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ON  AMERICAN  OIL  OF  PEPPERMINT. 
Lyons,  March  15,  1855. 
Wm.  Procter,  Jb.,  Esq. 
Bear  Sir, — We  acknowledge  with  pleasure  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of 
the  23d  ultimo,  the  contents  of  which  have  our  best  attention.  Absence 
from  home  has  prevented  an  earlier  reply.  We  are  extensively  engaged 
In  the  culture  of  the  peppermint  plant  and  the  production  of  the  pure  oil 
therefrom,  and  for  a  botanical  description  of  the  plant  from  which  our  oil 
is  manufactured,  its  history  and  uses,  &c,  we  would  beg  to  refer  you  to 
«  Vol.  3,  Class  iv.,  No.  156,  pp.  1446,  1447,  of  the  Official,  Descriptive,  and 
Illustrated  Catalogue  of  the  Great  Exhibition,"  held  in  London  in  1851, 
and  where  we  had  the  honor  to  receive  a  prize  medal  for  our  manufacture 
of  oil  of  peppermint. 
We  believe  you  will  "there"  find  answers  to  nearly  all  your  enquiries, 
respecting  the  article,  except  the  following,  viz :  "  The  amount  of  land 
under  peppermint  culture." — "  The  average  yield  season  with  season." — 
"  The  amount  of  care  extended  to  free  the  mint  plants  from  weeds  before 
distillation  ;"  and  which  we  beg  to  answer  as  follows,  viz : 
In  our  opinion  there  is  about  2000  acres  of  land  devoted  to  the  peppermint 
culture  in  the  United  States,  a  great  deal  of  which  is  under  very  careless 
cultivation,  and  weeds  which  produce  an  essential  oil  allowed  to  grow 
amongst  it,  the  most  common  of  which  is  by  some  called  broom  weed,  by 
others  mare's  tail  [Hippuris  vulgaris].  These  weeds  produce  oils  quite 
as  abundantly  as  the  peppermint,  but  of  course  they  spoil  the  flavor  of  the 
peppermint  oil. 
2d.  The  average  yield,  season  with  season,  is  not  far  from  20  lbs.  per 
acre  of  pure  peppermint  oil. 
3d.  In  one  field  last  year  of  20  acres,  which  we  devoted  to  peppermint 
culture,  we  kept  an  account  of  the  labor  of  planting  the  roots,  preparing  the 
ground,  weeding  and  mowing  the  plant,  and  it  reached  a  trifle  over  eight 
Imndred  days  work  for  a  laboring  man,  worth  one  dollar  per  day. 
With  sentiments  of  great  respect, 
Yours  truly, 
H.  G.  &  L.  B.  Hotchkiss. 
The  average  yield  obtained  by  the  Messrs.  Hotchkiss  is  nearly 
similar  to  that  obtained  at  Mitcham,  near  London,  (see  vol.  xxiii. 
page  239  of  this  Journal,)  where  an  acre  yields  from  17 J  to  20 
lbs.  of  oil.  We  made  application  to  parties  in  New  York  to 
get  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  this  oil  exported  to  Europe, 
but  our  enquiries  have  not,  as  yet,  been  responded  to. 
The  subject  of  the  preparation  and  trade  in  volatile  oils  in  the 
United  States  is  very  interesting,  and  is  much  obscured  for  want 
of  information  in  reference  to  the  different  customs  followed  by 
the  manufacturers,  and  in  regard  to  the  adulterations  resorted  to 
