THE  AMEEICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHA 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  MEDICINAL  PL. 
By  Dr.  Fred.  B.  Kilmer,  New  BrunswicTcT 
AUGUST,  i pis 
Among  the  things  that  have  come  to  us  through  the  European 
conflict  has  been  an  increased  interest  in  the  study  of  geography, 
and  incidentally  an  increased  attention  as  to  the  source  of  the  plants 
which  supply  our  materia  medica. 
In  this  country  and  abroad,  we  have  been  inclined  to  regard  the 
supply  of  certain  drugs  as  inexhaustible,  because  they  are  indigenous. 
As  manufacturers,  we  placed  our  orders,  and  tons  were  piled  up  in 
our  storehouses.  Suddenly  we  found  that  a  war  embargo  means  a 
blockade  of  the  drug  supply,  and  our  attention  is  rapidly  turned  to 
the  home  source. 
"  America  can  produce  anything  made  or  grown  on  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  produce  it  better  and  cheaper  than  any  other  nation 
under  the  sun,"  cries  the  buncombe  orator,  and  the  dictum  goes  forth  : 
"  We  shall  grow  our  own  plants."  But  while  we  find  that  a  discussion 
over  a  "scrap  of  paper"  can  bottle  up  the  world's  supply  of  drugs, 
we  likewise  learn  that  drug  plants  will  not  grow  on  paper.  Were  this 
the  case  the  numerous  dissertations  which  have  appeared  upon  this 
theme  would  overstock  the  market. 
For  more  than  a  generation  the  decreasing  supply  of  medicinal 
plants,  in  our  land  and  abroad,  has  been  discussed  from  every  angle — 
the  field  has  been  well  furrowed. 
In  the  appendix  to  this  paper  some  of  the  literature  which  has 
appeared  in  the  last  decade  or  two  is  noted.  Out  of  it  one  can  plainly 
read  the  injunction  "  I  told  you  so,"  as  well  as  find  many  instructive 
dissertations.  While  the  work  accomplished  through  these  theses 
has  given  but  little  light  that  can  be  grasped  by  the  buyer  and  the 
1Read  before  the  National  Association  of  Manufacturers  of  Medicinal 
Products,  Waldorf-Astoria  Hotel,  New  York  City,  February  8,  191 5. 
(343) 
