

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 



BULLETIN 



OP 



MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 



No. 3.] 



[1907 



a 



XV.-GINSENG IN COREA. 



(Aralia quinquefolia, Decne & Planch., VAR. Ginseng.) 



In Kew Bulletin for 1902, p. 4, an account of Ginseng in Chii 

 was given in which incidental reference was made to Corea as 

 country supplying the article. The importance of the substan< 

 in this latter country, and the care exercised in cultivating the 

 plant which yields it, may be gathered from the subjoined account 

 derived from a paper by the Rev. C. T. Collyer and reprinted from 

 the Queensland Agricultural Journal for 1906, pp. ~by-^/i. 



In North America, Japan and China, where Ginseng is also 



r>ni«Tro+^ ±i 1 :_„„ +i,.^ f rt fnnr vears to reach tbe stage 



be 



observed 



ub cuiuvauon oecomeo yiv^<.«~*~> — - ' 



~— ,™, the plants are allowed to reach the age of five, six, or 

 seven years before the roots are collected. 



" The moet esteemed variety of the plant is that grown jin Corea . 

 All the Ginseng collected in China is imperial property, and is 

 sold to those who have the privilege of dealing in it at its weight 

 in gold. Of two kinds, the white and the red the former is most 

 valued, and is accordingly becoming more valuable as its produc 

 tion decreases. The root generally occurs m ^ »'*"^2 



translucent pieces, about the f^^.^^^^^, 

 in length from 2 to 4 inches. In price it ranges ™* /**•, > 

 up to even £60 per ounce ! In preparing a Q *^*™%£ 

 Sam-po, as it is called in Corea, extensive prepar ^ons are ^e 

 In early winter thousands of loads of a variety of d « mtegratea 



e heaped up in separate .mound* Then *^«>v 

 ch mulch made from the leaves in tu , . th 



Coreans as the « Sang.' The eaves are f ^^jVelp 

 spring and summer, pulverised, and s ? r ^^d ^th JJ rter ■ *jp 

 decomposition. This mulch is the only fertiliser usea. 

 fertiliser has been found which is equally emcient. 



- As soon as the frost is out of the ground the .garden j 

 Ploughed ud and thoroughly worked over with a spade opera 



granite 

 with a 



known 



gang 



We 



1375 Wt72 3/07 D k S 29 27432 



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