40 PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



CHAPTER III. 



SOME DRUG PLANTS WHICH MAY BE CULTIVATED 

 PROflTABLY IN CALIfORNIA. 



Drug plant culture can be considered from the purely theoretical 

 standpoint as well as from the wholly practical standpoint. The former 

 offers roseate promises and hopes, the latter generally starts in with 

 a long series of disappointments. The two are to each other as day 

 and night, and yet it would appear that they go hand in hand, with 

 the latter as an outgrowth of the former. Theoretical drug culture 

 gradually gives way to the purely field culture. Finally, as success 

 looms up big, after many failures, all theorization is cast to the four 

 winds, and the main reliance is placed upon the hoe and the plow, 

 using the theoretical merely as a bit of background. 



The man without some means is not advised to go into drug culture. 

 He should put what little money he has into a bank, or invest it in 

 something better established and more promising than drug plant cul- 

 ture. Furthermore, the enterprise must be undertaken on a fairly 

 large scale, otherwise the net profits will not make it worth while. The 

 all-important advice is, don 't dabble ; go into the enterprise in a whole- 

 souled way and stick to it. This requires some money, good judgment 

 or brains, and patience. 



In any new field of enterprise a certain amount of purely experi- 

 mental work is absolutely unavoidable. This experimental work is 

 always conducted at a financial loss; however, the loss can be reduced 

 to a minimum through wise and careful forethought. The following 

 suggestions, with those already given, must suffice: 



1. Experimental Phase. Having decided upon the preliminaries, as 

 to what drug plant or plants can in all probability be grown success- 

 fully and profitably in your territory, the possible market, available 

 finances, etc., set aside an area or plat of good arable land in which 

 to carry on what is commonly called a field experiment. Prepare this 

 plat properly and plant it to the particular plant or plants that you 

 intend to grow on a large scale. The details can not be gone into. 

 Each plant tried requires special conditions. The area set aside may 

 be only a few feet square, or it may comprise from two to ten acres. 

 The experimenting may continue for one, two, or even three seasons. 

 In this time the details of cultural and other operations must be worked 

 out, as depth of plowing the soil, time of seeding, transplanting, culti- 

 vating, hoeing, irrigating, harvesting, drying, marketing, etc. It is 

 advised to proceed cautiously. Consult all available literature on the 

 subject, some of which is given in the publications cited. This will 



