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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



ing drug plants does not at present offer much attraction to 

 those who hope for success without working hard for it. A 

 recent bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture 

 entitled ''Drug Plants Under Cultivation," disposes of the idea 

 that easy money is to be made in growing drugs, in the follow- 

 ing language: ''Very few, if any, drug plants are used in 

 quantities sufficient to make them a promising crop for general 

 cultivation. Many of the commoner ones which can be grown 

 and prepared for market with little difficulty, bring but a few 

 cents a pound and their cultivation offers little prospect of 

 profit. A number of the high priced drug plants must be given 

 care for two or more years before a crop can be harvested, and 

 since expensive equipment is usually required for their suc- 

 cessful culture, the production of such crops offers little en- 

 couragement to inexperienced growers who are looking for 

 quick returns and large profits from a small investment. The 

 production of drugs of high quality requires skillful manage- 

 ment, experience in special methods of plant culture, acquaint- 

 ance with trade requirements, and a knowledge of the influence 

 of time of collection and manner of preparation on the con- 

 stituents of the drug which determine its value. Small quan- 

 tities of drugs produced without regard to these conditions are 

 apt to be poor in quality, and so unattractive to dealers and 

 manufacturers that the products will not be salable at a price 

 sufficient to make their production profitable. In general the 

 conditions in this country seem far more favorable to the grow- 

 ing of drug plants as a special industry for well equipped cul- 

 tivators than as a side crop for general farmers or those whose 

 chief interest lies in the production of other crops. Although 

 a number of plants which yield products used as crude drugs 

 are common farm weeds, they usually occur in such scattered 

 situations and in such small quantities that their collection 

 would scarcely prove profitable to the farmer. Even when 

 relatively abundant it is a matter for careful consideration 



