PEPPERMINT. 23 



vegetable matter resulting in a very black soil which is most admir- 

 ably adapted to mint cultivation. Formerly peppermint was grown 

 exclusively on upland soil in Michigan, but it is a very exhausting- 

 crop on such land. Only two crops can be obtained from upland 

 plantations, and after the second year's harvest the land is plowed and 

 a rotation of clover, corn, etc., is practiced for five years before pep 

 permint is again planted. But on the rich muck land peppermint 

 ~can be grown year after year for six or seven years, the land being 

 plowed up after each crop is harvested, and the runners turned under 

 to form a new growth the succeeding year. The ground is harrowed 

 in autumn and again in spring, and carefully weeded. Peppermint 

 will grow, however, on any land that will produce good crops of corn, 

 the ground being prepared by deep plowing and harrowing. 



In Michigan a the land is plowed in the autumn, and early in spring 

 it is harrowed and marked with furrows about 3 feet apart. The 

 roots selected for planting are from one-eighth to one-quarter of an 

 inch thick, and from 1 to 3 feet long; and the workmen engaged in 

 " setting mint," as the process is called, carry these roots in sacks 

 across their shoulders and place them in the furrows by hand, cover- 

 ing the roots with one foot and stepping on them with the other. 

 The roots are planted so close together in the furrow as to form a 

 continuous line. An expert workman can plant about an acre in 

 a day. 



In about two weeks the young plants will make their appearance, 

 and are carefully hoed and cultivated until July and August, when 

 the plants have usually sent out so many runners as to make further 

 cultivation difficult. The crop is cultivated with horse cultivators, 

 but if the land was very weedy in the first place, the weeds will 

 have to be pulled by hand. It is very necessary that the land be free 

 from weeds, as any collected with the peppermint crop will seriously 

 injure the quality of the oil. 



It may be interesting to note here that on muck lands, when 

 necessary, the horses are usually provided with mud shoes to prevent 

 their sinking into the soft, wet ground, these mud shoes consisting 

 of wide pieces of iron or wood about 9 by 10 inches, fastened to the 

 hoofs and ordinary shoes by means of bolts and straps. 



CONDITIONS INJURIOUS TO CROP. 



Cold and wet weather or extremely dry periods have a very unfa- 

 vorable effect on the mint crop. Insect enemies also tend to cut down 

 the mint harvest — grasshoppers, crickets, and cutworms sometimes 

 doing considerable damage. A rust, causing the foliage to drop off 



a Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Michigan, 

 1903, pp. 438-447. 



