.
Plant Grows Large
The roots of this plant are hardy
and in couple of years the plants
will develop six feet or more in height
in a summer. The fruit gets ripe in
September and looks like large black
huckleberries. 1t is or no value ex-
cept for seed, but it is attractive in