ON THE CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS AT MITCHAM. 257 
Chamomiles (Anthemis nobilis duplex) .55 acres. 
Roses ( Rosa Gallica et Rosa Damascena) .... 119 ,, 
Peppermint ( Mentha Piperita nigra) .219 ,, 
Lavender {Lavandula vera) .172 ,, 
Henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger) .30 ,, 
Liquorice {Glycyrrhiza glabra) .32 ,, 
Sundries.109 ,, 
Total.73 G acres. 
The sundries consist of— 
Stramonium (Datura Stramonium ); Ilorehound ( Marrubium mdgare)\ 
Savine {Juniperus Sabina) ; Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium ); Mallow {Altlicea 
officinalis ); Spearmint (Mentha viridis ); Rosemary {Rosmarinus officinalis ); 
Squirting Cucumber (Elaterium Momordica ); Belladonna {Atropa Bella¬ 
donna ); Foxglove {Digitalis purpurea ); Poppies {Papaver somniferuni ); 
Rue {Ruta graveolens); Celandine (Chelidonium majus ); Elecampane {Inula 
Selenium ); Balm {Melissa officinalis ); Wormwood {Artemisia Absinthium ); 
Hyssop {Syssopus officinalis ); Tansy {Tanacetum vulgare)\ and many others 
of less importance. 
The greater portion of the Lavender and Peppermint is distilled for the oil?. 
Formerly, a considerable quantity of Chamomiles, Rosemary, Pennyroyal, 
Rue, and Spearmint, was cultivated for distillation, but they are now merely 
dried. 
The yield of oil per acre varies with the season and the soil on which the 
plants are raised; scarcely ever does it happen that two acres turn out alike ; 
hence different growers obtain different amounts of oil. 
The average yield of oil from Lavender is from 10 lb. to 11 lb. or 12 lb. per 
acre ; one grower informed me that it averaged from 12 lb. to 24 lb. per acre. 
I have been assured by a distiller that even more than 24 lb. of oil were 
obtained from Lavender some years ago, and that the plants remained good for 
four or five years; but the maximum yield of even the best summers of late 
years is about 12 lb. per acre. 
The Lavender plants are now renewed after three years ; and it is a singular fact, 
due, no doubt, in part to a want of skill in planting and slipping the plants, that 
the yield of oil, even from the third year’s growth, is scarcely sufficient to repay 
for the labour and expense of distilling,—the yield of oil from plants of the 
second year’s growth being greater in every case than either that of the first or 
third year’s. 
The yield of oil per acre, from Peppermint, likewise varies with the season ; 
the yield obtained by different growers is from 81b. to 121b., 101b., 81b. to 
121b , 101b., 81b. 
The effects produced by the qualities of the soil are more striking in the case 
of Peppermint than in any other plant. Two crops of Peppermint standing 
side by side indicate, when distilled, considerable difference in the yield of oil; 
and the smaller quantity is not unfrequently obtained from that crop which had 
the most promising appearance; and it has been remarked by many growers, 
both at Carshalton and Mitcham, that Peppermint plants raised at Mitcham, 
and laid out at Carshalton,* yield a very different product when distilled, both 
in the aroma of the oil and the quantity obtained. I may observe, that equal 
care is taken both in tillage and cultivation, and that the superiority of the 
Mitcham produce is due to some peculiarity of the soil alone. 
I examined a sample of Chamomile flowers, which the grower informed me 
he cultivated entirely for distillation, and which, as dried flowers, he had a 
VOL. VI. 
* Carshalton is the parish adjoining Mitcham. 
U 
