10 THE LICORICE PLANT. 



Mr. Hillaby's manufactory is fitted up with machines entirely of his 

 own invention for the conversion of the crude product into pom fret- 

 cakes, &c., to the perfection of which he has devoted the best years of 

 his life, the result of which is an extensive business and an increasing 

 demand for his special make. 



Since writing the above report I have obtained the following addi- 

 tional information from Mr. Longstaff: 



(1) The average cost of Spanish or Smyrna juice is about $11 per CWT. In conse- 

 quence of the low price of foreign juice there is none now made in England. 



(2) The inferior part of the root, called the "chumps," is ground into powder [vidt 

 sample Xos. 4 and 5]. A much finer powder is made from the finest root (decorti- 

 cated), and is used tor medicinal purposes. The main part of the root is sold in 

 sticks, of which a considerable quantity is consumed by children. 



(3) The average price of buds and runners is about S3 per thousand. The grower 

 must wait until the crop is ready before the buds produced from the runners are 

 available, being taken up with the crop. 



(4) If any grower writes to me I will, as you request, do my best to procure for him 

 a sufficient number of buds for an experiment.* 



(5) The approximate cost of an acre of licorice on new ground is about 6450. which 

 I arrive at as follows : 



Trenching and preparing land $80 00 



Forty thousand buds, at $2.50 100 00 



Planting and manure 85 00 



Four years' rent aud rates (taxes) 125 00 



390 00 

 Four years' interest on above, say 75 00 



Total 465 00 



Average produce of one acre of licorice, 45 cwt., at 14 630 00 



This calculation is on the assumption that this is the first crop of licorice, the 

 cost of preparing the land afterward being about one-half. 



The value of the buds will fully repay the cost of cleaning, taking up, &c. 

 The rent is calculated at 830 per acre. 



C. W. WHITMAN, 



Consular Agent. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULAR AGENCY, 



Hucldersfield, April 7, 1885. 



LICORICE IN SPAIN. 



REPORT BY COXSrL MARSTOX, OF MALAGA. 



I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Department circular 

 under date of February 10, 1885, upon the subject of licorice, aud to 

 make the following answers to the questions contained therein, viz : 



The plant grows wild. It requires wild, low, marshy ground, along 

 the banks of rivers. The climate of Spain, say in the provinces Murcia, 

 Aragon, and Toledo, is most suitable. It cannot be cultivated so as to 

 increase yield. 



In Spain it requires, say, on an average, eight years to reach maturity. 



The plant or stalk is not utilized beyond the root. 



* Mr. Longstaff's address is "David Longstaff, esq., Monkroyd House, Pontefract, 

 Yorkshire, England." 



