•MM 



ML.N rilA 



MKN'PZKLIA 



in Michigan, wluTt" tlic indusin- has prown to larm'r 

 proiHirlions than anywhori- else. IVpiuMiiiint is now 

 cultivaliHl cominorcially in so\ith\vi'st<'ni Miilii^an 

 and adjacent parts of nortlicrn Indiana, Wayni' county, 

 New York, and in M'ltdiani, Surrey and Lnuohishirc, 

 En);land, and m Saxony. 



Peppcnuint phmts may be grown on any laiul that 

 will produce pood crojjs of corn, hut its cultivation is 

 most pmtitahle on muck soils of reclaimed swam|)s. It 

 is an exhaustive crop, and on uplands is rarely included 



2j00. A miat still. 



in the rotation more often than once in five years. On 

 deep, rich muck soils it is often grown consecutively 6 

 years or more with no apparent diminution in yield. 

 Peppermint is propagated by pieces of running root- 

 stocks, commonly called "roots." These are planted, 

 as early in spring as the ground can be prepared, in 

 furrows 30 inches apart. On uplands two or three croi)s 

 are usually grown from one .setting of the "roots," bvit 

 in the swamp lands the nuuiers are plowed under after 

 han'est, continuing the crop indefinitely. Clean culti- 

 vation is required between the rows, and often it is 

 necessary to lioe the plants or pull weeds by hand, espe- 

 cially on land that has not been well prepared. Fire- 

 weed, horseweed, ragvveed and other species with bitter 

 or aromatic properties are very injurious to the oil if cut 

 and di.stilled with the j)eppermint. 



The crop is cut either with scythe or mowing-machine 

 in August or early September, when the earliest flowers 

 are developed and before the leaves have fallen. In 

 long, favorable seasons a second crop is sometimes har- 

 vested early in November. After cutting, the plants 

 are cured like hay, then raked into windrows an<l taken 

 to the stills, where the oil is extracted by distillation 

 with steam. A "mint still" (Fig. 23fi0; usually con- 

 sists of two retorts (u.sed alternately), wooden or gal- 

 vanized iron tubs about 7 feet deep and (i feet in diame- 

 ter at the top, each with a perforated false bottom and a 

 tight-fitting, removable cover, a confh^nser of nearly 

 2O0 feet of block-tin [jijx; immersed in tanks of cokl 

 water, or more frequently arranged in ()erpendicular 

 tiers over which cold water nins, a boiler to furnish 

 steam and a receiver or tin can with compartments in 

 which the oil separates by gravity. The yield of oil 

 varies from ten to sixty pounds to the acre, averaging 

 about twenty-five pf)unds for black mint, the variety 

 now generally grown. Three kinds of [)e[)pennint are 

 recognized: (1) American mint, "state mint" of New 

 York (,\f. jnperita), long oultivat<!il in this country and 

 occasionally naturalized; (2) black mint, or black 

 mitcham (M. j/iperila var. mdgarw), a more productive 

 variety introduced from England about 188'J, and ('i) 



white mint, or white niitchani (.1/. iiiprrilii var. officina- 

 lis), less productive and too tender for prolitable culti- 

 vation, but yielding a very superior grade of oil. 

 IVpi)ennint oil is u.sed in (U)nfeclionery, very exten- 

 sively in medicines, and for the iiroduclion of menthol, 

 or more i)ro])erly ])ipnienthol. I'ijimenlhol dilTers in 

 jihysii-al ))roperlies from menthol derived fnmi Japa- 

 nese mint . 



JaiHimnc mint, secured from M. arvensis var. piperas- 

 cciiK, is cultivated in northeni Japan, chiefly on the 

 island of Hondo; not known in the wild .state. 

 It has been inlroduced experimentally in cultiva- 

 tion in Englan<l and the United States, but has 

 not been cultivated commercially in these coun- 

 tries. Its oil is inferior in quality to that of 

 Mentha piperita, but it contains a higher percent- 

 age of crystallizable menthol, of which it was the 

 original source and for the production of which it 

 is largely \ised. It is i)ropagaled by rootstocks 

 carefully transplanted and cultivated by hand- 

 labor. Two crops, rarely three, are obtained in a 

 season, antl by abunilant fertilizing and intensive 

 culture large yickls are obtained. It is usually 

 continued three years from one planting, and 

 then a rotation of other crojjs follow for three to 

 six years. Three horticultural varieties are recog- 

 nized, being distinguished chiefly by form of leaf 

 and color of stem. The variety known as "Aka- 

 kuki," with reddish purple stem and broad, ob- 

 tuse leaves, is regardeil as best. 



Spearmint is cidtivated on peppermint farms 

 X^ for the production of oil. The plants are propa- 

 .^ gated and cultivated similar to pepjjermint and 

 (listilled in the same stills. The oil, for which 

 there is a smaller ilemand than for peppermint, 

 is used chiefly in medicine and to some extent as a 

 flavoring ingredient in chewing-gum and drinks. Spear- 

 mint is cultivated in the vicinity of many large cities 

 to supi)ly saloons, where freshly cut sprigs of the plant 

 arc used in making the seductive and intoxicating drink 

 knomi as "mint julep." The plant is more widely 

 known iis an ingredient in "mint sauce," the familiar 

 accomj)animent of spring lamb and green peas. To sup- 

 ply this demand it is often cultivated in the kitchen- 

 garden. It is easily propagated by the perennial root- 

 stocks, and persists year after year with little care, 

 thriving in nearly all kinds of soil, providing it does not 

 become too dry. Lyster H. Dewey. 



L. H. B.f 



MENTZELIA (Christian Mentzel, 1622-1701, Ger- 

 man botanist). Loasaceie. Showy-flowered plants, 

 some of the herbaceous kinds grown as flower-garden 

 subjects. 



Herbs annual and perennial, shrubs and even small 

 trees, glabrous or setose, the sts, often becoming white 

 and shining: Ivs. usually alternate, mostly coarsely 

 toothed or pinnatifid: fls. solitary or in racemes or 

 cymes, white, yellowish, yellow or red; petals 5, regu- 

 larly sjjreading, convolute in the bud, deciduous; sta- 

 mens indefinite, rarely few, inserted with the petals on 

 the throat of the calyx: seeds flat, in a caps, dehiscent 

 at the summit. — Species probably 60-70 in the Ameri- 

 cas. A good ninnber are native in the U. S. They thrive 

 in sunny moist or dry .situations .sheltered from strong 

 winds. M. lAmlleiji, from C'alif., is frequent in eastern 

 gardens, where it is commonly knowii iia Bartnnia aurea; 

 the other sjjccies are offered by western dealers, but are 

 not generally in cult. They flower in summer. Although 

 interesting and showy, these plants have not become 

 popular with gardeners. The seeds should be sown 

 where the plants are to remain, as they do not bear 

 transplanting. M. Iiartonioidcs, Henth & Hook., is Euc- 

 nide (which see); M. (jronovis-folia, Fisch. & Mey., is 

 the same. By some^ authors, [lart of the species are sep- 

 arated as Nuttallia; also as Hespcrastcr. 



