Automatic Age

28
T h e A u t o m a t ic A ge
In the Gum Trade
The A U T O M A T IC A G E is the recognized organ o f the gum
trade o f America
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Who Put the Mint
in Spearmint Gum?
One town in Michigan is called
Mentha, being the Latin term fo r the
mint plant. It might be called the
capital o f the mint industry. M ost o f
the acreage o f this crop is in South­
ern Michigan and Northern Indliana,
on muck-lands such as grow the fam ­
ous Kalamazoo celery. The difficulties
in mint production in this region seem
to be increasing and there is a ten­
dency fo r growers in other sections
o f the country to undertake its pro­
duction. While yields o f 50 to 60
pounds o f oil per acre were form erly
fairly common, 25 pounds is now con­
sidered good. The reasons fo r this
decline in yield do not seem to be
clear, but maintenance o f fertility,
rotation o f crops and the character
o f planting stock are all possibilities.
The mint crop seems to require hot
weather— warm days and nights— fo r
the best development o f oil. Curi­
ously enough, the territory that grows
mint does not grow head lettuce,
which is seriously damaged by hot
weather.
The price o f mint oil has ordinarily
ranged between $1.50 and $3.00 per
pound but the failure o f recent crops
has demoralized the market and no­
body seems to know the real price at
present, quotations running as high
as $25.00 per pound. A t normal fig­
ures and yields, the returns would not
be very alluring to most muck-land
gardeners.
The mint plants are alternating
grown on upland and muck soils. Be­
fore growth begins in the spring, the
rows on the muck are lifted with
forks, the roots are placed in heaps
and covered, and are then taken out
and laid lengthwise in furrows three
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feet apart. The roots are sometimes
as long as three feet and they are
planted to make a continuous line.
Shoots arise at joints all along the
planted root. One crop o f tops is
harvested fo r oil on the upland then
the roots are dug with a potato dig­
ger o f the ordinary elevator top, and
replanted on the muck, whei^ they
are good fo r from two to four sea­
sons without replanting. The sojourn
on the upland results in vigorous
branching o f the rootstocks, and the
production o f planting stock in quan­
tity.
: '
Potash is heavily applied in the fe r­
tilizer, 300 pounds per acre o f a 2-8-25
mixture being used by Dr. J. E. M ax­
well, o f Decatur, Michigan, to whom
the writer is indebted fo r most o f the
material o f this story. Dr. Maxwell
figures that he saves $6 per ton by
home-mixing.
As with most crops, especially on
muck, the fight with weeds is never-
ending.
The common pig-weed or
lambs quarter must be wholly elimi­
nated, as its presence in the har­
vested tops taints the oil and injure?
its quality.
The mint is harvested at maximum
growth, when lower leaves begin to
turn. Cutting usually begins about
July 1, and continues until Septem­
ber 15. Occasionally two cutting*;
from the same land are possible. The
tops are taken to the still-house where
they are placed in wooden vats about
six feet in diameter and six feet deep.
Steam from a boiler is passed into the
vat whex-e it goes up through the
plants into a pipe which leads to a
large water-cooled worm. The steam
condensers and the water is caught
in a vessel specially designed fo r
drawing off the floating oil.
There are two varieties o f mint,
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