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.