440  Cultivation  of  Aromatic  Plants.     {Km- ^tm' 
cultivation  of  these  flowers  for  their  essences  is  being  conducted 
now  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  also  in  the  experimental 
gardens  of  the  A.  M.  Todd  Company  at  Mentha,  Mich.,  and  it  is 
hoped  the  valuable  information  will  be  available  from  both  sources 
within  a  year  or  two.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  recall  that  in  1914 
there  were  about  10,000  acres  of  hyacinths  under  cultivation  in  Hol- 
land in  soils  very  similar  to  the  black  soils  of  the  mint-producing 
districts  of  Michigan,  these  hyacinths  being  grown  for  the  double 
purpose  of  extracting  the  perfumes,  and  the  production  of  bulbs  for 
market.  Volatile  solvents  are  used  in  extracting  the  perfume,  this 
being  the  only  method  that  has  proven  practicable. 
To  sum  up  the  prospects  for  home-production  of  the  important 
perfume  materials,  it  would  seem  safe  to  say  that  in  our  vast  coun- 
try, with  its  variety  of  climates — hot,  cool,  dry  and  humid — and  its 
endless  variety  of  soils  and  geological  formations,  a  suitable  com- 
bination of  soil  and  climate  can  be  found  for  every  perfume-bearing 
plant  of  present  importance  to  the  trade.  The  one  single  determin- 
ing factor  that  will  make  successful  culture  of  the  plants  possible 
or  impossible  seems  to  be  the  element  of  labor.  The  cultivation  of 
aromatic  plants  entails  a  great  amount  of  hand  labor,  and  it  appears 
that  the  success  of  the  industry  will  chiefly  depend  on  the  relative 
labor  cost  here  as  compared  with  the  cost  of  labor  abroad,  and  the 
extent  to  which  the  greater  cost  here  is  offset  by  a  moderate  tariff, 
and  by  a  liberal  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  consumer  of  these  ma- 
terials, evidencing  itself  in  a  desire  to  give  the  preference  to  the 
home  product  when  he  finds  it  in  competition  with  the  foreign 
product ;  and  even,  if  need  be,  in  a  willingness  to  pay  a  little  more 
than  the  foreign  price  and  so  share  a  part  of  the  burden,  if,  during 
the  first  few  years,  it  is  impossible,  on  account  of  abnormal  labor 
cost  or  other  causes,  for  the  American  producer  to  meet  the  foreign 
price  without  loss.  Once  this  industry  is  fairly  started,  it  is  reason- 
able to  believe  that  American  genius  will  triumph  over  the  difficulties 
that  now  present  themselves,  and  that  the  American  branch  of  the 
industry  will  be  able  to  hold  its  own  in  the  American  market  with- 
out further  help  from  the  consumer. 
What  seems  to  be  rather  an  analogous  case  is  the  development 
in  this  country,  during  the  last  four  years,  of  the  cultivation  of 
medicinal  herbs,  and  especially  of  the  important  drug  plants,  bella- 
donna and  henbane,  or  hyoscyamus.  Before  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  our  requirements  in  the  herbs  were  obtained  entirely  from  cen- 
