Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
September,  1920.  ) 
Belladonna  Cultivation. 
625 
When  the  leaves  and  stems  are  to  be  used  they  can  be  dried  in  a 
manner  similar  to  tobacco,  but  under  this  condition  the  leaves  will 
turn  brown.  The  demand  for  the  bright  green  color  in  the  leaves 
of  belladonna,  and  other  plants,  seems  to  have  no  valid  reason, 
except  custom.  The  presence  of  a  high  content  of  chlorophyl  in 
pharmaceutical  preparations  is  at  times  embarrassing. 
Trench  in  which  roots  are  buried  for 
protection  against  frost. 
A  very  acceptable  supply  of  herb  can  be  secured  by  a  process 
of  "curing,"  which  eliminates  the  green  color,  and  gives  a  fairly 
uniform  product  of  a  brown  shade. 
In  gathering  roots  they  are  usually  plowed  from  the  ground 
late  in  the  Fall.  The  larger  roots  are  split,  and  they  are  then  washed 
and  dried. 
In  all  parts  of  the  country  belladonna  has  been  reported  to  have 
been  attacked  by  many  forms  of  disease,  and  by  insects.  In  the 
early  years  of  our  work  potato  bugs  and  other  species  of  insects 
were  very  troublesome;  later  the  plants  seemed  to  acquire  a  resis- 
tance to  insect  enemies. 
During  very  hot  days  the  lower  leaves  of  the  plant,  near  the 
ground,  are  often  killed  by  the  sun's  rays.  Spring  frosts  will  kill 
off  the  leaves  and  young  shoots  and,  if  severe,  may  be  disastrous  to 
the  entire  plant. 
Yield. — The  yield  of  leaves  and  stems  is  greatest  in  the  second- 
and  third-year  plants.    The  roots  and  stems  of  old  plants  are  apt 
