36 
THE  PEPPERMINT  PLANTATIONS  OF  MICHIGAN. 
of  them  (which  are  light),  swings  it  over  his  neck,  and  under  his 
left  arm ;  taking  a  bunch  of  roots  from  the  bag,  he  holds  it  in 
his  left  hand,  passes  along  a  furrow,  tearing  off  a  root,  or  a 
small  parcel  of  the  roots,  as  is  most  convenient,  from  the  bunch 
in  his  left  hand,  he  drops  it,  or  them,  into  the  furrow,  covering 
them  with  his  right  foot,  and  stepping  on  them  with  his  left 
one,  as  he  proceeds.  It  is  an  object  to  plant  the  roots  so  thick 
in  the  furrow  as  to  form  a  continuous  connection,  or  chain. 
This  is  called  » setting  Mint."  A  man  will  set  from  half  to 
three-quarters  of  an  acre  in  a  day. 
As  soon  as  the  Mint  is  seen  above  ground,  usually  in  three 
or  four  weeks,  the  horse  and  cultivator  (the  common  corn  culti- 
vator) are  introduced,  and  followed  by  the  hoe.  This  process 
is  repeated  twice  or  three  times.  When  the  Mint  has  grown 
and  spread  to  the  size  of  rows  of  beach  leaves  or  half  grown  po- 
tatoes, the  hoe  is  again  plied  for  the  last  time,  in  the  early 
part  of  August,  and  this  completes  the  culture  of  the  crop. 
This  keeps  down  the  indigenous  weeds,  and  when  the  mower 
goes  into  the  field,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  month,  he  finds 
the  ground  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  covered  with  Mint. 
The  cutting  and  distilling  commences  about  the  25th  of  Au- 
gust, and  continues  until  the  1st  of  October,  during  which  period 
the  plant  is  in  full  inflorescence,  and  the  lower  leaves  begin 
to  growT  sere.  If  the  season  has  been  unusually  dry,  and  there 
comes  a  rain,  the  Mint  is  allowed  to  stand  from  one  to  three 
weeks  longer  than  if  otherwise,  as  it  is  rendered  more  produc- 
tive of  oil — wet  seasons  being  considered  more  favorable  than 
dry  ones.  It  is  cut  the  first  year  by  a  cradle  with  two  fingers, 
and  grass  scythe.  It  is  raked  together  in  small  cocks,  where 
it  is  suffered  to  wilt  ten  or  twelve  hours.  If  convenient,  wilt- 
ing the  plant,  besides  increasing  the  yield  of  oil  slightly, 
enables  the  operator  to  get  it  more  compactly  into  a  smaller 
compass.  From  the  cock,  it  is  taken  to  the  distillery,  which 
will  be  hereafter  described. 
The  next  year  there  is  nothing  to  do  to  the  Mint  field  but  to 
cut  and  distill  its  product.  During  this  (the  second  year),  a 
few  weeds  make  their  appearance,  but  not  to  the  injury  of  the 
crop,  though  the  most  careful  of  the  Mint-growers  go  through 
their  fields,  and  destroy  them  as  much  as  possible.    The  second 
