Drug Plants Under Cultivation — Themes and Context

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FARMERS' BULLETIN 663

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

DRUG PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION

This Bulletin gives general suggestions relative to the culture, harvesting, distillation, yield, marketing, and commercial prospects for drug plants. Specific information is also given concerning the cultivation, handling, and yield of individual species and the demand and prices paid for the product.

The market demand for many cultivated plant drugs is not large enough to justify growing them except as small minor crops.

The haphazard production of crude drugs in small lots of a few pounds usually means a dissatisfied producer.

A special knowledge of trade requirements is necessary in collecting, curing, preserving, and packing drugs for market.

Most farm products find a ready local market; a special market must be sought for plant drugs.

High prices for plant drugs do not insure large profits in producing them. Not the price received, but the difference between the cost of production and the selling price is the important point.

Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry

Issued, June, 1915 Washington, D. C. Revised, August, 1920

Show this bulletin to a neighbor. Additional copies may be obtained free from the Division of Publications, United States Department of Agriculture.

DRUG PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION.

W. W. Stockberger, _Physiologist in Charge, Drug, Poisonous, and Oil Plant Investigations_.

Production of crude drugs 3

Some drug plants suitable for cultivation in the United States 4

General cultural suggestions 5

Commercial prospects 12

The cultivation and handling of drug plants 14

PRODUCTION OF CRUDE DRUGS.

Interest in the possibility of deriving profit from the growing of drug plants is increasing yearly. The clearing of forests, the extension of the areas of land under tillage, and the activities of drug collectors threaten the extermination of a number of valuable native drug plants. Annually, large sums of money are expended for crude drugs imported from countries where they are grown under conditions of soil and climate resembling those of many localities in the United States. As a means of guaranteeing the future supply of crude drugs and of lessening the dependence on importations, attention is now being turned to the cultivation of drug plants with a view to increasing domestic production.

The problems presented by the cultivation of drug plants are not less difficult than those encountered in the production of many other crops. Drug plants are subject to the same diseases and risks as other crops and are similarly affected by variations in soil and climatic conditions. They require a considerable outlay of labor, the same as other crops, and likewise require intelligent care and handling. They are subject to the same laws of supply and demand, and, like other products, must conform to the consumer's fancy and to definite trade requirements.

A number of common medicinal plants have long been cultivated in gardens in this country, either as ornamentals or as a source of herbs used in cookery and as domestic remedies. A few of these plants, such as goldenseal, wormwood, wormseed, and peppermint, have been grown commercially for sale as crude drugs; but the acreage devoted to their production has been relatively small and for the most part restricted to certain localities. Other drug plants which occur as common weeds in many places may prove to respond to cultivation; experiments should then be undertaken to determine whether it is profitable to grow them. In this connection it should be remembered that the soil type very often is an important limiting factor in propagating different kinds of plants. Some plants grow best in well-drained loam, some prefer a marsh, some require soils rich in lime, while others thrive only in acid soil. The soil requirements of all plants are not understood; in fact it is not improbable that better comprehension of the soil, climatic, and cultural conditions adapted to the different kinds of plants will enable the successful propagation of species now regarded as unsuited to cultivation. In undertaking the growing of medicinal plants, therefore, it is essential to know that the species selected for cultivation will do well under the conditions of soil and climate existing where the planting is to be made. When necessary, this should be determined on small experimental plats before undertaking commercial plantings.