be prepared as for maize, as
soon as possible in the spring furrowed, and roots planted in drills
twenty inches apart, and covered with loose earth, two inches deep,
the planter walking upon the drill and treading it firmly. The
proper time to procure roots is when the herb is a year old, when
from six to eight square rods of ordinary mint will yield a
sufficient quantity of roots to plant an acre, and the crop from
which the roots are taken will not be deteriorated, but rather
benefited by their extraction. As soon as the herb makes its
appearance it requires a light dressing with a hoe, care being taken
not to disturb the young shoots, many of which have scarcely made
their appearance above the ground. In the course of a week or two
the crop requires a more thorough dressing, and at this stage of
growth the cultivator may be used with advantage, followed by the
hoe, carefully eradicating weeds and grass from the drills, and
giving the herb a light dressing of earth. Another dressing a week
or two later is all the crop requires.

The two following years no labor is bestowed upon the crop, though
it is sometimes benefited by ploughing over the whole surface, very
shallow, in the autumn of the second year, and harrowing lightly the
following spring, which frequently renews the vigor of the plant and
increases the product.

The mint should be cut as soon as it is in full bloom, and the lower
leaves become sere; the first crop will not be fit to cut as early
as the two succeeding ones. It is then to be hayed and put in cock,
and is then ready for distillation.

I have consulted many mint growers, who have cultivated it for a
series of years, in regard to the average yield per acre, and have
arrived at the following estimate, which I think is low, provided
the land is suitable, and is properly cultivated. I estimate the
average yield per acre for the first year at 18 lbs.; the second
year at 14 lbs.; and the third year at 8 lbs.--making the product
for three years 40 lbs., which I think will not materially vary from
the actual result, though growers aver they have raised from 30 to
40 lbs. per acre the first season.

Several years since, the only method of extracting the oil then
known was by distilling the herb in a copper kettle, or boiler, and
condensing in the usual mann