194 TWENTY-FIRST REPORT. 



facture of paints and soap. Each capsule will contain 3 grams of seed. Tlio 

 yield per acre is approximately 30 pounds of capsules, and 50 pounds of seeds. 



Chenopodium or American wormseed produces long spikes of very small 

 fruits. It is not known at just what stage they contain the maximum amount 

 of volatile oil. The plant is .several feet in height and develops a very brittle 

 stem. The whole plant is cut down by means of a hatchet and brought to the 

 drying shed where it is spread out to dry, the fruits lieing separated from the 

 plant. It is quite likely that the leaves and stems also contain considoral)le 

 volatile oil. It would no doubt be desirable to distill the oil from the green 

 plant, thus saving a great deal of labor in the handling of the crop. The still 

 could be run continuously and require very little attention, so that part of 

 the time could be used in the preparation of the herb for the distillation. 

 About 10,000 plants could be obtained per acre and this would yield about 

 100 pounds of volatile oil. 



3. Flowers. Flowers should be gathered either in the bud condition or 

 when they are about to open and are at their best. At this stage they contain 

 the largest quantity of desirable principles. In some cases, as with German 

 chamomile, what is commonly known as the flower but really flowercluster, 

 is collected in its entirely. The simplest way that I have fomid is to run the 

 hand upward from below through the flowering clusters, thus collecting the 

 stalks which come through the fingers. In this way one can gather five or 

 six or more flowers at a time. The flowers are dried by spreading them out 

 on paper. Chamomile continues to flower from about the middle of July to 

 the first ot September. The yield of chamomile flowers would be somewhere 

 between 500 to 1.000 pounds per acre. At the present time this drug is com- 

 manding a price of about 50c per pound, so that the returns are very excellent. 



Marigold furnishes an important medicine, the strap-shaped yellow florets 

 being separated from the head of flowers. This involves more labor than in the 

 handling of chamomile, but nevertheless does not require skilled labor. The 

 method of separation can be very easily learned, and performed even by 

 children. Marigold flowers develop from the latter part of June until on up to 

 frost. One can collect a large number of flowers throughout the season, and 

 the yield will be from 100 to 200 pounds of drug material. 



4. Leaves and Herds. The leaves and flowering and fruiting tops of a 

 great many herbaceous plants ai"e used in medicine. The liarvesting of these 

 is rather simple, but considerable space is required for drying them. The 

 shoots can be cut off by means of a scythe and spread out eitlior on tlie floor 

 or in suitable trays, or hung up on wire to dry. This manner of collecting 

 woidd apply to belladonna, henbane, Indian hemp, sage, grindelia, catnip, 

 sweet marjoram, thyme, tansy, etc. Nearly all of these plants would yield any- 

 where from 500 to 1,000 pounds per acre. 



One should exercise a good deal of care in harvesting and drying these 

 plants, yet my experience shows that one does not need to go to the extremes 



