1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
335 
that the soil in its combinations has certain fixed rules 
—that mother earth, in all her diversified forms, is yet 
governed by laws as unalterable as those of the Medes 
and Persians. In truth, earth, and air, and sky, with 
all the laws pertaining to each, are properly within the 
sphere of the farmer’s study, and may, and should form 
part of his education. He toils, and sweats, and is 
sustained by hopes of a plentiful harvest; and should 
he not then be able to take full advantage of every law 
of production, to aid him in his labors, and to render 
certain the end he seeks ? I here repeat, that it is 
idle to expect results, such as I have glanced at, with¬ 
out. adequate means, viz: without introducing agricul¬ 
ture into our schools, and making it a fixed and per¬ 
manent department of study and education. The great 
truths and principles upon which it is founded, should 
be indented upon the minds of our youth, by patient, 
persevering study; it should be begun in youth, and 
fixed in the memory as among the most useful acquisi¬ 
tions it can make for after life. And to accomplish 
this great and desirable end, I would establish in the 
state two or more agricultural schools. My idea is 
that these schools should be of the highest order, and 
that they should be liberally aided in their inception, 
and for the few first years of their existence, by the 
funds of the state—for in no other way can they, or will 
they, be established so as to become permanent. This 
I conceive to be the initiatory step—-the starting point, 
towards a general system. Agricultural science needs 
some rallying point—some elevated position, where it 
can make itself known and respected, and from which 
it can scatter its precious influence over the entire 
state. Sound philosophy would dictate a commence¬ 
ment at the highest point, viz : with colleges, instead 
of district schools—for in a question of this character 1 
it is better and easier to expand from such a point— 
from a fountain broad and pure, than from one circum¬ 
scribed and obscure. Let the minds of the farmers 
once be directed to this subject, by the establishment 
of an Agricultural College and Experimental Farm, 
in the east, in the centre, and in the west ; Jet a few 
of their sons enter these institutions, and study the art 
and the science of farming; let it be clearly demon¬ 
strated that such a thing is practicable ; and soon, in 
the natural and regular order of events, we shall wit¬ 
ness the gradual spread of agricultural schools—an in¬ 
creased and increasing interest in agricultural knowl¬ 
edge—and in good time, most, if not all our district 
schools, will have a regular, permanent class study¬ 
ing and preparing, by acquiring a proper education, for 
farmers. 
'I have not time, in this paper, to enlarge, as I should 
like to do, on this subject. I ask the attention of the 
Legislature, now in session, to this important subject. 
No subject which can come before that body, is of more 
interest to a vast majority of the people than this—it 
concerns more than the present generation ; it looks 
into the future, and in all time to come will distil its 
benefits and blessings. As legislators, look at the mat¬ 
ter in its comprehensive aspects, survey the whole 
ground, and let no narrow or stinted policy prevail in 
your action—a few thousands now appropriated and 
wisely spent, will add millions of w r ealth to the state. 
Again I say, be not restricted in your action. When 
the bill now before you, for a school in the east, comes 
up for action, meet it in the spirit of an enlarged and 
enlightened liberality, and give, not only to the east, 
but also to the centre and the west. Adopt a system 
commensurate with the wants of the state, and be as¬ 
sured the people will thank you. D. A. Ogden. 
CULTURE AND DISTILLATION OF PEPPERMINT. 
It should not be surprising, that in a country so di¬ 
versified in both soil and climate as is the United States, 
that we should learn every year of some new fruit, or 
grain, or vegetable, which lends its tribute to the aug¬ 
menting wealth of the national prosperity. The pri¬ 
mary staples of the nation have been subjects of long 
and familiar discussion, and improvements in their cul¬ 
tivation are constant and progressive. The minor pro¬ 
ducts of the soil, which enter into the economy of gen¬ 
eral consumption, and add to the national wealth, are 
often little thought of save in the immediate localities 
of their production. In the report of Judge Ells¬ 
worth, late Commissioner of Patents, we have been 
informed of the great amount of white mustard, and 
the large profit which it has yielded to the producers, 
in a limited district of the western part of the country, 
and this, too, without withdrawing much time and at^ 
tention of the growers from other crops of greater 
value. 
In this section of New-York, there is an article alike 
valuable for its medicinal and other uses, which has 
been cultivated with great profit to the producers, that 
has hardly attracted attention even in the immedi¬ 
ate neighborhoods of its production. I allude to the 
article of Peppermint, and its distillation into oil, and 
its manufacture into essence. 
It is to invite attention to this subject, that I am in¬ 
duced to give you a brief history of its cultivation in 
this neighborhood. Its cultivation is principally con¬ 
fined to a few persons in Phelps township, in this coun¬ 
ty, and Lyons and Arcadia townships in Wayne coun¬ 
ty. It is cultivated without any serious interference 
with the necessary attention to other crops, and has 
yielded, for some years past, some fifty or sixty thou¬ 
sand dollars annually to the producers. 
This species of mint was first introduced into this 
vicinity, by the Messrs. Burnett, some thirty years 
ago, who first planted it on the flats of the outlet of 
Canandaigua lake. They brought it with them from 
Ashfield, Massachusetts. They distilled it, and sold 
the oil, in the western part of New-York and Canada, 
at prices varying from five to fifteen dollars per pound, 
and realized, from small beginnings, each a handsome 
fortune. When the oil is diluted into essence, the 
profits are very great. 
This mint differs from what is generally called spear 
mint. The peppermint has a larger stalk, and a larger 
leaf, than the spear mint. In rich ground it will grow 
from two to two and a half feet high. 
The principal expense in its cultivation is in procur¬ 
ing the roots for the first year’s crop; and the chief 
labor is in the first year’s cultivation. The ground 
should be rich, and should be carefully plowed in the 
fall or spring, so as to be entirely free from grass and 
weeds. 
It is cultivated from the roots, which should be 
planted in the spring, in drills from eighteen inches to 
two feet apart, and should be cultivated carefully with 
the hoe until after mid-summer, at which time it sends 
forth runners or shoots, like the strawberry, and covers 
the entire space planted, sending forth innumerable 
branches and stocks. It is cut in the fall when ma¬ 
tured, and distilled into oil. The roots remaining in 
the ground during winter, vegetate in the spring, and 
covering *the entire space planted, require no cultiva¬ 
tion the second year, and so also of the third year. By 
