or True Peppermint. 117 



of the mint genus would be cultivated, a good result might 

 be expected ; this has been accomplished, and the reports 

 received from gentlemen in England capable of giving an 

 opinion on Oil of Peppermint, I will presently lay before 

 you. 



The Mentha Piperita (a specimen on the table) is a plant 

 needmg no description, it being generally well known, 

 although some confound it with the ordinary garden mint. 

 The soil and climate of some parts of Victoria, offering to 

 my mind facilities for the growth of Peppermint, I forwarded 

 to those districts a number of plants with directions as to 

 its cultivation, and obtained results all more or less en- 

 couraging. The districts of Melbourne, Mount Macedon, 

 and North Gipps Land, have each had a trial in its cultiva- 

 tion ; at jpresent there can be no doubt that North Gipps 

 Land carries the palm. 



In cultivating Peppermint for the purpose of obtaining 

 its volatile oil, attention must be paid to position and soil ; 

 its habitat being in loamy and moist lands, if this be 

 neglected, it will soon loose its fragrance and flavour, for the 

 lower species, such as the spearmint and pennyroyal. As an 

 example of this fact, one of the late numbers of the 

 Gardener's Chronicle mentions that " some peppermint 

 plants from the Mitcham fields were introduced into a plan- 

 tation at Singapore, in a situation fully exposed to the 

 tropical sun ; they grew very well, but not to the height 

 they usually grow in England ; moreover, they refused to 

 flower, and almost as soon as they arrived at full growth, 

 they dried up, having the appearance of being burnt. They 

 were also found to yield not more than half the usual quan- 

 tity of essential oil, and that of a dark claret colour and of 

 an inferior odour." The difference in the quality of pepper- 

 mint oil is very great. England produces the best, Scotland 

 the next, then America, afterwards France. Even in Eng- 

 land, the counties, produce different qualities, none equal 

 that grown in and around Mitcham, in Surrey, although 

 Hertfordshii'e and Cambridge follow close after. The price 

 varies accordingly ; thus Mitcham oil realises 40s. per lb. ; 

 Cambridge, 83s. per lb.; American, 16s. per lb.; French, 

 10s. per lb. 



The oil upon which the accompanying report is based, 

 IS from the plant grown in Gipps Land, between 

 Stratford and Sale, and also in a mountainous district 

 beyond Glen Maggie. On my visiting that part last year, I 



