74  Cultivation  of  Licorice  Root.  {AFeSvy^imm' 
superintendents  and  a  host  of  minor  officials  to  superintend  the  dig- 
gers, receive  and  weigh  the  root  at  the  various  stations  appointed  in 
different  localities,  pressing,  shipping,  etc.  The  right  to  dig  over  a 
certain  territory  is  obtained  by  lease  or  tithe,  as  the  land  is  owned 
by  the  Government,  the  church,  the  village,  or  by  individuals.  Then 
there  are  the  digging,  drying,  curing,  pressing  and  baling,  inland 
transportation,  ocean  freights,  insurance,  fire  and  marine,  bankers'  and 
brokers'  commissions,  interest  and  loss  of  weight  in  transportation. 
These  expenses  alone,  throwing  aside  the  cost  of  the  freshly  dug  root, 
v/ill  represent  fully  75  percent,  of  the  price  of  the  root  ex-ship  in  the 
United  States.  The  foregoing  expenses  are  fixed  and  unavoidable, 
as  the  fresh  root  could  not  be  transported,  owing  to  its  perishable 
nature.  These  considerations  have  led  me  during  the  past  four 
years  to  investigate  the  feasibility  of  growing  this  plant  in  the 
United  States. 
The  consumption  of  the  extract  in  this  country  is  now  so  large 
and  important,  especially  in  the  manufacture  of  chewing  tobacco, 
that  in  case  of  a  European  war,  a  blockade  of  the  Black  Sea  at  the 
Dardanelles,  or  the  Mediterranean  at  Gibraltar,  would  effectually 
cork  up  the  world's  supply,  and  throw  the  large  American  industry 
of  tobacco-manufacturing  into  confusion.  As  licorice  has  become  a 
more  or  less  important  ingredient  in  most  brands  of  chewing 
tobacco,  and  the  present  generation  of  chewers  has  become  so 
accustomed  to  its  use,  new  brands  omitting  this  ingredient  might 
be  unsalable. 
Referring  now  to  the  vast  and  varied  area  over  which  the  licorice 
plant  grows  wild,  and  the  great  variety  of  soil  and  climate  in  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  cheapness  of  land  and  labor,  and  the 
ability  to  obtain  large  tracts  of  land  of  comparatively  easy  accessi- 
bility for  transportation  and  labor,  has  led  me  to  present  the  follow- 
ing information  on  the  subject,  of  what  I  believe  can  be  made  a  new 
a*nd  profitable  industry  in  this  country,  with  money  and  time  intel- 
ligently expended.  I  believe  it  would,  in  time,  pay  better  than 
either  sugar  cane,  sugar  beets,  rice  or  cotton,  although  the  industry 
would  not  be  as  large  or  important  as  any  of  those,  which  are  all 
exotic,  the  cultivation  of  all  of  them  having  been  begun  in  a  very 
small  way  in  the  United  States. 
Licorice  extract  can  be  made  as  well,  or  better,  from  fresh  root 
than  from  the  dry,  and  is  so  made  in  the  countries  that  furnish  the 
