Melissa, balm, or lemon balm (_Melissa officinalis_), is a perennial
herb of the mint family, native to southern Europe. In this country
it has long been cultivated in gardens, from which it has escaped and
now grows wild in many places in the eastern United States. The leaves
of balm are widely used for culinary flavoring, and the leaves and
flowering tops are used in medicine. The volatile oil distilled from
the plant is said to be used in perfumery and also for flavoring.
Balm grows readily on any good garden soil and is easily propagated
from seeds, cuttings, or by division. The seeds may be sown in the open
early in the spring, but owing to their small size it is best to sow
them in shallow flats in a greenhouse or in a hotbed. The soil should
be well fined and the seeds sown thinly on the surface of the soil,
which is then firmed with a float or a small board. When well up, the
seedlings should be transferred to deeper flats, and when 4 or 5 inches
high they may be transplanted to the open and set about a foot apart in
rows spaced to suit the cultivation to be given. Cultivation should be
frequent and sufficient to keep the soil about the plants mellow and
free from weeds.
When the plants are in full flower the crop can be cut with a scythe,
or with a mower if the herb is to be used for distillation. For
preparing the crude drug only the flowering tops are collected, the
coarse, stemmy portions of the herb being rejected. The leaves and tops
are dried in the shade in order to preserve the green color.
Yields at the rate of about 1,800 pounds of dry herb per acre have been
obtained, but if only the flowering tops are collected the yield will
be very materially less. The prewar price paid to collectors for the
leaves and tops ranged from 3 to 4 cents a pound. In June, 1920, the
price for the leaves was 15 cents a pound.