Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ]_ 
January,  1901.  J 
Drug  Culture. 
1 1 
and  especially  the  issuance,  either  by  the  Government  or  otherwise, 
of  bulletins  containing  information  as  to  the  best  modes  of  cultivat- 
ing, collecting  and  preparing  such  medicinal  plants  as  are  suited  to 
the  climates  of  our  States  and  territories.1 
That  these  appeals  have  not  passed  unheeded  is  evident  from  the 
interest  now  manifested  in  the  subject  of  drug  culture. 
The  object  of  the  present  communication  is  to  stimulate,  and,  if 
possible,  add  a  few  practical  notes  to  the  somewhat  meagre  litera- 
ture on  this  subject.  In  the  consideration  of  the  cultivation  of 
medicinal  plants  several  points  present  themselves: 
It  is  stated  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  we  will  be  de- 
pendent upon  the  agriculturist  for  our  medicinal  plants  ;  that  the 
destruction  of  wooded  lands  and  other  causes  are  lessening  the 
supply  of  drug-yielding  plants,  and  that  drug  farms  will  soon  be  a 
necessity. 
Scientific  agriculture  has  taught  the  grower  how  to  develop  given 
products  of  plant  life  force.  If,  by  scientific  cultivation,  we  can 
augment  or  regulate  the  important  active  principles  of  drug  plants, 
there  is  hope  for  an  economic  and  scientific  recompense. 
After  a  somewhat  careful  review  of  the  situation  it  is  evident  to 
me  that  the  problem  in  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  can  best 
be  solved  by  the  American  pharmacist. 
In  this  country  we  can  call  to  our  aid  resources  of  a  most  extensive 
and  varied  soil  and  climate,  and  scientific  agriculture  here  reaches 
the'highest  attainable  point.  From  the  beginning  we  shall  have  the 
advantages  of  American  machinery  and  methods  as  against  peasant 
labor,  which  now  supplies  the  bulk  of  the  European  products.  But 
of  striking  importance  to  pharmacy  and  medicine  is  the  fact  that 
intelligent  drug  culture  will  tend  to  throw  light  upon  the  problem 
as  to  the  relative  value  and  activity  of  drugs  gathered  in  a  wild 
state,  as  compared  with  those  under  culture. 
Heretofore  cultivation  has  not  been  necessary  or  expedient  for 
many  drug  plants.  Our  knowledge  of  the  influence  of  cultivation 
upon  their  medicinal  and  active  principles  is,  therefore,  very  meagre. 
In  respect  to  narcotic  drugs,  the  statement  that  those  which  grow 
wild  contain  the  greater  proportion  of  alkaloids  is  generally  accepted 
1  "  In  L,ands  Where  Drugs  Grow."  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy, 
April,  1900. 
