Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1886 — The Peppermint King. [ARTICLE]

The Peppermint King.

This potentate was horn in Oneida County, New York, on June 10, 1810, and his name, which has for many years been kept standing in type in the chief market journals of the world, is Hiram G. Hotchkiss. Now 75 years old, he is robust and plump, bustling with activity among his peppermint bottles UHvt nx) IH- t wHtt in every way master of his specialty. When he was seven years old his parents removed from Oneida County to Ontario county, which adjoins Wayne, and settled in the town of Phelps. At the age of 18 he started a small country store, to which later he attached a flouring mill, thereby becoming a general furnisher of food material. About -1837, 10 or 12 years after Burnett had put a on the now famous Wayne County weed, Mr.. Hotchkiss began to buy peppermint oil of the farmers about Lyons, who took it to him as the most enterprising merchant they knew. He also got into the business of buying the raw -material, as it would be offered to him in connection with wheat taken to his mill, and distilling the oil lrimself. He presently saw a future for Wayne County pepper mint, and, disposing of his business in Bhelps, removed in 1841 to Lyons, here gradually to assert dominion over the peppermint oil business of tho world. There are two br three other dealers in the county, hut the bulk of the crop goes to market through the hands of Mr. Hotchkiss. The mint is raised chiefly in t the towns of Huron, Sodus, Galen, Marion, Arcadia, Williamson, Lyons and Rose. The loam soil of the flat lands of these towns is naturally adapted to it, hut the richness of the plant in oil varies so greatly that producers cannot mix their crops for distilling, taking a pro rata share of the oil, as dairymen mix their milk in a common pool at the cheese factory, and take a pro rata share of the cheese. The mint acreage of the country is estimated to be about 4,000 acres. Peppermint long ago ceased to be looked up as a weed in these parts. It is a legitimate agricultural product, planted and attended , as systematically as a crop of wheat or potatoes.. The oil is sent' to market from Lyons in wholesale quantities, but a small part of each year’s ' product is put up in phials “to give away to my colicky friends,” as Mr. Hotchkiss says. The bottles for commerce contain 20 ounces, and 18 bottles are packed in a case, the current worth of a case at first hand being $96. —New York Evening Post. Yosjb character cannot be essentially injured except by your own acts.