344  Cultivation  of  Medicinal  Plants.      {A^u™t*  SS™' 
user  of  drugs,  much  of  it  is  of  great  value  in  increasing  our  knowledge 
of  the  drug  plants  which  have  been  studied. 
The  interest  in  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  has  been  capi- 
talized by  the  "  get- rich-quick  "  schemes  which  have  used  the  maga- 
zines and  public  press  to  exploit  extraordinary  claims  of  imaginary 
profits.  "  Millions  from  weeds !  "  "  Plants  which  grow  like  weeds, 
are  cut  and  cured  like  hay  and  sell  for  $900.00  per  ton !  "  have  been 
used  as  slogans.  These  flamboyant  frauds,  coupled  with  irrespon- 
sible statements  that  have  appeared  in  the  public  journals,  have  been 
detrimental  rather  than  helpful. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has,  for  some  time, 
given  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants.  Its  work 
has  included  the  domestication  and  cultivation  of  native  drug  plants, 
supplies  of  which  are  obtainable  with  increasing  difficulty  (hydras- 
tis,  senega,  spigelia). 
The  department  has  also  given  attention  to  the  crude  drugs 
obtained  chiefly  or  exclusively  from  foreign  sources,  which  it 
deemed  could  be  grown  profitably  in  this  country.  Under  its  direc- 
tion, experimental  cultivations  of  belladonna,  hydrastis,  stramonium, 
aconite,  opium  poppy,  and  licorice  have  been  made  in  localities 
exhibiting  a  variety  of  climatic  and  soil  conditions. 
The  fundamental  work  of  the  department  is,  of  course,  agricul- 
tural. The  ever-present  question  is — will  it  pay  the  farmer  to  grow 
drug  plants?  The  efforts  of  the  department  have  been  limited,  but 
painstaking,  and  are  helpful  in  so  far  as  they  go.  But  the  drug  market 
will  not  be  influenced  by  its  labors  until  it  can  convince  itself  and 
the  agricultural  interests  that  the  cultivation  of  drugs  can  be  made 
profitable. 
But  little  in  the  way  of  encouragement  as  to  the  profitable  grow- 
ing of  drugs  has  appeared  in  the  department's  publications.  How- 
ever, a  recent  statement  by  W.  W.  Stockburger,  of  the  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry,  is  to  the  effect  that :  "  given  the  necessary  favorable 
conditions  a  fair  return  may  be  expected  from  several  drug  crops." 
The  resources  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  at  Washington, 
are  available  for  the  dissemination  of  information,  and  for  the  assist- 
ance of  any  institution  or  person  interested  in  the  subject. 
Only  a  few  of  the  colleges  of  pharmacy  have  been  able  to  give 
any  serious  attention  to  this  important  subject.  A  limited  number  of 
schools  have  established  small  gardens  for  research  purposes,  but 
at  most  the  scope  of  such  gardens  can  only  be  to  supply  specimens 
