6 
Another important matter to be considered in collecting drugs for 
market is freedom from foreign substances. All drugs should be clean 
and wholesome looking and contain no admixture of fragments of 
other plants, stones, dirt, or other impurities. A bright natural color 
is extremely desirable in leaves, herbs, and flowers, and adds much to 
the salability of the product. This can be readiiy brought about by 
giving careful attention to proper drying in the shade (not in direct 
sunlight), and by protection from dew or rain by placing the drugs 
under cover at nightfall or whenever necessary. Roots may be 
cleaned by washing, but leaves, herbs, and flowers should never be 
washed. 
It is important also to collect drugs in proper season only. Neglect 
in this respect will bring nothing but disappointment to the gatherer, 
as drugs collected out of season not only are not acceptable to the 
dealer on account of inferior medicinal qualities, but there will also be, 
in the case of roots, a greater amount of shrinkage in a root dug dur- 
ing the growing season than will take place when it is collected after 
growth has ceased. 
The collector should be sure that the plant he is collecting is the 
right one. There are many plants that closely resemble one another, 
yet one may possess medicinal properties and the other be absolutely 
useless. Again, a plant may contain very poisonous principles, and if 
represented to be something else, it might of course do untold injury. 
It would therefore be best, where any doubt exists, to send a specimen 
of the entire plant, including leaves, flowers, and fruits, to a drug 
dealer or to the nearest State experiment station for identification. 
ROOTS, 
Roots should never be collected during the growing season, as at 
that time they are deficient in medicinal properties, and they also 
shrink more in drying and weigh less than when gathered at full 
_ maturity. ; . 
The roots of annual plants should be dug just before the flowering 
period, and those of biennial or perennial plants after the tops have 
dried, the former in the autumn of the first year and the latter in the 
fall of the second or third year. 
After the roots have been dug the adherent soil should be well 
shaken from them, and all foreign particles, such as stones, dirt, roots 
and parts of other plants, should be removed. If the roots can not be 
sufficiently cleared of soil by shaking, they should be thoroughly 
_ washed in clean water. It does not pay to be careless in this matter. 
The presence of soil increases the weight of the roots, but the intend- 
_ ing purchaser is not willing to pay for the weight of the dirt, and 
_ grades the uncleaned drug accordingly. It is the clean, bright-looking 
__- root that will bring a good price. 
