THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



151 



whether the time and labor necessary for their collection might 

 not be otherwise employed to better advantage. Moreover, 

 it is not always easy to distinguish medicinal plants from oth- 

 ers of similar appearance and collectors not infrequently find 

 that they have spent their time in gathering plants practically 

 worthless as crude drugs. In proportion to the labor required 

 in the collection, relatively low prices are paid for most crude 

 drugs obtained from wild plants, and the farmer who turns to 

 drug collecting as a source of additional revenue will probably 

 meet with disappointment." Getting rich in the drug plant busi- 

 ness may do all right in a popular novel, but it will not work 

 in everyday life. 



