234 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1918. 
that  prior  to  this  had  not  looked  to  America  for  such  supplies,  the 
shortage  of  labor,  the  increased  cost  of  production  and  the  uncer- 
tainty of  transportation  were  economic  problems  that  the  experi- 
enced merchant  could  calculate  against  but  the  influence  of  the 
enormous  speculation  engendered  by  the  war  made  it  difficult  for 
conservative  business  men  and  the  manufacturers  to  study  the 
market  fluctuations  and  to  control  the  effect  of  these  on  their 
merchandise. 
The  enormous  demand  for  chemicals  for  home  consumption  and 
for  export  has  been  met  with  the  usual  American  energy.  The 
ability  shown,  the  capital  invested  and  the  progress  already  made 
demonstrate  that  many  of  the  chemical  industries  have  been  so  firmly 
established  that,  after  this  war,  under  normal  trade  conditions,  we 
will  in  these  be  independent  of  foreign  producers. 
The  same  cannot,  however,  be  said  of  drugs  of  vegetable  origin 
and  the  chemicals  derived  from  such.  Here  too  frequently  other 
problems  than  the  need  for  energy  and  capital  intervene.  Very  few 
plants  thrive  indiscriminately ;  most  require  special  soil  and  climatic 
conditions.  While  the  cultivation  of  a  few  of  the  continuously 
scarce  and  high-priced  drugs  may  be  made  profitable  as  industries, 
those  who  have  given  careful  study  to  the  subject  and,  some  who 
from  war  necessity  are  now  engaged  in  medicinal  plant  cultiva- 
tion, are  convinced  that  in  normal  times  the  cost  of  cultivation  with 
the  economic  conditions  existing  in  this  country  will  preclude  the 
possibility  of  successful  competition  with  plants  growing  naturally 
or  by  cultivation  in  foreign  countries  where  the  cost  of  collection  is 
minimized  by  the  utilization  of  a  class  of  labor  that  we  do  not  have 
in  this  country.  However,  we  can  accomplish  much  more  than  has 
so  far  been  done  by  continuous  scientific  study  of  the  possibilities  of 
finding  soil,  climatic  conditions  and  labor  suitable  to  the  needs  of 
the  individual  plants  and  moreover  the  systematic  development  of 
methods  for  the  collection  and  utilization  of  the  vast  stores  of  in- 
digenous and  escaped  medicinal  plants  already  growing  in  the 
United  States.  This  is  a  much  needed  field  of  study  for  conserva- 
tion of  national  resources. 
In  order  to  conserve  the  Nation's  resources  of  both  men  and 
materials,  Congress  by  the  enactment  of  "  war  measures  "  has  placed 
under  executive  control  all  supplies  of  foods,  fuels  and  other  essen- 
tials for  the  national  security  and  defense,  as  well  as  transportation 
