310 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The President : Ginseng ! that was what saved us for two 

 years at Hutchinson. The first year the grasshoppers came, the 

 second year a hailstorm took everything we had, and the third year 

 ginseng was our salvation. Then it sold at from five to six cents 

 a pound, but now the price is up to its weight in silver, and seeds- 

 men tell us we can make wonderful profits by raising it in our gar- 

 dens. One of my neighbors has done something with ginseng. He 

 has been about four years raising ginseng. He has forest condi- 

 tions, having his ginseng garden established among the trees on the 

 east side of the buildings. There are many different kinds of trees 

 growing there such as one finds in the forest, and after so long a 

 time I think the largest ginseng roots he has are about one-half the 

 size of a lead pencil. I think in the course of about fifteen years he 

 may get a crop of ginseng. All those that I have talked with tell me 

 about the same thing. One man who has been in the ginseng busi- 

 ness a great many years buying it, says he wishes they would keep 

 right on trying to grow it so he could buy it, but he does not see 

 any future for it. Ginseng all goes to China. The Chinese will 

 work for $2 per month on their farms where we have to pay $20 

 per month. I am told they have the best soil in the world for the 

 growing of ginseng. They have the cheap labor, the natural soil, 

 the home market, and it is a grand one too. and if any one can raise 

 ginseng in the garden it seems to me it is the Chinese that can do it. 

 This is not a conclusive argument, but it is something we can think 

 of before we invest in ginseng seed at four or five dollars per 

 ounce. 



Mr. McColly : I cannot say much in regard to the ginseng 

 business, but I know that a man who expects to grow ginseng must 

 have considerable patience before he will get any money out of' 

 it. But there is as much money in it as there is in any plant that 

 grows. I have experimented for a couple of years on my own ac- 

 count to see what could be done with the plant, and as far as I have 

 been able to handle the plant I have had very good success. I have 

 started with the wild plants and they have made a very good 

 growth ; they have made a larger growth than they do in the wild 

 state. The seed crop has grown wonderfully. I dug down to the 

 roots this fall to see what the prospect would be another year, and 

 I was surprised to find the growth the roots had made, and the bed 

 is much larger than it was a year ago. I have only a few hundred 

 plants. I was at Howard Lake visiting this fall, and I saw Mr. 

 Simmons' garden. He has a fine little plantation. Of course, it is 

 small, but it is only a question of time when there will be a large 

 number of men growing the plant. It is possible in time to over- 

 do it, but I believe there is money in it for the man who goes into 

 it early. 



Mr. Eddy : Mr. Simmons is a friend of mine. He has a very 

 fine beginning. He had a great deal of trouble in starting right. 

 There are little things about ginseng that have to be learned. He 

 says his four year old roots are twice as large as in the wild state, 

 and cultivated plants will produce one hundred seeds to one or two 

 in the wild state. He is selling seed and roots both, and I believe 



