CONSULAR REPORTS 



THE LICORICE PLANT, 



AUGUST, 1885, 



THE LICORICE PLANT. 



REPORT BY CONSULAR AGENT WHITMAN, OF HJTDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND. 

 LICOKICE AND ITS USES. 



Before proceeding to give an account of the cultivation of licorice 

 in this district, it may not be amiss briefly to quote from several author- 

 ities some facts regarding the introduction of the plant into England, 

 its other habitats, uses in the pharmacopeia, &c. : 



Licorice is cultivated throughout the warmer parts of Europe, especially on the 

 Mediterranean shores, and its geographical limits travel eastward throughout Cen- 

 tral Asia to China, where its cultivation is also prosecuted. 



In the United Kingdom it is grown in Surrey and Yorkshire. The roots for use are 

 obtained in lengths of 3 or 4 feet, and averaging in diameter from one-fourth to one 

 inch. * * * The root is an article of some commercial importance on the con- 

 tinent. 



Stick licorice is made by crushing and grinding the root to a pulp, which is boiled 

 in water over an open fire, and the decoction, separated from the solid residue of the 

 root, is evaporated in copper pans till a sufficient degree of concentration is attained, 

 after which, on cooling, it is rolled into the form of sticks or other shapes, for the mar- 

 ket. The preparation of the juice js a widely extended industry along the Mediterra- 

 nean coasts ; but the quality best appreciated in the United Kingdom is made in Ca- 

 labria, and sold under the name of Solazzi and Corigliano juice. The licorice grown 

 in Yorkshire is made into a confection called Pontefract cakes. 



Licorice in various forms is a popular remedy for coughs, and it is largely used by 

 children as a sweetmeat. 



It enters into the composition of many cough lozenges and other demulcent prep- 

 arations, and in the form of aromatic sirups and elixirs it has a remarkable effect 

 in masking the taste of nauseous medicines, a property peculiar to glycyrrhiziu. 



A considerable quantity of licorice is used in the preparation of tobacco for 

 chewing. 



Commercial licorice paste is frequently much adulterated and often contains dis- 

 tinct traces of copper, apparently derived from the vessels in which the juice is in- 

 spissated. From the ninth edition of Encyclopedia Britannica (vol. 14, pp. 687, 688), noio 

 in course of publication in England. 



Referring to the writer's statement as to its growth in Surrey, I 

 quote from Murray's Handbook to that county, p. 101 : 



At Mitcham we are in the midst of the great Surrey "flower-farms." The soil of the 

 parish is a deep black mold, some hundred acres of which are covered with planta- 

 tions of lavender, rosemary, mint, peppermint, licorice, chamomile, and other herbs 

 for the use of the great London druggists, perfumers, and distillers. * * Mitcham 

 has been famous for its plantations of medicinal herbs for the last century. 



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