MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 179 



drugs, are becoming scarce. In fact, every many of thom as ginseng, pinlc- 

 root, male fern and others are pretty nearly exterminated. For this reason 

 alone it is only a matter of a few years, if drugs are to be used at all, until 

 our supplies must of a necessity come from plants under cultivation. Of 

 course, not all plants used in medicine should be intensively cultivated. Of the 

 10,000 plants used in medicine in all parts of the world probably not more 

 than 10% are of permanent value. 



In order to succeed in drug farming there are two mighty important ques- 

 tions that need to be answered to put this industry on a paying basis. The 

 first of these relates to the growth of seedlings. In Michigan and in most 

 places where experiments have been conducted, it is necessary to germinate 

 the seeds in greenhouses or cold frames and to transplant the seedlings to the 

 field. As most seeds require from four to eight weeks for germination, and 

 an equal time is necessary for them to get fairly well established, it is apparent 

 that by starting them in the greenhouse we save four to five months of time. 

 But this requires a great deal of space and consumes a great deal of fuel, as 

 the preliminary steps are taken in January and continued during the coldest 

 weather. Then, too, considerable labor is required in transplanting these 

 seedlings from the seed pans to the flower pots and from the greenhouse to 

 the cold frame. If they could be sown directly in the open and brought to 

 maturity before the cold weather of autumn, there could be a considerable 

 saving of expense and labor. The experiments conducted here last summer 

 show that many plants can be grown in the open, but the crop will only be 

 from 10% to 20%, compared to that obtained from plants previously started 

 in the greenhouse. Therefore one of the first problems is to obtain seed which 

 will germinate rather quickly and at relatively low temperatures, and which 

 will run through the vegetative period rather quickly. 



Then again we need to knovp more in regard to soil conditions and the 

 use of fertilizers. Some of them increase the growth of the plants, giving 

 vigorous stems but less leaf area and root production. In other words, growth 

 is at the expense of the active principles, and the increase is really a loss 

 rather than a benefit. During the past year we have not utilized any fer- 

 tilizer, and yet the plants have been excessively high in active principles. 

 There can be no question but the judicious use of fertilizers will help to 

 improve the quality as well as yield of drug. As a general rule, a well-rotted 

 barn yard manure seems to be the best for general applications. Next to this 

 a mixed fertilizer, such as ordinarily used on farms, gives excellent results, 

 provided it is worked well into the fiuTows. Hand in hand with the subject 

 of fertilizei's goes the subject of cultivation. In most cases weeds and other 

 farm plants should be excluded, but there are doubtless many instances, as 

 in the ease of woodland plants, which are shade-loving, in which a mixture 

 or society of plants would prove beneficial. This would especially apply to 

 plants like ginseng, golden seal, mandrake, and others of this type. Many of 



