ADULTERATION AND FRAUD. 93 



ceed in making the things grow, be must wait four or 

 five years before he can sell the root. No, he has not 

 forgotten that the plant will produce seed (it simply 

 can't help doing that !) and that this seed will be worth 

 so much at present prices, nor that it may be planted, 

 and that, and that, and that! He has not forgotten 

 this, but he knows that it is mostly on paper. What if 

 the plant should die? It possibly will if the grower 

 has had no experience. What if the price should fall ? 

 No. While the author has no fault to find with the man 

 who asks high prices, he nevertheless thinks that after 

 the boom, sellers of ginseng nursery stock will be glad 

 to get $5 a hundred for one-year-old roots, and $i an 

 ounce for seed of even named varieties, and that at 

 these prices they should make money. Until that 

 time arrive, however, the man who wants to grow gin- 

 seng must expect to pay for his fun. If he could only 

 put himself in the seller's place how quickly prices 

 would fall! 



But, joking aside, the only conclusion to be drawn 

 from the conditions presented in the preceding and the 

 present sections, are that prices of both roots and seeds 

 must decline, that the prices of dried root must also 

 fall, that fraud will be exposed and that the industry, 

 now afflicted with the rickets and only commencing to 

 toddle, will outgrow its weakness and finally stand 

 firmly. These conclusions are also in harmony with 

 what the consuls in China and Korea have to say of 

 the ginseng industry in general. A careful perusal of 

 the letters that follow should give the would-be grower 

 hope that even should he pay exorbitant prices for 

 stock he can look forward to profitable returns. No 

 further comment need be made than to say that these 

 quotations are either entire letters or the important 

 parts of such as have appeared since the first edition of 

 this book was published. They are arranged, as will 



