The plants described in the foregoing pages and the volatile oils
distilled from them represent but a small part of our wild aromatic
flora, yet these plants gathered from their wild haunts have been made
to yield products which give promise of no little economic importance.
It is the object of this work simply to call attention to the products
capable of being obtained from our native plants and to emphasize their
possible application in the trades and arts. The actual growth and
cultivation of such as prove to be of economic value should follow.
The lands on which the rankest growth of wild plants occurs are
usually of little value for the production of agricultural crops, and
doubtless large areas of this character exist in all sections of the
United States, which lands might be utilized for the growth of certain
aromatic plants now largely classed as weeds yet which may be made to
yield products of value.
That there is a field for investigation in this direction is shown in
the preceding pages in which three plants representing specimens picked
up at random have been shown to yield oils containing large quantities
of such important compounds as camphor, borneol, and cineol. Inasmuch
as camphor is consumed in enormous quantities in the United States, the
supply at present coming wholly from foreign countries, the presence of
such large quantities of this substance in the volatile oils of black
sage and swamp bay should not be overlooked. The cultivation of these
plants should not be impracticable. Since black sage if distilled at
its flowering stage could be made to yield approximately 1 per cent
of oil from the green plant and the oil in turn be made to yield from
40 to 50 per cent of camphor, its growth and cultivation should be
profitable. Furthermore, as the plant is a perennial, a crop of foliage
could be produced each year, and the luxuriant growth of the plant,
coupled with the exceptionally high yield of oil would produce a large
amount of oil and camphor per unit of area. After the separation of the
camphor from the oil the camphor-free oil remaining would still possess
value because of its high content of cineol.
The swamp bay, which yields oil and camphor, though in somewhat smaller
quantities, should also receive attention along similar lines.
The wild sage is an example among the wild plants of the United States
in which borneol is found in quantity. As a natural source for this
compound the plant is far more promising than the two plants native to
Borneo and the Malay Archipelago, which yield most of the borneol of
commerce, supplying a large proportion to the Chinese, among whom there
is a brisk demand. The abundance of wild sage found in this country,
the ease with which it might be cultivated, and the large percentage of
borneol and cineol capable of separation from the oil make it a most
excellent source from which to obtain these substances. The oil also
possesses virtues as a scenting agent because of the high percentage of
the esters of borneol, which are excellent perfuming materials. As a
source for the production of bornyl acetate which is extensively used
by perfumers for its pine-needle odor, this oil should prove of value.
Since the oil from each of these plants shows important chemical
constituents which may be commercially applied in many ways, their
cultivation for these products is worthy of consideration.