Geese snack on weeds in a Michigan mint field in this vintage photo from a state website devoted to the business of mint growing.
In June 1897, Sylvanus Milton Closser decided to try his hand at raising peppermint. He owned some acreage in Kankakee Township that he thought was conducive to this purpose. He was in the boot and shoe business in downtown LaPorte and had also been buying and selling grain for 14 years.
Peppermint farming and the production of peppermint oil was a relatively new industry here at the time. Closser’s was the only peppermint farm in the county and one of very few in northern Indiana.
Mr. Closser initially devoted 15 acres to the herb, but as the plants spread, he increased to 100-150 acres. He obtained the mint roots from Burr Oak, Michigan, where several farms already existed. Reportedly, the roots used to start the Burr Oak farms had been obtained from plants raised in Japan.
The method of planting was quite different from other crops. Trenches about 6 inches deep and 30 inches apart were plowed and into these furrows the roots, which were 1 to 8 inches long, were placed horizontally and then covered with soil. When the plants reached a certain height, they were cut and gathered, then converted into peppermint oil by means of distillation.
At the time Mr. Closser started this venture, a peppermint farm in Three Oaks, Michigan, was producing about 75 pounds of oil per acre. The market price for the oil was from 75 cents to $1.25 per pound, depending on the quality.
In the Walkerton area, it was reported that growing peppermint for the famous Wrigley gum company in Chicago was very popular, but because of the cost to produce, it became a rarity. Some of the roots used there were purchased from Mishawaka at $10 a load.
There were many usages for peppermint oil besides chewing gum. Much was used for medicinal purposes, candy making, toothpaste and flavoring for other items.
In 1915, the only still in the LaPorte County area used to distill the oil was shared with neighbors. They were able to produce about 50 pounds per acre and 30 to 40 pounds on the second cutting. The highest price they received was $30 a pound during World War I.
One Walkerton farmer brought mint roots from Michigan. They were packed in barrels and boxes along with the household goods when the family moved from near Three Rivers, Michigan, to the Walkerton area.
During World War II, the importance of mint oil placed mint on the list of essential crops and led the War Manpower Commission to recommend that growers be given draft deferments.
One of the unusual features of mint growing in Michigan was the use of geese to remove weeds from the mint fields. Weeding was important because weeds tended to result in inferior oil. Weeding was generally done by hand; even after mechanization it tended to be a manual chore as the delicate mint plants were easily injured by tractors and other implements. Although livestock did not eat the leaves and were sometimes used to munch on the weeds, their hooves would damage the crop. Geese were small and light enough so that they were allowed in the fields.
There was no report on the outcome of Mr. Closser’s mint venture. He died in 1910 with no mention of him having been involved in the mint business; it apparently did not grow to epic proportions.
But there are LaPorte County farms that still produce mint for many of the same purposes. According to 1997 agriculture statistics, 22 farms in the county grew mint, with 3,705 acres devoted to the crop.
FERN EDDY SCHULTZ is LaPorte County’s official Historian. Visit the LaPorte County Historical Society Museum, 2405 Indiana Ave., and its website, www.laportecountyhistory.org, to learn much more about LaPorte County’s history.
