76 MAINE AGRICULTURAL e:xPI:rIMI:nT STATION. I903. 



American ginseng, the use of 

 which has to a large extent super- 

 seded that of the native plant in 

 China, was first discovered near 

 Montreal in 171 6. It is now found 

 in the United States from Maine 

 and Minnesota southward to the 

 mountainous regions of Georgia 

 and Alabama. At present the chief 

 sources of supply are Ohio, West 

 Virginia and ^Minnesota, though 

 small quantities are collected in 

 many other states. The usual 

 price per poimd for the dried root 

 is v$2.50 to $3.00. Kigui-e 37. 



Numerous attempts have been made to cultivate ginseng and, 

 where careful attention has been given, the returns have been 

 very satisfactory. But the plant is a native of cool, moist, shady 

 situations, and is soon killed if exposed to the glaring sunlight. 

 It usually thrives best in moist loamy soils such as are found in 

 oak or maple forests at the north. 



Mr. George Stanton, Summit Station, Onondaga County, 

 New York, is the pioneer in ginseng culture in America, He 

 has made the business profitable and has demonstrated the 

 practicability of garden culture. His method of procedure is 

 essentially as follows : Seed is sown as soon as it is ripe, in 

 September, in a carefully prepared seed bed in well drained 

 sandy loam. The bed is covered with leaf mould and with brush 

 to prevent drying and cracking of soil. Eighteen months 

 are usually required for germination. When the seedlings are 

 two or three years old, they are transferred to permanent beds 

 as carefully prepared as the first. The plants are set four to 

 six inches apart each way and are not again disturbed, except to 

 keep the weeds down, until the harvest time ; which will be in 

 four or five years from transplanting, or six or eight years from 

 seed. Transplanting is best done in the fall and the roots are 

 set so that the bud for the next year's growth is about two or 



