The Canadian Horticulturist. 165 



History of Ginseng — The genus Panax was first applied to it, and not 

 Aralia ; this was, no doubt, on account of its being considered by the Chinese 

 as a panacea for all diseases. The name of the plant, among both the Chinese 

 and the North American Indians, means, in their language, the figure of a man, 

 and was given to it from a fancied resemblance of the human figure. In fact, 

 much of its virtue seems to depend upon its form. With us there is little faith 

 in its medicinal power, but the Chinese have unbounded belief in it and hence 

 are eager to secure it. It was first discovered in Canada, near Montreal in 17 16, 

 by Father Lafitau, a Jesuit missionary among the Iroquois, and in 17 18, a 

 description of it was furnished. The French soon engaged in collecting and 

 exporting it to China, and so great did the trade become that it gave quite an 

 impulse to the commerce of Montreal for a number of years. At one time great 

 numbers of Indians were engaged in gathermg it about Montreal and Quebec, 

 and large quantities of it were sent to China. In 1832 the shipments of ginseng 

 from the United States amounted to 407,067 pounds, valued at $99,303. In 

 one county in Wisconsin the trade is reported to have reached, in 1858, $40,000, 

 and in 1859, $80,ooo. Immense quantities have been exported from Minnesota. 

 At present the chief sources of the plant in the States are Ohio, West Virginia 

 and Minnesota. About the close of the eighteenth century it was discovered 

 also in Massachusetts, its exportation commenced and large returns obtained. 

 During the last year, 75,000 pounds were sent from America. In the forests of 

 Tartary, where it was once plentiful, it is now almost extinct, and hence has 

 arisen the demand for it from America. It is not regarded of any value in this 

 country as a medicine. Some are fond of chewing it, as the taste is rather 

 agreeable, being sweet, bitter, somewhat aromatic and pungent. The fact that 

 Chinese doctors claim that the roots of different shape possess widely different 

 medicinal properties, indicates that its healing virtues are more of an imaginary 

 character than real. But faith in its virtues continues, and as yet a great demand 

 for it exists. The Chinese physicians introduce it into almost all their prescrip- 

 tions for the nobility, to heal the sick and increase the vigor of the healthy. 



A traveller in China remarks, he never entered a drug shop but ginseng 

 was being sold. Volumes have been written by Chinese doctors upon its medi- 

 cinal powers, asserting that it gives ready relief in extreme fatigue, renders 

 respiration easy, strengthens the stomach, promotes the appetite, relieves all 

 nervous affections and gives a vigorous tone of body, even in extreme old age. 



The following figures, taken from the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal^ 

 April, 1891, will give some idea of the trade in ginseng in Canada : 



The quantity sent out of Canada last year is stated to represent $100,000, 

 and one retail druggist exported $1,600 worth. From along the Kingston & 

 Pembroke Railroad fully $20,000 worth was shipped. The price realized was 

 from $3 to $3.50 per pound for dry roots. The question is now being considered 

 whether it would not pay to cultivate it. 



A writer in Vick's Magazine writes as follows upon the cultivation of 



