Tropical agriculturist, 
937 
June i, 1892. J 
Hall, of Three Rivers, and “Halls Big Marsh of 
Florence " is the largest piece of land in America 
devoted to raising peppermint. The farm ia eight 
miles southeast o< Taree Kiv^ra, and contains Home 
900 acres, of which 4<'0 acres are put into mint 
each year and alternated with clover to keep up 
the strength of the soil* Mr. Hall has four large 
distilleriew with total capacity of some five hundred 
pounds of oil daily. The largest still house is situated 
111 the centre of a (KiO acre field ; it contains four 
stills, and is surrounded with mint fields as far as 
the eye can see. 
The cultivation of the plant is accompanied witii 
more than ordinary cju’e and the success of the crop 
depends largely upon the attention it receives, as 
well as the weason. The groun i is ploughed in 
August, Soptomber, or October, then thoroughly har- 
rowed, and the following spriug it must be harrowed 
again, then marked and planted. Old roots from 
“first” crop are removed from the ground in spring, 
and planted in rows three feet apart ; a man carrioH 
the roots in n sack on his back, throws them into 
the rows, and they are then “ kicked in.” 
Two or throe crops aro gathered from each plant- 
ing, the first and second crops are tJie best, and 
twenty pounds of oil to the acre is a good yield j 
the tliird crop is very apt to he “ weedy ” and the 
yield only about ten pounds to the acre 
From the time the mint appears above the ground 
until it is gathered, it should bo constantly culti- 
vated and hoed to keep it free from weeds, which 
are the bane of the peppermint grower’s existence 
The plants mature from the middle of August to 
the nrst of September, soon ns the blossom out ; 
the “second” crop mint comes first, then the “ first ” 
crop, and lastly the “ third.” It is cut with a mower 
and by hand with a scythe, and if weedy the weeids 
must be stored out by hand. The plant stools out 
and spreads, but “first” crop is in quite distinct 
rows ; the second year it j^rows from tlio runners 
which fill in the rows making it a more solid mass, 
and in the “third crop” this is still more apparent. 
After cutting, the mint is allowed to partly dry 
or “ cure,” aud is then raked into cots like hay 
and drawn to the still house, where it is immedi- 
ately distilled. 
The process of distillation ia not complicated but 
interesting. The still is a large wooden tub with 
tight hinged top, a steam supply connection at the 
bottom and outlet to the coiiaenser at the top of 
one aide. The condenser used by Mr. Hall is a very 
effective and unique piece of apparatus, the worm 
instead of being in a coil is in longitudinal sections 
about 14 foet long, which lap under each other, the 
top about 0 inches iu diameter and tapering to some 
2 inches at the bottom or outlet, and is made of 
tin. The cooler consists of a tin trough about 8 
inches in diameter with perforated bottom, the length 
of the condenser, over wliich it sots, and through 
the perforations a constant stream of water is kept 
flowing over the tin condensers. 
The mint is drawn to the still house in waggons, 
pitched into tho still, the packer “ pack.s the tub,” 
the top is fastened down and tho steam turned on 
for about an hour or until exhausted ; this is told 
by pulling out a plug iu the top of the still. Across 
tho inside bottom of the still is a frame with chain 
connections that run to the top ; by means of a 
heavy crane, which is connected to those chains, 
tho exhausted mint or “ charge ” is lifted out of 
the still and carried away on a waggon. The “mint 
straw,” as it is called, is dried in tho sun and used 
as fodder for sheep and catt'e. 
The quality of the oil produced depends entirely 
on the mint used, and the freedom from admixtures 
of “weeds” or other foreign substances. 
Careless and lazy farmers raise poor mints as well 
as poor wheat, ana wljothor it bo “first,” “second," 
or “ third ” crop mint, thorough cultivation is an 
important consideration in producing good oil of pepor- 
mint. Everything that comes from a still is oy no 
moans pure oil, and experience is a most impor- 
tant factor in judging of its quality. 
Enough has been written about tests for oil of 
pepperuiiut to fill ft large volume) but oue of ex- 
perience in the business will judge of the quality 
of a can of oil almost as soon as he places his 
nose to the opening. It may be necessary to ex- 
amine it for water or castor oil and alcohol and 
possible other adulterants, or to see that none of 
the menthol has boon removed, but tho natural 
tlarmir of pure oil of peppermint is what tho man 
of experience first seeks. — l‘liarmace.ulical Journal. 
ANOTIIEIl SUBSTITUTE FOR JUTE. 
Wonderful aro tho uses of tho cotton plant I For- 
merly it was grown tor ho cotton alone, and the 
seed was looked npon as a nuisance, to bo got rid 
of in the cheapest way possible, not even being 
thought worthy of use as a manure, aud both it 
and the hulls wore regarded as dangerous food for 
stock. Now tho value of the seed is almost as great 
as the cotton itself. As an oil producer, a food for 
stock, and a fertilizer, it is in constant and grow- 
ing demand, and it has even been suggested tliat it 
would pay to develop seed-growth at the expense of 
the cotton, making that merely a secondary pro- 
duct. Ill) to this time the stalks have retained their 
old-time valueless character, but this also appears 
now to bo nearing its end, for it ia proposed to 
utilize the fibre contained iu them for making bag- 
ging The difficulty in tlio way has hitherto been 
tho absence of a machine to break iliein and draw 
out the fibre. This appears now to ho overcome, 
and another aoiu'co of profit opened to tho cotton- 
planter, as we learn from the following paragraph, 
taken from the Pnygi'eJtsioe Ftwinei ". — 
"The following from Augusta will bo read with 
nterest by all our readers : 
“ WTl lam E. Jackson, a well-known lawyer of 
this city, has solved the Jute-bagging problem 
tiiat has agitated cotton circles for so long. Jack- 
son has perfected mechanical appliances for making 
bagging from cotton stalks, and he has just returned 
from New York with a roll of bagging. 
“ Expert cotton men say that it ia in every res- 
pect equal to jute bagging. He will buy the bare 
stalks from the farms, and can afford to pay about 
a ton laid down. An annual stalk yield will 
bale three years’ cotton crop. Tho machinery coni- 
pru'es heavy corrugated rollers, with vasts of run- 
ning water, carding machines, and bagging looms. 
It is estimated that in making hugging from cotton 
stalks two million dollars annua'ly will be put into 
tho pockets of farmers for what is now cloared from 
tho fields at an expense 
“ Augusta will he headquarters for the company's 
mill snd officer-, the demand for tho products of 
which will extend from Virginia to Texas. Jackson 
had tho roll of bagging which is exliibited woven 
by tho jute-bagging looms of J. C. Todd, at rater- 
son, N. J., and ho says that experts pronounce it 
equal to its jute rival. Cotton-stalk bagging is less 
inflamninblc, and ia only a shade darker than jntc. 
Cotton circles hero are jubilant ." — Southern I'lanler. 
- — -♦ 
SUUAR IN INDIA. 
Papers reap, oting tho sugar production of India 
have boon received from the Secretary of State for 
India, from which the following particulars have 
boon extracted : — 
On tho dth May, 1889, Messrs. J. Travers and 
Sons, Ijimitcd, wrote to tho Under Secretary of 
State for India— 
“ The average production of India is given as a 
ton of sugar per acre, aud the produce (with the ex- 
ception of the throe modern mills in Madras) is of 
the most wretched character. 
In tho West Indies (which are also backward) 
sugar growers obtain two tons of sugar per acre, or 
double the Indian average, and, with modern ma- 
chinery, properly crystallised sugar can be made 
direct from the cane juice at a coat on the spot (that 
ia, without carriage) of 8s, to 10a. per owt. 
"It is no doubt tho competition of such direct 
cane sugar from Mauritius which is leading to the 
closing of refinei'iea in Bengal, if, aq >vo fmagiue, 
