Some Minor Farm Crops. 75 



been made close to schools, and the children are encouraged to 

 watch the growth of the trees and to help in protecting them 

 from damage. 



That a larger scheme of afforestation would give an 

 enormous amount of eniploj'ment there is little doubt. The 

 work is of such a nature that it can be carried out by casual 

 labourers. In the case of the tree planting in the Black 

 Country, all the operations have been performed by casual 

 workers under the direction of a foreman who has learned 

 forest work in some of the older plantations. In many cases 

 the men have been engaged through Distress Committees ; in 

 all instances the planting is done in a satisfactory way as no 

 special knowledge is required. One of these days it is to be 

 hoped that the nation will realize the great posrsibilities which 

 exist in well directed schemes of forestry. 



S. Leonard Bastin. 



31, Castlemain Avenue, 



Rounieiniiuth. 



SOME MINOR FARM CROPS. II. 



I.— PEPPERMINT. 



Two varieties of peppermint, known respectively as black and 

 white mint, are grown in England for the production of the 

 essential oil, but the area under cultivation is very limited, and 

 it may not exceed 1,000 acres in all. In the Mitcham district, 

 (which comprises Wallington, Carshalton, Ewell, Leatherhead, 

 Dorking, and Caterham), together with Chelsfield and other 

 parts of Kent, the total area under peppermint is believed to 

 be l)etween -100 and 500 acres. The total output of pure oil 

 from this -district probably does not exceed 10,000 lb. Mint is 

 also grown in the neighbourhood of Burgess Hill in Sussex, as 

 well as at Ashford in Kent, Hitchin in Hertfordshire, Long 

 Melford in Suffolk, Elsenham in Essex, and in Lincolnshire. 



Black and white peppermint are botanically practically 

 identical, but they show considerable differences in appearance 

 and habit. White peppermint was cultivated for many years 

 before the introduction of the black variety which produces 

 nearly double the quantity of oil, and at the present time only 

 a small quantity of white mint is cultivated. It is chiefly 

 grown by Messrs. J. & G. Miller, of Mitcham, to supply the 

 demands of a few old firms of druggists. Black peppermint, so 

 called from its dark green foliage and purple stems, was first 

 used commercially about fifty years ago, and it has now almost 



