VOLATILE OIL PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 



great. There is, in fact, a large number of odoriferous plants still 

 uninvestigated which should demand consideration. As yet but little 

 research has been undertaken Avhich would tend to increase the num- 

 ber of valuable aromatic plants now Ijeing utilized. A study of this 

 particular phase of the subject, coupled with the introduction of for- 

 eign species into the United States, should eventually develop some- 

 what the resources of the country along this important line. 



CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



The relatively small number of volatile-oil-yielding plants at pres- 

 ent under cultivation and the success of the industry based on these 

 few plants should be sufficient justification for widening the scope of 

 our efforts. 



The cultivated plants at the present time are principally the mints, 

 peppermint and spearmint, together with small quantities of such 

 plants as wormwood, tansy, and wormseed. 



The distillation of peppermint « and spearmint in the United States 

 dates back to 1816. when the peiDpermint plant was first cultivated for 

 the production of the oil in Xew York, followed somewhat later by 

 spearmint. The cultivation gradually spread, until at present the 

 center of the industry is in Michigan, with limited production in 

 Indiana. 



The cultivation in New York and Michigan has decreased recently, 

 owing to a slight oversupplj?-, which, however, is probabh^ only tem- 

 poraiy. Peppermint and spearmint are possibl}' more largely dis- 

 tilled in the United States than any other oils at the present time, 

 excluding such plants as grow wild and which produce large quan- 

 tities of oil. notably the turj)entine-yielding pines. 



The wormwood plant (Artemisia ahsintMum) ^ although introduced 

 from Europe, has been cultivated to some extent commercially in 

 Wisconsin, ]\Iichigan. Xew York, and other Xorth-Central States. 

 The distillation of the oil has been conducted with a certain degree 

 of success, the yield from fresh. floAvering herbs being from one-tliird 

 to one-half of 1 per cent. It is, however, questionable whether, in 

 the light of the recent European agitation against wormwood, this 

 plant will continue to be cultivated for its oil to the same extent as 

 in the past. 



The herb tansy {Tanacetum vulgare) is grown for its oil in a small 

 way in the eastern part of the United States and yields from one- 

 tenth to one-fifth of 1 per cent of a volatile oil used principally' in 

 medicine. 



The plant American wormseed {Cheiwpodiuin amhrosioides L., 

 var. antlielminticum) is grown chiefly in Maryland and southward, 



" Bulletin 90, pt. 3, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

 195 



