Yields of anise seed are quite variable, since the plant is very sensitive to unfavorable weather conditions. In a good season from 400 to 600 pounds per acre may be reasonably expected. The prewar wholesale price usually ranged from 6 to 8 cents a pound. The prices in June, 1920, ranged from 19 to 30 cents a pound. During the war the average annual importation of 500 tons was reduced to about 180 tons.
[ARNICA.]
Arnica (Arnica montana) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the aster family, native in northern and central Europe, where it thrives in the cool climate of the mountain meadows and upland moors. The flowers, leaves, and roots are employed in medicine.
Arnica requires a marshy soil, abundant rainfall, and a cool climate for its best development. It is propagated by divisions of the roots or from seeds sown either in the fall or the spring. Seed may also be sown in August in a seed bed and the plants transplanted the following spring to stand about 18 inches apart in the row. The flowers may be harvested the second year and the roots after three or four years.
Arnica is not produced commercially in the United States, and the small quantity imported annually is apparently sufficient to meet the market demands. Its cultivation presents many difficulties, and efforts to grow it in the milder portions of this country have generally proved unsuccessful.
[BELLADONNA.]
Belladonna, or deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), is a large, poisonous perennial which occurs wild in Europe, where it is also cultivated. Both the leaves and the roots are important crude drugs. In recent years it has been cultivated to some extent in this country, but is likely to winterkill in the colder sections.