PREPARATION OF THE BEDS. 21 



quality and position is its natural power of holding 

 moisture. Do not understand, by this, that a wet soil 

 is meant; ginseng does not grow naturally in such 

 ground, and will die when stuck in a bog. 



To sum up : Choose a moist, mellow, deep loam, 

 rich in decaying vegetable matter, free from obstruc- 

 tions, naturally well drained and preferably facing the 

 north. Such a soil, in such a situation, will be almost 

 sure to be capable of retaining moisture and of giving 

 good return at digging time. 



PREPARATION OF THE BEDS. 



We are now ready to prepare our plantation. We 

 may dispense with all beds, and trust to nature to do 

 the work. All that Js necessary, in this case, is to 

 roughly clear the ground of brush and leaves, scatter 

 and lightly cover the seed, and trust to time. This is 

 the lazy man's method, and is liable to great losses from 

 the drying out of the seed- and from the browsing and 

 trampling of animals. It is slow in the extreme. 

 It is therefore condemned, and the following one 

 recommended. 



We will need one bed in which to raise seedlings, 

 and another in which to transplant our growing roots. 

 Let us look at the nursery, or seed bed, first. Spare no 

 pains to make it perfect. The best place for it, as in 

 fact for all ginseng beds, is in the forest, where the trees 

 are tall, and where there is no undergrowth to interfere. 

 Fig. 8 presents a photograph of Mr. George Stanton's 

 nursery plantation, where young ginseng plants are 

 raised by the tens of thousands. As will be seen, it is 

 admirably adapted for the purpose to which it is put, 

 the trees being tall, the undergrowth scant, and the 

 shade not too dense. 



Fork the ground over thoroughly to the depth of a 

 foot or more, and take out all tree roots and stones" that 



