450 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



partially dry it may not come up for thirty months. You can readily 

 see that the handling of the seed is of considerable importance in 

 ginseng culture. I lost most of my first seed from storing them 

 in too wet a place, getting only about 140 plants from 3,000 seed. 



Seed is stored in boxes in the cellar, mixed with sand and dirt 

 that has been sifted or washed through a sieve with a smaller mesh 

 than the smallest ginseng seed. So that when the seed is wanted for 

 planting one year after being put in storage it can easily Jje had by 

 placing the seed in a sieve and washing in a tub of water. If this is 

 not done considerable inconvenience will be had in planting on ac- 

 count of trash and small stones. 



In planting, the seed beds are made four feet wide and as long 

 as needed. The beds are divided with boards, six inches wide, for 

 walking on in tending the beds. The seed is planted about one inch 

 deep, in rows four inches apart, and two inches apart in the row. 

 These are left to grow in the seed bed two seasons. As soon as the 

 bed is planted a mulch of sawdust should be put on about three- 

 fourths of an inch deep, and on top of this another mulch of leaves, 

 straw or hay should be put during the winter. In the spring this last 

 mulch should be removed and the sawdust stirred with a rake, so 

 that the tiny ginseng plants may come up. If this mulch is left on 

 too long they will be smothered, and if not put on at all they may 

 winter-kill. Both roots and seed should stay frozen until spring. 



After two seasons in the seed bed they are dug in the fall, after 

 growth has ceased, and transplanted to about seven or eight inches 

 apart, where they should remain until ready for market. They begin 

 to bear seed when two or three years old and keep on increasing 

 each year until they have from seventy-five to one hundred seeds 

 per plant. 



As ginseng naturally grows in shady places, some shade must be 

 provided, or the sun will kill it. It does well in the timber, but the 

 shade is irregular, some places too much and others not enough, also 

 the tree roots get in the beds and sap them of moisture and fertility. 

 If as good soil can be had in the open they will do better under 

 artificial shade, which is usually made of lath, nailed one-half in. 

 apart. This distance is thought about right, but I am not certain 

 but what the plants would make a more rapid growth with more 

 light, about one-third instead of one-fourth light. 



Almost every grower has his own method of erecting the shade. 

 One way is to set posts, which are eight tt. long, two feet in the 

 ground, eight feet by thirteen and one-half feet, nailing round poles 

 or 2x4 on top of posts the short way. On this are laid the frames 

 of lath made of two pieces of 1x4, 14 feet long, set about 30 in. 



