58 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1922. 



yield was then from 25 to 30 lbs. of oil in the first, 18 to 20 in the second and 12 

 to 15 in the third year. The prices ranged in 1852 to 1854 between #2.50 and J* 3.50 

 per lb., the total production being perhaps about 25000 lbs. per year. The system of 

 distillation differed little from the present one, only that then the stills were smaller. 

 Up to 1860 the chief district for peppermint was Wayne County in the State of New 

 York, but later on the importance of the Michigan peppermint fields grew rapidly. 

 Towards the end of the seventies, one started there the cultivation in lower, well- 

 watered districts (marshes) which were easier to work and keep free from weeds. 

 Little by little, the Michigan growers acquired a monopoly, as their costs of production 

 were lower than those of their colleagues in the State of New York. English peppermint 

 plants were first introdued in 1892 and cultivated in thee neighbourhood of Nottaway 

 in the County of St. Joseph. This proved to be a complete success, as the English 

 plants are more hardy than the American ones and yield almost twice the quantity 

 of oil. After a short while, the American plants had been replaced almost completely 

 by the English ones, and only in the neighbourhood of Charlotte in the State of Michigan, 

 there are still some plantations of the pure American variety. The bad yield in oil 

 indicates at once where both varieties are mixed. The cultivation of peppermint in 

 Wayne County (New York) has ceased altogether. 



According to Magnus, Mabee and Reynard, Inc. 1 ) the peppermint oil of the last 

 crop shows an exceptional rotatory power (« D20 o — 17 instead of — 23°) and contains 

 but little menthol. 



E. R. ryremers 2 ) obtained by cohobation of the watery distillate of American Mentha 

 piperita three fractions of the following properties:— d 2 4o 0.916 to 0.940, n D24 o 1.468 to 

 1.476, ester v. 21.65 to 29.9, ester content 7.7 to 10.6 percent., alcohol as ester 6.0 to 

 8.3 per cent., ester v. after acetylation 195 to 160.5, total alcohol 63.6 to 50.8, free 

 alcohol 57.6 to 42.5 per cent. The chief components were menthol (preparation of 

 pure menthol, without any indication of the constants) and menthone (semicarbazone, 

 m. p. 185°. Menthyl ester and 1,3-methylcyclohexanone (b. p. 169°, d 2 io 0.915, n D 1.4430, 

 semicarbazone, m. p. 180°) were present in small quantities. 



. As to the history of peppermint oil in America, see page 105 of this Report. 



Peppermint Oil, Italian. — G. Micheletti 8 ) communicates that this year's pepper- 

 mint crop in Italy (Vigone, Pancalieri, Piemonte) is satisfactory. 30000 kilos of oil 

 were obtained, a quantity superior to last year's result. The quality was also better. 

 The menthol content exceeded 50 per cent, on an average. 



Peppermint Oil, Japanese.— The lack of demand, characteristic of the Japanese 

 peppermint market during the first months of the year covered by this Report, would 

 certainly have lead to a reduction of the prices in the course of the summer, if not 

 speculators had done everything to hold them and even send them up, if possible, 

 by means of extensive advances of money granted by the banks. They succeeded in 

 bringing about a temporary firmness of the market in autumn, but under the influence 

 of the new crop and the considerable old stocks the opinion seems to prevail in the 

 quarters concerned that a fall of the prices is not improbable in the near future, 

 unless unforeseen events prevent it. The stocks in Japan about the middle of February 



*) Oil, Paint and Drug Eeporter 100 (1921) N° 17, 31. — 2 ) Journ. Americ. Pharm. Assoc. 10 (1921), 835. 

 *) Parfum. moderne U (1921), 215. 



