36 THE PRODUCTION OF VOLATILE OILS AND PERFUMERY PLANTS. 



where the jDlant is found growing wild. There are produced the 

 seeds, which are valuable commercially, and the volatile oil dis- 

 tilled therefrom, which also possesses the anthelmintic action of the 

 seeds. 



Another volatile oil which is produced on a very extensive scale 

 and which has been distilled commercial!}" for more than a century, 

 naniel}", oil of turpentine, deserves brief mention. The production 

 of turpentine oil is confined principally to the Southern and Gulf 

 States, from Virginia to Florida, regions of extensive pine forests. 

 Turpentine is obtained as an oleoresinous exudation from several 

 varieties of pine trees, chief among which is the long-leaved pine 

 {Pinus folustAs Miller). Other species, such as Pinus taeda L. and 

 Pinus echinata Miller, also yield a valuable oleoresin. Unlike most 

 volatile oils, the oil of turpentine is not distilled directly from the 

 plant but results as one of the products of the distillation of the 

 oleoresin obtained from the trees, the other product being the rosin 

 or colophony of commerce. The usefulness and value of oil of 

 turpentine in commerce, both in the arts and in medicine, where it is 

 practically indispensable, require no further comment. 



The plants just enumerated represent the principal volatile-oil 

 plants which are cultivated or gathered for oil production in the 

 United States. The distillation of oils from the mint species is a 

 singular instance of an industry of commercial magnitude, while the 

 several other oils which are being distilled from cultivated plants 

 occupy a secondary position in production. The further development 

 of some of the oils mentioned will be controlled largely by the con- 

 sumption of the products and by the demand which may be created 

 for them. 



The experimental work being conducted at the present time at the 

 Arlington Experimental Farm, near Washington, D. C, is such as to 

 demonstrate the practicability of more extensive cultivation of the 

 i:»lants already grown, as well as of other plants growing wild at 

 present, but which b}' proper methods of domestication can probably 

 be greatW improved both from the standpoint of luxuriance of 

 growth and of fragrance. 



The introduction of foreign species of volatile-oil plants and the 

 testing of the same upon native soil are also receiving considerable 

 attention, and the successful production of oil is clearly assured in 

 some cases. Suitable localities, however, must be chosen to conform 

 with the natural habitats of the introduced plants in order to attain 

 the highest degree of efficiency of production. 



WILD PLANTS. 



Possibly the number of wild aromatic plants which are used in the 

 manufacture of volatile oils exceeds that of those which are at present 



195 



