270 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



A large num'ber of inquiries are received every year concerning the 

 possibilities and problems along the line of the cultivation of me- 

 dicinal plants, and the past year has been no exception. His- 

 torically, the cultivation of such plants is really one of the oldest 

 agricultural industries in the United States, and yet the progress 

 has been very slow indeed. Fortunately there has been some ex- 

 perimental work and we are able to offer some suggestions. We per- 

 haps have more inquiries concerning ginseng than any of the others. 

 We have a circular (No. 28) from the State College which we fur- 

 nish to all making inquiries along this line. We have also been 

 making references to Bulletin No. 27, of the Pennsylvania State 

 Board of Agriculture entitled "The Cultivation of American Ginseng 

 in Pennsylvania," but I am not certain whether this is still avail- 

 able. In the past there have been two reasons why the cultivation 

 of drug plants has been necessary (1) the growing scarcity of the 

 wild sources of supply and (2) the possibility of improving the 

 plants so that a more uniform and increased quantity of drugs may 

 be produced. During the year the outbreak of the European war 

 has cut off the foreign supply of many crude drugs and has forcibly 

 brought to our attention the necessity for increasing our domestic 

 supply. We are very much in need of further investigational work 

 in order to take care properly of the inquiries and to encourage this 

 industry in the way that its importance would warrant. 



We are receiving also a steady stream of communications regard- 

 ing mushrooms. Some of these refer to the edible or poisonous prop- 

 erties of wild forms and some refer to the cultivation of the common 

 mushroom of the markets. We are doing everything to encourage a 

 proper and safe use of the wild mushroom crop. In addition to the 

 identification of the specimens, we give out by letter many sug- 

 gestions. It is our aim to have people learn and become acquainted 

 with some good sorts and to have them leave all others alone. There 

 is absolutely no test for determining the bad or undesirable sorts so 

 that they can be cast out of a miscellaneous gathering. One should 

 never eat any kind with which he is not familiar or whicli has not 

 been identified by someone who knows. It is possible to learn to 

 know the species just as one learns to know flowers or birds. A 

 lumberman does not accept trees because they have certain char- 

 acteristics, or reject others on such grounds, but he insists on know- 

 ing the kind of trees. This same thing must be insisted upon with 

 regard to mushrooms. In certain parts of the State mushroom grow- 

 ing is an important industry. The people who are in the business 

 frequently find their crops affected with pests and diseases. Many 

 other people have heard of the jwssibilities along mushroom grow- 

 ing and are seeking information. 



As in the matter of drug plant cultivation we are in need of more 

 experimental work. In our own State we have no publication on 

 the subject and can do no better than refer our correspondents to 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 204, United States Department of Agriculture. 

 Eegairding the matter of plant diseases I will not have time to 

 make more than a few brief references. Protection of crops from 

 the ravages of parasitic diseases is one of our most important agri- 

 cultural problems. The fundamental idea of the control of plant 

 diseases is prevention. The practical work of prevention is based 

 on facts mostly accumulated by patient scholarly investigating, ex- 



