At the close of the year 1919 there existed a general and widespread
shortage in botanical crude drugs, and prices in consequence had
reached unusually high levels. The demand in other lines for unskilled
labor at high wages has attracted elsewhere many persons who were
formerly engaged in the collection or production of botanic drugs in
this country. It is therefore probable that prices for most crude drugs
will remain at a high level until the prices of other commodities
undergo a general reduction and the present supply of labor greatly
increases.
Although the average value of crude drugs, expressed in terms of
money, has more than doubled since 1913, it does not follow that
their production offers a corresponding increase in profit to the
producer. The prices of food and clothing, labor, and supplies of
all kinds have for the most part more than doubled in the same time
and the prospective producer of crude drugs will do well to consider
carefully the comparative prices of the necessities of life which he
must purchase before he engages in this enterprise. The unusually high
prices now offered for many crude drugs are due to the underproduction,
which has resulted largely from labor conditions and do not necessarily
indicate any large increase in the demand for consumption. In view of
the present disturbed economic conditions and the uncertainty as to the
future course of prices, the general stimulation of drug growing in
this country does not appear to be the best policy at this time.
However desirable it may be to increase the available supply of
crude drugs or to diminish the amount of money now sent to foreign
countries for these products, the most important consideration for
the American farmer who would grow drug plants is the probable
profit to be derived from such an enterprise. Many statements to the
contrary notwithstanding, the commercial production of crude drugs
does not normally present unusual opportunities for quick returns and
large profits. Knowledge respecting the cultivation and handling of
medicinal-plant crops is far less widespread than in the case of such
generally distributed crops as fruits, vegetables, and cereals, and
certain individuals have taken advantage of this lack of information
to lead the public to believe that extraordinary profits may be
realized from growing medicinal plants, even in a situation no more
promising than the average city back yard. Such persons are interested
usually only in the sale of the plants and seeds for propagation or
the questionable directions for their cultivation, and the extravagant
claims often set forth in their alluring advertisements are not only
misleading, but frequently have little basis in fact.
The market demand for any given crude drug is naturally a large factor
in determining the prospects for its commercial production under
cultivation. The demand for a number of drugs is quite variable or
exceedingly limited, and hence insufficient to make it advisable to
raise them on a large scale. In the case of other drugs, although
the demand is fairly constant and steady, it could probably be fully
satisfied by the product of a very few acres of good land. It is
evident that the cultivation of any considerable acreage might easily
result in overproduction, with a consequent decline in market price to
a point where production would not be profitable.
The cultivation of drug plants, to be successful in this country, will
probably require the introduction of improved methods and the extensive
use of machinery to replace hand labor so far as possible. Growers
of mints and numerous other plants yielding essential oils will find
it desirable to equip themselves with a suitable distilling plant,
although the latter can not be operated most economically when only a
small quantity of material is available for distillation. The natural
tendency will be to increase the acreage in the interest of more
efficient operation, but here again there is danger of overproduction,
and prospective growers should thoroughly acquaint themselves with
market conditions before bringing very large areas under cultivation.
Very few, if any, drug plants are used in quantities sufficient to make
them a promising crop for general cultivation. Many of the common ones,
which can be grown and prepared for market with little difficulty,
bring but a few cents a pound, and their cultivation offers little
prospect of profit. A number of the high-priced drug plants must be
given care for two or more years before a crop can be harvested, and,
since expensive equipment is usually required for their successful
culture, the production of such crops offers little encouragement to
inexperienced growers who are looking for quick returns and large
profits from a small investment. The production of drugs of high
quality requires skilled management, experience in special methods of
plant culture, acquaintance with trade requirements, and a knowledge of
the influence of time of collection and manner of preparation on the
constituents of the drug which determine its value. Small quantities
of drugs produced without regard to these conditions are apt to be
poor in quality and so unattractive to dealers and manufacturers that
the product will not be salable at a price sufficient to make their
production profitable. In general, the conditions in this country seem
far more favorable to the growing of drug plants as a special industry
for well-equipped cultivators than as a side crop for general farmers
or those whose chief interest lies in the production of other crops.
Although a number of plants which yield products used as crude drugs
are common farm weeds, they usually occur in scattered situations and
in such small quantities that their collection would scarcely prove
profitable for the farmer. Even when relatively abundant it is a matter
for careful consideration whether the time and labor necessary for
their collection might not be otherwise employed to better advantage.
Moreover, it is not always easy to distinguish medicinal plants from
others of similar appearance, and collectors not infrequently find that
they have spent their time in gathering plants practically worthless as
crude drugs. In proportion to the labor required in their collection,
relatively low prices are paid for most crude drugs obtained from wild
plants, and the farmer who turns to drug collecting as a source of
additional revenue will probably meet with disappointment.