Am'ji°y,r'i9ih9arm'  J     Cultivation  of  Aromatic  Plants.  437 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  AROMATIC  PLANTS  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES.1 
By  P.  H.  Todd, 
KALAMAZOO,  MICH. 
The  lessons  of  the  Great  War  have  taught  us,  among  other 
things,  the  dangers  of  relying  on  foreign  resources  for  the  important 
drug,  dye  and  chemical  materials  on  which  many  of  our  important 
industries  depend.  Happily  for  the  perfume  industry,  the  districts 
in  which  the  production  of  aromatic  oils  is  chiefly  centered  (south- 
ern France,  northern  Italy  and  Switzerland)  remained  in  friendly 
hands  and  the  supply  of  flower  oils  was  not  cut  off.  But  though  we 
hope  that  these  districts,  which  our  arms  have  helped  to  protect, 
will  be  forever  free  from  the  ravages  of  war,  there  will  always  seem 
to  be  a  danger,  while  Europe  remains  in  its  present  unsettled  con- 
dition, that  international  complications  may  suddenly  cut  off  the 
foreign  and,  at  present,  only  source  of  supply  of  many  of  the  most 
important  perfume  materials. 
For  this  reason  it  is  of  interest  to  us  to  briefly  review  the  extent 
of  the  volatile  oil  industry  as  at  present  developed  in  this  country 
and  to  consider  the  possibilities  of  its  further  development  with  a 
view  to  our  securing  a  fair  measure  of  independence  of  the  foreign 
sources. 
The  principal  volatile  oils  produced  in  the  United  States  are 
peppermint,  spearmint,  pennyroyal,  wintergreen  and  sweet  birch, 
sassafras,  wormwood,  tansy,  erigeron,  and  the  spruce,  cedar  and 
pine  oils.  Our  production  of  these  oils  is  not  only  sufficient  for 
our  own  needs,  but  permits  a  large  exportation  to  foreign  countries. 
In  the  case  of  peppermint,  about  nine  tenths  of  the  total  world's 
supply  is  produced  in  a  few  counties  of  southern  Michigan  and 
northern  Indiana.  Fifty  years  ago  the  chief  source  of  this  oil  was 
in  a  few  counties  of  England,  Mitcham  County  among  them,  which 
gave  its  name  to  the  variety  most  widely  cultivated  in  this  country. 
The  development  of  the  culture  in  this  country  has  caused  the  per- 
fection and  adoption  of  more  economical  and  efficient  methods  of 
production,  so  that  in  normal  times  this  oil  is  produced  much  more 
cheaply  here  than  in  England. 
1  Address  delivered  at  the  annual  convention  of  the  Manufacturing  Per- 
fumers' Association  of  the  United  States. 
