Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a European perennial plant, long cultivated in this country in gardens, from which it has escaped, and it now occurs as a weed along fence rows and roadsides. The leaves and flowering tops are in some demand for medicinal purposes. The herb also yields a volatile oil, for which there is a small market.

Tansy grows well on almost any good soil, but rich and rather heavy soils well supplied with moisture favor a heavy growth of herb. It may be propagated from seed, but is more readily propagated by division of the roots early in spring. The divisions are set 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. Seed may be sown very early in the spring in the open or in seed beds, and the seedlings later transplanted to the field. Such cultivation as is usually given to garden crops will be sufficient.

The plants are cut late in the summer when in full flower, the leaves and tops being separated from the stems and dried without exposure to the sun, as the trade desires a bright-green color. For the volatile oil the plants are allowed to lie in the field after cutting until they have lost a considerable portion of their moisture. They are then brought to the still and the oil removed by the usual method of steam distillation.

A yield of about 2,000 pounds of dry leaves and flowering tops per acre may be obtained under good conditions. The yield of oil varies, but about 20 pounds per acre is a fair average. In the United States the center of production of oil of tansy is Michigan, where about 2,500 pounds are distilled annually. The price of the oil in June, 1920, was about $8 a pound. The price of the leaves and tops usually ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound.