14 THE GINSENG INDUSTRi. 



There is, however, a more important reason for dig- 

 ging the root after the ripening of the seed. During 

 the summer the plant is expending its energies in growth 

 and the perfection of its seed. As a consequence, the 

 root is in poor condition, and is thus unfit for the uses 

 to which it is put. But in the fall, when the seed has 

 been matured and the plant has stored food with which 

 to commence the following year, the root is in its best 

 condition, being not only firmer and heavier from the 

 stored nutriment, and thus liable to less shrinkage in 

 drying, but it is more valuable as a drug. A given 

 weight of green roots will realize more when dug in 

 season and properly dried than when gathered in the 

 summer. 



NATURAL HOME OF THE PLANT. 



Ginseng may be found growing wild as far west as 

 the first tier of states west of the Mississippi, and from 

 Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. In the warm south, it 

 confines itself to the mountains and other high ground 

 where the temperature is relatively low ; in the north, it 

 descends to the low lands. It delights in the rich, 

 moist, but well drained soil from which our oak, maple, 

 beech and basswood forests spring, but not in the wet 

 and muddy soils that support the tamarack and the 

 cedar. Forest soils in which there is a wealth of leaf 

 mold, and that are fairly light in texture, are most favor- 

 able to the growth of this plant. It is almost never 

 found in open ground and soon perishes in clearings, but 

 thrives in the half shade afforded by hardwood forests 

 where the undergrowth is scant. 



HOW TO BEGIN STARTING WITH WILD ROOTS. 



The easiest way to commence ginseng cultivation is 

 to collect plants in the neighborhood and to transplant 

 them. Dig them either early in the spring just as the 

 new growth begins to appear, or in the autumn, when 



