A NEW PROFITABLE CANADIAN INDUSTRY. 



eties we now have under test. They 

 are both large and handsome and would 

 make good shippers, but we will wait 

 until the end of the season before going 

 into details. 



Wm Stevenson, Guelph, is the only 

 man in Ontario, I know of, who has all 

 the varieties mentioned for sale. Since 



there has been such a demand of late 

 for the best varieties would it not be 

 well foi growers having plants of these 

 for sale to put their " ad " in the Hor- 

 ticulturist. 



Yours Truly, 



H. L. HuTT. 

 O. A. C. Guelph. 



A NEW PROFITABLE CANADIAN INDUSTRY. 



By D. W. Bkadlk. 



Z>| ps^HERE is a plant that grows in 

 many parts of Ontario and 

 Quebec which for some time 

 has been an article of export, 

 but now has become very scarce and is 

 nigh to extermination, because the 

 natural increase is not able to maintain 

 a supply equal to the demand, especial- 

 ly as no effort was made to leave under- 

 sized plants to produce seed. In 1891 

 the Ontario Legislature prohibited the 

 digging of it from January to September, 

 with the object of preventing its destruc- 

 tion ; but so long as greedy hunters 

 would dig up the plants regardless of 

 size, the open season is sufficient to ac- 

 complish sooner or later its extermina- 

 tion. The export from Ontario and 

 Quebec ten years ago was estimated to 

 be worth a hundred thousand dollars ; 

 it is now so small that it cannot be 

 found in the exports of the last fiscal 

 year, but occurs among names of other 

 roots imported. The plant referred to 

 is 



THE GINSENG, Panax quinquefolium. L. 

 It has been successfully cultivated in 

 the United States, and inasmuch as it 

 is also at home in our forests and can 

 be just as easily grown here, therefore 

 this article is written, both to call atten- 

 tion to the subject and to give the latest 

 information in the possession of the 



writer concerning the method of cultiva- 

 tion and preparation for market, as well 

 as its market value and the probable 

 profitable demand. The writer is in- 

 debted for much of the information and 

 for the illustrations which elucidate it, to 

 a paper on the cultivation of the Ameri- 

 can Ginseng by Professor George C 

 Butz, published by the Department of 

 Agriculture of Pennsylvania. 



There is also a special incentive that 

 appeals to the enterprising Canadian to 

 induce him to give some consideration 

 to this matter, in the fact that ginseng 

 grown in our climate is of better quality, 

 and therefore commands a higher price 

 than that grown to the south of us. J. 

 L. Cilley, a New York exporter, issued 

 a circular last August in which he offered 

 to pay for Canadian, Vermont, New 

 York and Northern Pennsylvania Gin- 

 seng $3 to $3.20 per pound ; for that of 

 Southern Penna, Northern Ohio, North- 

 ern Indiana, Michigan and Western 

 Illinois, $2.90 to $3.00: a difference in 

 our favor of twenty cents per pound. 



THE CULTIVATION OF GINSENG 



begins with the gathering and planting 

 of the seeds which are contained in the 

 berry-like fruit, which is scarlet when 

 perfectly ripe ; two, sometimes three in 

 a berry. These will be found ripe in 

 the latter part of August. They do not 



309 



