8 BULLETIN 824, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In some districts a simpler method of harvesting is adopted. At the time of full 

 bloom, the flowers, together with their leaves and stems, are reaped about twice, with 

 a tool like a short-handled rake with comb-shaped teeth, and dried in the sun. It 

 should be added that powder made from flowers picked by this comb-toothed instru- 

 ment is either inferior or no good, for the reason that flowers in all stages of bloom- 

 ing are thereby picked, whereas to obtain the full strength flowers must be picked 

 at exactly the right stage of blooming, which can be done only by hand. 



The flowers picked are spread on straw mats and dried in a sunny place, exposed 

 to the wind. Then they are moved to a drying room, which should have a good 

 draft. Shelves, similar to those used in sericulture, are made by laying down 

 rush screens or old newspapers on the top, where the flowers are arranged thinly and 

 turned over twice or more a day. A few days later, when dried to a certain extent, 

 they may be spread out thicker than at first. The drying is finished in 6 or 7 days. 

 When there is no drying room, they are dried entirely in the sun. By adopting this 

 system, a much greater quantity can be dried in a shorter time, although it is inferior 

 in quality compared with that dried in the shade. Drying in the sun takes only three 

 days in fine weather. If the drying takes too long, the flowers lose their strength 

 Drying has reached the proper stage when the flowers can be roughly powdered by 

 breaking them into small pieces upon rubbing with the thumb and forefinger. Arti- 

 ficial heat is also applied at large factories, the standard of the heat being 150° F. 



In addition to the districts named by West, the provinces of Ki-i 

 and Mikawa are mentioned by Fujitani (89) as supplying flowers. 

 Herrera (129) states that the G. cmgmnas/oZmm grows well in Mexico. 



Efforts to introduce the cultivation of Pyrethrum into this country 

 were made by the United States Department of Agriculture as early 

 as 1859. In that year Bishop (30) reported that 250 plants of Fyre- 

 thrum caucasicum were in the course of cultivation in the Experimental 

 and Propagating Garden at Washington, D. C. Markoe (188) de- 

 scribes the growing of Pyrethrum roseum by Prof. Asa Gray in the 

 Cambridge, Mass., Botanical Garden from seeds distributed by the 

 Government in 1859. The seeds yielded by the American-grown 

 plants were sown but did not germinate. The root stocks of the old 

 plants, however, threw up shoots in the second year. Gray was of 

 the opinion that the cultivation of the plant could be made profitable 

 in this country. In 1860 Abel (1) stated that he was informed by 

 persons receiving some of this seed that the plants were in a flourish- 

 ing condition. In the eighties the United States Department of 

 Agriculture renewed its efforts to establish the cultivation of insect- 

 powder-producing plants. In Washington, D. C, Riley (222) 

 obtained good results. He distributed seed to correspondents in 

 Alabama, California, Dakota, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

 Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New 

 Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, 

 Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia, but in all the States, except 

 California, the results were unfavorable, due, apparently, largely to 

 drought and bad seed. 



