MINT

a general name for a large number of strong-scented perennial plants, the best known of which are peppermint, spearmint, and pennyroyal, cultivated chiefly for their e ential oils. The two first are the most important. Oil of pennyroyal was at one time extensively emploved in medicine but it is now produced only in comparatively small quantities. About 90% of our peppermint and spearmint oils—and that means about 50% of the world’s entire commercial supply —is produced and distilled in a small area of twenty-odd you sand acres of muck land in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. Our annual consumption of peppermint oil is abont 300,000 pounds; that of spearmint about 25,000 pounds. Their chief uses are in medicine, confectionery, and chewing gum. ‘‘Black mint’’—with deep green leaves and dark purple stems—is the variety most productive of peppermint oil, but that of ‘‘white mint’? is most delicate in flavor. Black mint is also more hardy than either white mint or ‘‘.\merican mint”’ -~the latter an English variety that has run wild in the eastern and central states. The plants are cut when mature and in full bloom, and allowed to cure like hay. They go next into large wooden vats through which steam is forced, the heat rupiuring the oi] cells and permitting the oil to escape with the steam. The oil is separated after the condensation of the steam. The ordinary mint of kitchen use, employed for mint sauce and for the flavoring of beverages, is spearmint, the leaves being used both fresh and dried. Dried mint is retailed in packages, bottles, and cans. It should always be kept in a dry place. Mint is easily grown under almost any conditions and is a heavy producer—a bed three feet square will give a surprisingly large quantity. If to be used as a dried herh, if is best to eut the stalks just prior to full bloom and to spread them out in a shady location where they can dry slowly. In some sections, penuyroyal and other mints are used for seasoning instead of spearmint. The mint of the Bible is believed to have been an earlier form of spearmint. Mint Jelly, for immediate service, is easily made by stiffening mint sauce with gelatin. If to he kept for future use, it is generally made by flavoring apple jelly -the mint leaves and tips being added to the apples for the last ten minutes of their cooking prior to straining.