PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Agricultural Experiment
Station
Circular No. 65 Lafayette, Ind., August, 1917
MINT GROWING IN NORTHERN INDIANA
Prepared under the direction of C. G. Woodbury By C. B. Sayre
Mint growing was introduced into Indiana about 1840, and since that time the industry has grown steadily until at the present time there are several thousand acres of pepper-mint and spearmint in cultivation in the northern part of this state. The soil and climate in this region seem especially favorable to the production of mint, and at the present time northern Indiana and southern Michigan comprise the greatest pepper-mint producing section in the world, supplying practically all of the mint grown in the United States, which is approximately one-half of the world's output of these essential oils.
PEPPER-MINT
Pepper-mint is especially well adapted to extensive cultivation, for it can be handled most economically on a large scale, and is therefore, one of the best crops for extensive planting on the muck soil in the northern part of this state, much of which is held in large estates.
Varieties.—There are two varieties of pepper-mint which are grown extensively in this country; namely, the English or black mint, and tbe American mint.
The English or black mint (Mentha piperita vulgaris) is grown more extensively because it produces more oil than the American mint. The English mint leaves are smaller, darker green, and slightly more pointed than the leaves of American mint. In addition, the stems and “runners” of the English mint are dark red or purple, while the stems of the American mint are green, and the leaves are a brighter green.
The American mint (Mentha piperita) which was introduced originally from England is not as productive as the black mint, and