358 lijbii'OltT OF THB HoiiTlOU'LTURAL DePABTMBNT. 



should be dug in the fall, the smaller roots (less than two ounces) being 

 replanted to increase in size. Great care must be taken in digging not to 

 break the roots, lor whole roots command a higher price than broken ones. 

 As fast as they are dug shake oft" all loose earth and place the roots at 

 once in water so that the earth remaining may not di-y on them. Wash 

 with a stiff brush or broom and plenty of water. For di-ying, Kains 

 recommends a home-made drying oven made in the following manner: 

 " Get a box large enough to cover the kitchen stove and deep enough to 

 hold six or seven sliding shelves. Remove the bottom entirely. Make a 

 hole in the top; take off one side and make a hinged door to fit in its place; 

 make a number of shelves with bottoms of wire netting of about one- 

 fourth inch mesh. In filling the shelves for the first time put the larger 

 roots on the top shelves and the smaller upon the bottom ones, the lowest 

 of which should be at least six inches above the top of the stove. Put 

 the box upon the stove, but raised about half an inch above it, so as to 

 prevent its bottom edges from becoming scorched and to insure a current 

 of air tluough tlio shelves of roots. A few stout nails left projecting will 

 accomplish this end." Use with a slow fire. " The roots upon the lowest 

 shelf will ordinarily dry first. Take them out, fill the shelf with fresh 

 roots and put in the dryer at the top after moving all the other trays down 

 one notch toward the bottom." Rub off all the small fibrous roots when 

 dried sufficiently to be brittle and return the large roots to dryer. These 

 trimmings are frequently sold to local drug stores for people who chew 

 ginseng. " When the roots have become dry as a bone and are perfectly 

 cool, put them in paper sacks or clean boxes to avpiait shipment." 



4th. Sale of the roots: In some parts of the State there are buyers 

 already on the ground, but generally it is necessary to ship to some whole- 

 sale house. Write to Wm. Eisenhauor & Co., 378-380 West Broadway, 

 New York; Samuel Wells & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Felt Butler Co., 83 

 Spring street. New York. Ginseng now brings from $2.50 to .$6 or $7 a 

 pound, depending on the quality. The price is rising each year. 



Considerable literature has been published from time to time on the 

 subject of ginseng. Besides the prospectuses of those selling the plants, 

 at least two books and three bulletins have been published. These are as 

 follows: " Ginseng," by Maurice G. Kains, Orange Judd & Co., publishers. 

 A book on ginseng, title unknown, by M. G. Harrison, Redford, Mo. The 

 Pennsylvania State Department of Agriculture has issued a bulletin (No. 

 27) on this subject. The United States Department of Agriculture has 

 published a, bulletin on "American Ginseng." (Botanical division No. 16.) 

 The Kentucky Experiment Station of Lexington, Ky., has issued a bul- 

 letin (78) " Ginseng, Its Nature and Culture." The cheapest and perhaps 

 the best way to obtain information on this subject is from those who 

 have experimented in growing it, if there be any in your locality. Most 

 of tlie parties wlio sell roots and seeds issue printed directions whicli are 

 included with sales. 



