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The mints are scarcely horticultural subjects, although M. rotundifolia and M. Pulegium, as well as the little M. Requienii, may be used as border plants or ground-covers and for the ornamental foliage of some of the forms. They propagate readily by cuttings and division; some of them produce stolons.
The mints are scarcely horticultural subjects, although M. rotundifolia and M. Pulegium, as well as the little M. Requienii, may be used as border plants or ground-covers and for the ornamental foliage of some of the forms. They propagate readily by cuttings and division; some of them produce stolons.
Culture of mints for oil.
Peppermint, the most prominent economic species of mint, ranks as one of the most important of all plants in the production of essential oils. It was originally native in Great Britain and possibly in continental Europe, but is now widely naturalized, growing in many places on both continents like a native plant. There is no record of it in America previous to its introduction to Connecticut in the early part of the eighteenth century. From there it was taken to western New York and to the Western Reserve in Ohio, and in 1835 "roots" were taken from Ohio to Pigeon Prairie, in Michigan, where the industry has grown to larger proportions than anywhere else. Peppermint is now cultivated commercially in southwestern Michigan and adjacent parts of northern Indiana, Wayne county, New York, and in Mitcham, Surrey and Lincolnshire, England, and in Saxony.
Peppermint plants may be grown on any land that will produce good crops of corn, but its cultivation is most profitable on muck soils of reclaimed swamps. It is an exhaustive crop, and on uplands is rarely included in the rotation more often than once in five years. On deep, rich muck soils it is often grown consecutively for 6 years or more with no apparent diminution in. yield. Peppermint is propagated by pieces of running root-stocks, commonly called "roots." These are planted, as early in spring as the ground can be prepared, in furrows 30 inches apart. On uplands two or three crops are usually grown from one setting of the "roots," but in the swamp lands the runners are plowed under after harvest, continuing the crop indefinitely. Clean cultivation is required between the rows, and often it is necessary to hoe the plants or pull weeds by hand, especially on land that has not been well prepared. Fire- weed, horseweed, ragweed and other species with bitter or aromatic properties are very injurious to the oil if cut and distilled with the peppermint.
The crop is cut either with scythe or mowing-machine in August or early September, when the earliest flowers are developed and before the leaves have fallen. In long, favorable seasons a second crop is sometimes harvested early in November. After cutting, the plants are cured like hay, then raked into windrows and taken to the stills, where the oil is extracted by distillation with steam. A "mint still" (Fig. 2360) usually consists of two retorts (used alternately), wooden or galvanized iron tubs about 7 feet deep and 6 feet in diameter at the top, each with a perforated false bottom and a tight-fitting, removable cover, a condenser of nearly 200 feet of block-tin pipe immersed in tanks of cold water, or more frequently arranged in perpendicular tiers over which cold water runs, a boiler to furnish steam and a receiver or tin can with compartments in which the oil separates by gravity. The yield of oil varies from ten to sixty pounds to the acre, averaging about twenty-five pounds for black mint, the variety now generally grown. Three kinds of peppermint are recognized: (1) American mint, "state mint" of New York (M. piperita), long cultivated in this country and occasionally naturalized; (2) black mint, or black mitcham (M. piperita var. vulgaris), a more productive variety introduced from England about 1889, and (3) white mint, or white mitcham (M. piperita var. officinalis), less productive and too tender for profitable cultivation, but yielding a very superior grade of oil. Peppermint oil is used in confectionery, very extensively in medicines, and for the production of menthol, or more properly pipmenthol. Pipmenthol differs in physical properties from menthol derived from Japanese mint.
Japanese mint, secured from M. arvensis var. piperascens, is cultivated in northern Japan, chiefly on the island of Hondo; not known in the wild state. It has been introduced experimentally in cultivation in England and the United States, but has not been cultivated commercially in these countries. Its oil is inferior in quality to that of Mentha piperita, but it contains a higher percentage of crystallizable menthol, of which it was the original source and for the production of which it is largely used. It is propagated by rootstocks carefully transplanted and cultivated by hand labor. Two crops, rarely three, are obtained in a season, and by abundant fertilizing and intensive culture large yields are obtained. It is usually continued three years from one planting, and then a rotation of other crops follow for three to six years. Three horticultural varieties are recognized, being distinguished chiefly by form of leaf and color of stem. The variety known as "Akakuki," with reddish purple stem and broad, obtuse leaves, is regarded as best.
Spearmint is cultivated on peppermint farms for the production of oil. The plants are propagated and cultivated similar to peppermint and distilled in the same stills. The oil, for which there is a smaller demand than for peppermint, is used chiefly in medicine and to some extent as a flavoring ingredient in chewing-gum and drinks. Spearmint is cultivated in the vicinity of many large cities to supply saloons, where freshly cut sprigs of the plant are used in making the seductive and intoxicating drink known as "mint julep." The plant is more widely known as an ingredient in "mint sauce," the familiar accompaniment of spring lamb and green peas. To supply this demand it is often cultivated in the kitchen- garden. It is easily propagated by the perennial root- stocks, and persists year after year with little care, thriving in nearly all kinds of soil, providing it does not become too dry.
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