How to Grow^ Ginseng 



THE conditions necessary for the suc- 

 cessful culture of ginseng may be 

 stated briefly as follows : A rich, 

 cool, loamy, loose soil, natural or arti- 

 ficial shade, moisture and proper atten- 

 tion. Although there are many ways of 



Wm. Gilgore, Peterboro, Ontario 



inches apart and fasten with staples. 

 Over this, I put cedar boughs. 



CULTIVATION 



- The cultivation of ginseng is as cer- 

 tain and as easy as that of any other gar- 

 den root. Attention to a few simple but 



Outfide|View of Ginseng Garden Showing Lath Sides and Brush Top 



One of the Gardens of the Saugatnck Ginseng Co., Michigran 



applying these principles, there can be 

 little doubt of success if they are fol- 

 lowed. 



When starting a patch, select a cool, 

 moist piece of ground, preferably level, or 

 nearly so where there is natural loam or 

 where the soil is loose and rich. Well- 

 rotted stable manure, mixed with an equal 

 quantity of swamp muck, will bring gar- 

 den soil to the proper condition. The 

 ground must be fertile. Sandy soil, if 

 rich and moist, is not objectionable. The 

 drainage must be good. 



PREPARING THE BEDS 



Spade the ground to a depth of twelve 

 or fourteen inches. My beds are five 

 feet wide by sixty feet long. I put pine 

 strips, six inches wide by one inch thick, 

 lengthwise of the bed and drive in a few 

 small stakes to hold them in position. I 

 then spread a coat of well-rotted horse 

 manure, mixed with black muck, well 

 pulverized, over the bed to a depth of 

 three or four inches. I spade it a second 

 time and rake the bed level. The bed i.s 

 now in the right condition to receive the 

 young roots. I plant the roots six inches 

 apart with eight inches between the rows. 



For shade, I .set up cedar posts, 

 twelve feet apart, across the beds and 

 about the same distance apart length- 

 wise of the beds and nail scantling across 

 from post to post. I run wire along the 

 top of the scantlings about eighteen 



necessary points such as shade, drainage, 

 and so forth, is all that is necessary to 

 accomplish what was twenty years ago 

 thought to be impossible. 



The ginseng root is at its best age for 

 commercial purposes after five or six 

 years from seed. It seems to be the gen- 

 eral impression that nothing can be real- 

 ized from the growing of this root till five 



or six years have passed. This is a mis- 

 take as the roots can be dried and sold in 

 three or four years but the profit will be 

 greater from larger roots. A very im- 

 portant point for the intending grower 

 to consider is the securing of roots and 

 seeds from the same latitude in which he 

 is located if possible. Those from a few 

 degrees farther south will not ripen the 

 seed as well in cold seasons. 



PROFITS 



Profits depend upon the intelligence of 

 the grower. Strict attention to details 

 is as essential in this line as in any other. 

 As an illustration, I may say that a plot 

 of ground sixty-five feet long by five feet 

 wide will hold i,ooo roots. At the end of 

 four or five years, it will produce from 

 fifty-five to sixty pounds of dried root. The 

 present price ranges from $6.00 to $8.00 

 a pound, according to quality. Quality 

 means large, clean roots. But that is not 

 all. At the end of four years, you would 

 have 1,500 seedlings and 8,000 seed in 

 the ground, due to come up the following 

 spring, and from 15,000 to 20,000 seed 

 on hand, — all the product of the original 

 1,000 year-old roots. The revenue from 

 the seed is enough to pay all expenses, 

 leaving the proceeds from the dried root 

 all profit. Follow the process for ten 

 years and I will venture to say there is 

 a profit of 100 per cent, per annum at 

 present prices. 



Ginseng is lavish in the production of 

 seed so that the grower is his own seed- 

 man and nurseryman after the first two 

 years. In making the above estimate, I 

 am well within the bounds of probability. 

 I often have been asked why farmers do 

 not take up the culture of ginseng and 



Inside^ View of Same Garden— Brosh Shade on Top— Seedlingrof 1907 in Beds 



266 



