Where Peppermint Comes From

Wechew peppermint gum, and munch peppermint candy, and keep essence of peppermint in the house in case of pains resulting froni partaking of unripe fruit, etc, but very few know or even think about how or where the useful and palatable "flavoring" comes from. Peppermint is a weed,akin to spearmint, with whicb most people are familiar, and grows on low lands. Out in St. Joseph and Branch counties, in the southern and western part of this state, farmers have cleared up their tamarack swamps and set out pepperniiut plants, and to-day one-half the production of peppermint oil for the entire wörld, comes from this state ; the village of Mendon, - the town made famous by sending iuto politics its boy Yaple - being the center of the industry. There are some 8,000 acres devoted to the culture of this plant in those counties, and it is a profitable business.