68 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



been grown on a large scale in this country as a drug crop. This plant 

 thrives best in ordinary well-drained garden soils of open texture. Sowing 

 the seed in the field is usually unsuccessful. For good results they should 

 be sown in seed-pans or flats in the greenhouse. When danger of frost is 

 past the plants should be hardened off and transplanted to the field. 

 Digitalis does not flower until the second year, when the leaves may be 

 collected. Probably 600 pounds of dry leaves per acre may be obtained 

 under favorable conditions. The wholesale price of leaves ranges from 8 to 

 40 cents a pound, averaging about 15 cents. 



The Common Sage Plant (Salvia officinalis) is easily cultivated and 

 will grow in almost any well-drained fertile soil. There is a good demand 

 for American leaf sage, which sells at a considerably higher price than the 

 imported article. 



The dry herb or leaves of a number of aromatic plants form marketable 

 products for which there is a small demand, but as a rule these plants are 

 grown for the essential oils which they yield. The principal essential oils 

 produced in the United States from cultivated plants are: peppermint, 

 spearmint, tansy, wormwood and American wormseed. The price of im- 

 ported sage is 3 to 5 cents a pound. American sage is usually a little higher. 



Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) is a fleshy-rooted herbaceous plant 

 native to this country and formerly of frequent occurrence in shady, well- 

 drained situations in hardwood forests from Maine to Minnesota and south- 

 ward to the mountains of Georgia and the Carolinas. It has long been 

 valued by the Chinese for medicinal use, though rarely credited with cura- 

 tive properties by natives of other countries. Under cultural conditions, 

 ginseng should be shielded from direct sunlight by the shade of the trees 

 or by lath sheds. The soil should be fairly light and well fertilized with 

 woods earth, rotted leaves or fine raw bone meal, the latter applied at the 

 rate of one pound to each square yard. Seed should be planted in the 

 spring as early as the soil can be worked to advantage, placed 6 inches apart 

 each way in the permanent beds, or 2 by 6 inches in seed-beds, and the 

 seedlings transplanted to stand 6 to 8 inches apart when two years old. 

 Only cracked or partially germinated seed should be used. 



Ginseng needs little cultivation, but the beds should be at all times 

 kept free from weeds and grass and the surface of the soil slightly stirred 

 whenever it shows signs of caking. A winter mulch over the browns is 

 usually essential, but it should not be applied until freezing weather is 

 imminent and should be removed in the spring before the first shoots come 

 through the soil. 



The roots do not reach marketable size until about the fifth or sixth 

 year from seed. When dug, they should be carefully washed or shaken 

 free of all adhering soil, but not scraped. Curing is best effected in a well- 

 ventilated room heated to about 80 F. Nearly a month is required to 

 properly cure the larger roots, and great care must be taken in order to 

 prevent moulding or souring. Overheating must also be avoided. When 



