198 RURAL NEW YORK 



Covtland. Its production is a very intensive busi- 

 ness since an acre of mature roots well developed may 

 be worth $10,000. The dried roots sell at $8 to $12 

 a pound. It is a medicinal root used by Orientals 

 and ro(|nires three to five years for the roots to reach 

 marketable size. A silty to fine sandy loam, moist 

 and cool and moderately fertile, gives best results. 

 An excess of lime carbonate promotes destructive 

 diseases. While the soil must be moist, good drain- 

 age is essential for rapid vegetative growth. The 

 Lordstown and Chenango silt loams are excellent 

 types of soil for the crop. New York leads in its 

 production. 



Willows of the osier type for basket-making are a 

 farm crop at several points in the western part of 

 the State. The most important center is in south- 

 ern Wayne County, where it was brought in by Dutch 

 settlers. The crop is grown on moist, rich and mod- 

 erately heavy soils. Lake and alluvial soils of the 

 series common to that region are used. 



Peppermint for its oil was formerly cultivated on 

 the muck and swamp soils of Wayne County where 

 onions and cabbage now find a large place. At one 

 time that region was the center of the world's pro- 

 duction, but it has now been transferred to the Clyde 

 marshes of Allegan County, Michigan. 



The sugar bush or hard maple orchard is still an 

 important factor in the receipts of many New York 

 farms. The tree is one of the most representative 

 and cosmopolitan in the State, being common in 

 every county outside the heart of the Adirondack 



