GINSENG COLUMN. 



Conducted by P. < '. Erkel. Rockford, Minn . Secretary 

 Minnesota Ginseng urowers' Associaiion. 



At the tenth annual meeting of the Minnesota Ginseng Growers Asso- 

 ciation, held at West Hotel at same time of the Horticulturists' annual meet- 

 ing, it was decided to become affiliated with that Society. 



The attendance was about normal but an unusual amount of enthusiasm 

 was manifested on account of the importance of the principal topic to be 

 discussed, that is, the -marketing problem. 



There has been an unlimited and steady demand for all the ginseng 

 ever produced in the United States to supply the" Chinese market, in which 

 country ginseng has been in use for centuries and is considered a panacea 

 for all the diseases the four hundred million or more Chinese fall heir to. 



By reports from China and from statistics furnished by the U. S. 

 Revenue Department we learn there has been a steady increase in the 

 value of ginseng roots. The average price per pound in 1858 as declared at 

 the U. S. Revenue office was 52 cents per pound, while the average for the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, 1915, as given by the same authority, was $8.91 

 per pound. 



Regardless of this steady increase in value the growers have for the 

 past few years been compelled to accept less than half the amount that buy- 

 ers paid them for the same quality roots three or four years ago. 



It is a well known fact that the cultivation as well as the sale of gin- 

 seng in Manchuria is a government monopoly and that a trust handles the 

 entire product for the government. It is quite evident this Oriental trust 

 is having something to do about dictating the price to be paid growers 

 of American ginseng. 



On November 1st a meeting was held in Chicago, with delegates from 

 practically all the ginseng growing districts in the United States, for the 

 purpose of organizing an American Ginseng Growers' Association to look 

 after marketing the million dollars worth of ginseng produced annually in 

 this country. 



A co-operative selling organization was formed, and it is proposed to 

 establish headquarters in New York and give the buyers every opportunity 

 to do the square thing, and if they refuse to do this it is proposed to estab- 

 lish a permanent selling depot in Hong Kong. 



Practically every member of the Minnesota Ginseng Growers' Associa- 

 tion present who has any roots to market at the present time or expects to 

 have within five years took stock in this National Selling Association, and 

 if the same enthusiasm is manifested throughout the United States among 

 ginseng growers it will be an easy matter for the growers to control the 

 sale of their million dollar crop through this co-operative selling association. 



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