— 94 — 



II. Michigan and Indiana. 

 The area under peppermint this year is as follows: 





1909 



1910 



1910 



Oil from 1909 in 





acres 



(this year's) 



Total acres 



hands of farmers 



a) Michigan 





acres 







Allegan County 



1839 



291 



1003 



21200 lbs. 



Cass „ 



1349 



322 



1413 



11500 „ 



Van Buren „ 



1678 



509 



1617 



6300 „ 



Eaton „ 



620 



310 



505 



9000 „ 



Kalamazoo „ 



313 



124 



264 



8500 „ 



Berrien „ 



353 



303 



434 



11000 „ 



Branch „ 



191 



114 



203 



4200 „ 



Saginaw „ 



640 



400 



1000 





Muskegon „ 



110 



19 



59 



1000 „ 



St. Joseph „ 



355 



271 



466 



1500 „ 



Total 



7498 



2663 



6964 



74200 lbs. 



b) Indiana 











St. Joseph Co. 



1462 



896 



2066 



8700 lbs. 



La Grange County 



530 



206 



652 



6000 „ 



Noble 



390 



40 



100 



200 „ 



Steuben „ 



155 



35 



80 



500 „ 



Total 2537 1177 2898 15400 lbs. 



The above figures show a total area of peppermint cultures in the two 

 States amounting to 9862 acres in the present year, of which 3840 acres are 

 new plantations. At the beginning of June 89600 lbs. of oil still remained 

 unsold in the hands of the producers. The discrepancies between the figures 

 given above for the year 1909 and those given in our Report of October last 

 are traceable to supplementary information which our employees, travelling 

 through the districts concerned, were not able to obtain until later in the year. 



In the spring, prospects for the present year's crop were extraordi- 

 narily favourable, for as already stated, the roots were in excellent con- 

 dition owing to the mild winter. Unfortunately, however, this mild 

 weather itself was the cause of a troublesome plague of worms, by which 

 about 2000 acres were attacked, and which caused considerable damage 

 during the summer. Some fields were entirely destroyed; in others large 

 patches of plants were devoured by the worms. Of the 90000 lbs. or so 

 of old oil referred to in the above table as still remaining unsold in the 

 hands of the producers, considerable quantities have gone into con- 

 sumption during the last few months, and at the beginning of the distilling 

 season, therefore, the available stocks of oil were much smaller than 

 in 1909. Although the total area under cultivation in Michigan and 

 Indiana this year is 173 acres less than in 1909, it is calculated, in view 

 of the favourable effect which the normal summer-weather has had upon 

 the development of the important new plantations, that the yield will be 

 at least equal to that of 1909, and this notwithstanding the damage by 

 insect- pests already mentioned. Of course the farmers are very reserved 

 in their offers, as they always are, and if, as in 1909, a speculative 



