CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 7 



tinct from the true peppermint, not only botanically but also in taste 

 and odor. 



Peppermint is cultivated on many drug farms in England, espe- 

 cially at Mitcham, the middle of the eighteenth century marking the 

 beginning of peppermint cultivation in that country. Up to 1805, 

 however, there were no stills at Mitcham, and the crops obtained 

 there were sent to London for distillation. About 1S50. at which 

 time the peppermint industry in England was at its height, the eifect 

 of American competition began to be felt, and caused a decided 

 check in the production. 



PEPPERMINT CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Wayne County, X. Y., in ISIG, was the first locality in this country 

 to distill peppermint on a commercial scale. The supply of root- 

 stocks was obtained from the wild plants found growing along the- 

 banks of streams and brooks. Adjacent counties soon undertook the 

 cultivation of peppermint, but Wayne County was then, and is now, 

 the principal peppermint district in New York. 



The cultivation of peppermint was extended to Ashtabula, Geauga, 

 and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, and also to northern Indiana. Roots 

 were taken from Ohio into St. Joseph County, Mich., the first plan- 

 tation being made on Pigeon prairie in 1835. Other plantations in 

 St. Joseph County Avere established the following j^ears, and adjoin- 

 ing counties soon took up the cultivation of peppermint, and south- 

 western Michigan has been for thirtv-five vears or more the greatest 

 peppermint-producing section in the United States. 



About 184-t an interesting peppermint-oil monopoly " was under- 

 taken by a Xew York firm, Avliich seems to have put an end to pepper- 

 mint cultivation in Ohio, for none of the counties just mentioned 

 has since been heard from as a peppermint-producing section. 



The first step taken by this Xew York firm in its efforts to con- 

 trol the pepperi,nint-oil market was to send a representative to 

 Liverpool, England, to ascertain the amount annually demanded by 

 that market, which was found to be about 12,000 pounds. This done, 

 another agent was sent West to determine the amount produced annu- 

 ally, with the result that it Avas found that the farms in Xew York 

 did not produce enough oil for their purposes, the plantations in 

 Ohio too much, while those in IMichigan seemed to produce just about 

 tlie right amount to satisfy the Liverpool demand. A contract was 

 then entered into by this agent with the producers in Xew York and 

 Ohio '• whereby he bound them muler heavy penalties to plow up 

 their mint fields and destroy the roots, and not plant any more mint. 

 or sell or give away any roots, or produce or sell any mint oil for the 



aProc. Amer. Pharui. Assoc, 7:449-459 (1858). 



