402 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



steam to tho top of the vnt, whoro it escapes through a ^'changing 

 valve" to the coiicU'iisiiig appai-atus. 



The steam, having been condensed, is a mixtiiie of oil and water, 

 which Hows into the separating "receiver," where the oil collects on the 

 top, the water j);issing out thi-ough an opening in the l)ottom witli an 

 overllow pipe, which rises on the outside to a point on a level with the 

 fluid inside, as in ordinary chemists' receivers, intended to separate 

 •liquids of varying specific gravity. The water thus separated, however, 

 holds a slight amount of oil in solution, henr-e it should l)e forced again 

 into the boiler to hv reconverted into steam and continuously used, hav- 

 ing the additional advantage of being distilled and free fi-om impurities 

 which corrode the boiler. Most distilleries, however, allow tliis dis- 

 tilled water to run to waste. It Avas formerly bottled and sold in 

 England, while the amount annually wasted in this country is several 

 million i)ounds. 



As the value of the oil depends largely upon its fine aroma, which 

 can only be secured by the most careful cultivation and distillation, 

 the successful ]>roduc(ion of peppermint requires constant care. Some 

 growers carelessly allow weeds and other foreign plants to become 

 mixed with the mint, which injures its aroma and x)urity, decreasing 

 the value. Owing to more intelligent selection of soil, and improved 

 varieties of plants, the yield per acre has increased during the past 

 fifteen years, so that while formerly the average yield was not over 

 twelve pounds, it is now' over twenty pounds per acre. The price, how- 

 ever, has declined so rapidly, owing to over production, that even at the 

 increased yield it has become unprofitable to most growers during 

 the past two or three years. Formerly the price ranged generally from 

 $2 to $5 per pound, and in some instances as high as |8, whereas the 

 average price to the growers during the last two years has not been over 

 70 cents, at which price it is unprofitable. In order, however, to make 

 up for the deficiency caused by the fall in price, growers have resorted 

 to the expedient of curing the herb from which the oil has been ex- 

 tracted for rough forage for horses and cattle, which is called '^mint 

 hay." It is excellent for dairy cows, is an ideal food for sheep, and 

 horses will "winter" on it nicely, although it is not suitable for them 

 during the w'orking season. 



The writer has a mint farm in Allegan county of nearly two thou- 

 sand acres, containing large distilleries with boilers for generating 

 steam, running engines, etc., of about five hundred horse-power com- 

 bined, and where he grows annually from eight hundred to one thou- 

 sand acres of mint, besides other crops. On this farm a block of large 

 stock barns has just been erected capable of accommodating five liiin- 

 dred cattle, with a storage capacity of about three thousand tons of hay 

 and silage. The latter is contained in six silos about forty feet in 

 height and from twenty to twenty-six feet in diameter. The silos are 

 placed in the center, and from these the six wings radiate in six direc- 

 tions, like the points of a star. As the barn is built upon decomposed 

 vegetation, which is soft and yielding, one hundred and sixty-eight 

 piers of masonry were started on the ''hardpan" below% the water being 

 pumped out from each wiiile being built. About one thousand loads of 

 sand were used in the foundations for the silos and around them. It 

 was found necessary, in order to keep the soil in sufficiently rich con- 



