162 
THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
of men at Mitcham, Surrey, with the requisite skill, ready to come out, and a 
judicious expenditure of capital would do the rest. Of his own permanent staff 
of five men, three are from that district. 
Mr. Slater has not hitherto aimed at producing medicinal products in such 
quantities as to be available for export. He finds a ready sale for all that he 
can produce in Melbourne, and his establishment is not adapted for extensive 
operations. The buildings are the work of his own hands, and he carries on his 
distilling and other operations by simple yet effective means. The question of 
labour has always to be considered in these colonies when it is proposed to enter 
into competition with home or foreign industries, and it must be confessed that 
the cheapness and abundance of labour there will give them a certain advantage ; 
but, on the other hand, there may be counterbalancing advantages of soil and 
climate, which in some cases, as we shall have occasion to point out, may affect 
the result so that the product may be trebled, or more, in value. 
M. Piesse has already called attention to the suitability of this colony for 
flower farming, and its superiority in some respects over that paradise of 
perfumes, the South of France ; and M. C. H. Piesse, in his recent article on 
Perfumery, in the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” does not fail to give Australia 
its due meed of praise where he says : — “ Great praise is due to the pioneers 
of flower farming in the British colonies of South Africa and Australia, and 
especially to Colonel Talbot in Jamaica, whose efforts in this direction bid fair 
to meet with complete commercial success.” But I think it deserves to be put 
on record that it is equally well adapted for the growth of a variety of 
medicinal plants as the result of actual trial. At least this has been proved 
to be the case at Mitcham Grove. Our first visit was paid there in 
November of last year, when many of the plants were in flower, and our latest 
last month. On the previous occasion one of the most striking sights in such 
a sequestered spot was the long stretch of opium-poppy blossoms, a crop which, 
as we afterwards learned, turned out well. It would seem that poppy- 
growing is carried on elsewhere in the colony, for, in the “ Victorian Year- 
book” for 1884-85, ten acres are given as being under this crop, producing 
1901b. of opium. The grounds are comparatively limited in extent, and do 
not by any means afford sufficient scope for testing, to the full, the paying 
capabilities of such an industry. Out of a 52-acre paddock only some 15 or 16 
acres are under cultivation, so that the space at present available for any 
particular crop is very small indeed. 
Besides the poppy may be mentioned, as growing and paying very well, 
henbane and stramonium, rue and tansy, mullein and squirting cucumber, 
Indian hemp and pennyroyal, peppermint and spearmint, and liquorice-root. 
Lavender does not grow quite so well as at Mitcham, Surrey, whence the stocks 
have been obtained ; but it is believed that if the same labour and manure 
were expended upon it here, crops, at least equal in quantity, could be raised. 
The oil, however, is equal in quality to the home article, which has been justly 
pronounced to be “the finest in the world.” 
It would serve no useful purpose, and would be beyond the scope of the 
present article to notice at length the various kinds of plants, but I have 
thought it desirable to single out two or three for special remark. Peppermint, 
lavender, and liquorice are profitable crops, and deserve fuller consideration. 
Peppermint (Mentha JPlperita ). — This is found to do very well here, but 
the extent to which it is grown is limited from the difficulty of obtaining 
suitable labour. At one time nine acres were under crop, but as hands could 
not be got to cut it then, the area under cultivation was reduced. That this 
plant is a desirable one to cultivate for the sake of its essential oil is evident 
