5o8 
Medicinal  Plant  Gardens. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1914. 
in  my  mind  as  to  the  propriety  of  purely  pedagogic  gardens  being 
used  as  a  basis  for  generalizing  on  the  question  of  drug  growing 
for  profit.  In  agricultural  experimentation  it  is  well  recognized 
that  the  results  from  small  trial  plots  must  be  interpreted  with  due 
regard  for  the  large  factor  of  error,  which  is  always  present.  With 
proper  care  and  attention  it  is  relatively  easy  to  grow  a  luxuriant 
crop  of  any  one  of  a  number  of  drug  plants  on  a  square  rod  of 
good  garden  soil,  but  what  can  be  done  under  ordinary  agricultural 
conditions  on  one  or  more  acres  can  not  be  calculated  therefrom 
by  "  a  simple  sum  in  arithmetic,"  as  one  writer  has  naively  said. 
There  are  numerous  well-authenticated  instances  in  which  the 
production  of  some  medicinal  plant  has  resulted  in  a  fair  profit, 
but  there  is  yet  no  evidence  at  hand  to  justify  the  belief  that  satis- 
factory results  can  be  secured  without  some  practical  experience 
in  gardening,  some  knowledge  of  the  requirements  of  crude  drugs, 
and  due  regard  for  economic  conditions. 
Every  pharmacist  and  physician  is,  or  should  be,  interested  in 
obtaining  crude  drugs  of  highest  quality  and  standard  efficiency, 
but  material  progress  toward  the  attainment  of  this  end  will  not  be 
favored  by  encouraging  a  large  number  of  persons  to  become  small 
producers.  The  result  of  small  individual  collections,  varying  widely 
as  to  time,  place,  and  method  of  gathering,  is  seen  in  the  miscel- 
laneous aggregates  all  too  frequently  found  in  our  crude  drug 
markets,  and  unless  a  perpetuation  of  this  condition  is  desirable, 
little  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  suggestion  that  whoever 
has  a  small  back  yard  available  may  become  a  producer  of  plant 
drugs.  1  : 
The  educational  opportunity  open  to  the  pedagogic  gardens  is 
almost  limitless.  The  dissemination  of  knowledge  to  countless 
individuals  not  having  access  to  the  garden  itself  regarding  the  his- 
tory, geographic  distribution,  methods  of  preparation,  and  uses  of 
crude  drugs  may  be  accomplished  through  illustrated  lectures  and 
carefully  prepared  articles  written  for  the  less  technical  periodicals. 
Such  misconceptions  as,  for  example,  that  the  production  of  ipecac 
in  New  England  and  vanilla  beans  in  Iowa  is  a  commercial  possi- 
bility, or  that  stramonium  is  produced  by  a  "  melon  weed,"  are  all 
too  prevalent  and  should  be  corrected.  But  educational  work  along 
this  line  deserves  little  tolerance  unless  inspired  by  some  motive 
more  commendable  than  that  of  merely  arousing  interest  in  growing 
