216 TODMORDEN BOTANICAL SOCIETY. \July, 



bridged road forty-five miles to tlie little town of Crow -wing, 

 "where we arrived on the 2nd of November, completing a trip 

 of something over four hundred miles in fifteen days. At this 

 place we left our horses, and took stages, a hundred and fifty miles, 

 to the city of St. Paul, and from thence by Mississippi boat and 

 railroad to Canada. 



" I may mention here that in St. Paul I noticed several barrels 

 of ginseng-root which had been collected by Indians and others, 

 and was intended for export from New York or elsewhere to 

 China. This American Ginseng is the Aralia quinquefolia, a 

 different species, it is believed, from the Chinese one, but never- 

 theless highly esteemed in that country. It is said to be used 

 there as a medicine in cases of debility, but its medicinal proper- 

 ties are not so highly esteemed in this country. Its uses in 

 China must be very extensive, as, independent of the Ginseng 

 obtained in China, and the enormous quantities exported from 

 America, imports are registered at Shanghai of the enormous 

 quantity of 55,000 catties, from the 11th November, 1858, to 30th 

 June, 1859. This root is found in abundance in the western 

 part of Minnesota, principally in the woods on Oak ridges, and 

 there are persons who make large sums by collecting it and 

 selling at St. Paul for one dollar per pound ; by sending it to 

 New York, they get a much larger price. Now as this root is 

 so valuable, and as the climate and soil in some parts of Canada 

 resemble that of Minnesota, I wish merely to mention the possi- 

 bility of cultivating it in Canada. Hitherto the market has been 

 supplied by indigenous growth, and the consequent disappearance 

 of the plant in many parts of Canada and the States, suggests 

 the propriety of adopting measures by which its production may 

 be increased by artificial means. 



"A list of the plants collected at Fort Garry and along the route, 

 with their localities, and critical remarks on the more interesting 

 and obscure species, will be published in the Society's Transac- 

 tions." 



TODMORDEN BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 



Monday evening last, the 6th of May, was the time appointed 

 to celebrate the anniversary of this flourishing Society ; and at 

 half-past six, about forty-four sat down to dinner, and Mr. A. 



