Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is a hardy herbaceous Old World perennial of the aster family, which has escaped from cultivation in this country and now occurs as a weed in many localities in the southern part of the United States. For many years it has been grown commercially on a small scale, chiefly in Michigan and Wisconsin. The dried leaves and tops have long been used medicinally, but the volatile oil distilled from the plant now forms the principal marketable product.

Wormwood will grow in almost any soil, but the best results are to be expected in deep, rich, moderately moist loams. The seeds are frequently sown broadcast early in the fall, following a grain crop; but if the plants are to be cultivated, it is best to start them from seeds sown in seed beds early in the spring or from cuttings of the young shoots taken in the spring and rooted in sand under glass or in the shade of a lath shed. The seeds are very small and should be sown on the surface of the soil in coldframes or seed beds and lightly covered with very fine sandy soil. The plants are easily handled and may be transplanted in moist weather with good results at almost any time during the growing season. They are set about 18 inches apart in rows 3 or 4 feet apart and are well cultivated. The soil should be kept absolutely free from weeds, since their presence in the crop at harvest time seriously damages the quality of the oil. A fair cutting of the herb may be expected the first year after planting and full crops for two or three successive, seasons, after which new plantings will be found more satisfactory.

The plants are harvested when in full bloom and may be cut with a scythe, or a reaper may be used if the area is large. While still fresh, the plants are distilled with steam to obtain the volatile oil. To prepare the leaves and flowering tops for market they are stripped from the stems by hand after the plants are cut and carefully dried in the shade without the use of artificial heat.

Experimental plantings have given yields at the rate of 2,000 pounds of dry tops or 40 pounds of oil per acre. When grown on a commercial scale the yield of oil appears to average about 20 pounds per acre.

The prewar price of the dry tops was about 6 or 7 cents a pound. Its price in June, 1920, was 17 to 18 cents a pound. The oil was once used extensively in the manufacture of absinth, but when the use of this product was restricted in 1912 the demand for the oil fell off and the price declined, until in the early part of 1915 it reached the low level of $2 a pound. The price in June, 1920, was about $13 a pound. The average annual production of oil of wormwood is about 2,000 pounds. Owing to the limited use of this oil, there appears to be little room for further profitable expansion of this industry.

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