1039 
Notes from Correspondents abroad. 
Mr. Meyer in a communication from Japan, says: 
"These last days I haye been making inquiries into 
the peppermint-situation, but on the whole with nega- 
tive results. You may remember you asked me for pep- 
permint roots for Dr. Stockberger. Well I first saw 
the American Vice -Consul about the roots, that they 
sent in 1911, (No. 32167) ;, he did not' know, but he 
sent for the gardener from whom they had obtained 
them. This man first sent his wife, because it was 
rainy weather yesterday, but in the afternoon he 
showed up himself. He said there were three kinds 
grown in this part of Japan and the kind he obtained 
for the Consul was the best. He said that to go to 
the peppermint farms and to come back again would 
take two days. He did not know varietal names at all 
and proved to be quite useless for giving further in- 
formation. I then went to the Kobe Foreign Board of 
Trade for information, but there I couldn't get any- 
thing beyond the intelligence that the peppermint-oil 
from Hokkaido is considered better than the local 
product. Then I visited the firm of McKay & Co., a 
firm exporting mint-oil, several times and met a 
Japanese who is dealing in mint-oil. This man told 
me that there is only one variety of mint and that the 
quality of the oil depends upon the care that is be- 
stowed in the process of getting the oil out of the 
leaves. The mint is simply called 'Hakka' and he had 
never heard of varieties. Mint farms exist in the 
vicinity of Okayama, f hrs. by train to the west of 
Kobe. I then saw a specialist in the great firm of 
Suzuki & Co., wholesale dealers In oils and drugs and 
this gentlemen told me ; there is only one variety grown 
in Japan, but since they have three crops a year and 
since the- product of these crops varies considerably, 
people might think that there are several kinds of 
peppermint, but this is not so. Well, I had to give 
it up. Had I had more time at my disposal I would 
have visited the farms, but as my boat leaves for 
China tomorrow morning, I cannot do so. This, how- 
ever is a nice piece of work to do for a young fellow 
who wants to train himself into an efficient agricul- 
tural explorer. I hope to retire from this work after 
some years and a young healthy and intelligent fellow 
ought to continue this work in Asia. One thing I 
would suggest to Dr. Stockberger, viz.: If there are 
varieties of peppermint and if these varieties lndi- 
