CULTURAL DIRECTIONS FOR GINSENG. 



^^TT^HERE is no doubt but that 

 Ginseng (Aralia quinquefolia) 

 can be successfully grown. At 

 present, Ginseng commands a 

 cash price in the open market of from 

 $2.50 per pound for poor, to $4.00 for 

 the best quality, and there is apparently 

 an unlimited demand for it at these fig- 

 ures. That the supply, which has been 

 in the past entirely sustained by native 

 collectors throughout the region where 

 Ginseng is indigenous, is inadequate to 

 the demand, is plainly shown by the 

 steady increase in price from year to 

 year, and sections of country where it 

 was abundant but a few years ago are 

 almost entirely depleted. Eventually it 

 must become a cultivated crop, but the 

 fact that it takes from four to six years' 

 growth before it is ready for the market 

 will always militate against its general 

 cultivation, as will also the fact that it 

 takes special conditions of soil and treat- 

 ment to make its growing a success. 

 This makes returns more certain for 

 those who devote care and attention to 

 its cultivation. 



It must have a lich, cool, loamy loose 

 soil, always preferring shade, and should 

 have a heavy mulching of wood leaves 

 in autumn, which are to be left on dur- 

 ing the next summer to decay and con- 

 serve moisture. It will thrive in almost 

 any rich garden soil, if given shade and 

 moisture and constant cultivation. 



Cultivated Ginseng, properly cured, 

 is always classed finest grade, which 

 means large smooth, clean and sun- 

 dried roots, and should an acre produce 

 but a thousand pounds in five years. 



the profits would be very large, and it 

 would not be unreasonable to expect 

 double this yield. For those who in- 

 tend planting on a large scale, the fol- 

 lowing suggestions will aid in making a 

 proper start. 



First, where possible, select a cool, 

 moist piece of ground, preferably where 

 there is natural loam, or where the 

 ground is loose and rich. Well rotted 

 stable manure is good for bringing up 

 garden soil to a proper condition, as is 

 leaf mould, rotted sods, etc. Sandy 

 soil, if rich and moist, is not objection- 

 able, but rather desirable. 



Plant in rows 8 inches apart, 4 inches 

 apart in the row, leaving an alley 2 feet 

 wide every sixth row, thus making beds 

 nearly 8 feet wide, each with 6 long 

 rows to the bed. Over these beds you 

 can erect artificial shade by making lath 

 covers with 4 foot laths, i inch apart, 

 on frames 8 feet long and 4 feet wide, 

 made out of 2 inch strips, x]4^ inch 

 thick ; then put in posts along each side 

 of the beds — 5 feet high — to which nail 

 2 inch strips to support the lath frame. 

 These frames will last for many years, 

 and can be taken in in winter. If nat- 

 ural shade is provided under trees, 

 frames of course are not needed ; but it 

 will always pay to have some shade that 

 will keep the ground moist. 



Cultivation under the frames can thus 

 be prosecuted without disturbing the 

 shade. Keep the plants free of weeds, 

 and cultivate the same as for any garden 

 crop, and success should result. 



H. P. Kelsev. 

 Boston^ Mass. 



429 



