ASIATIC GINSENG INDUSTRY AND MARKET. 97 



letters from all parts of the United States asking for 

 market quotations of ginseng and for the names of 

 buyers here. In my previous report on ginseng, 

 dated January 7, 1898, I said in brief that it would be 

 absolutely necessary for buyers here to see the stuff 

 before purchasing, as the purchaser will not take the 

 word of another as to quality or condition; that 

 Chinese buy their ginseng after carefully sorting it 

 themselves, and would no more think of purchasing 

 at a distance than we would buy a horse with our eyes 

 blindfolded. I further suggested that if American 

 exporters cared to send a shipment of ginseng to my 

 care, I would personally see that it was submitted to 

 the Chinese buyers, and obtain an opinion from them 

 as to the possibility of finding a profitable market on 

 this coast. One American dealer in ginseng (a 

 resident of Pennsylvania) alone took advantage of my 

 offer. On July 8, 1899, he shipped to my care a box 

 of American ginseng containing eighteen and one-half 

 pounds, of which he says : 



" 'I saved some of my last year's crop especially to 

 send you. I am sending three grades. The market in 

 New York last year went ninety cents higher than ever 

 before, and has opened this year $1.75 higher than ever 

 before. I think that the price will reach $7 per pound. 

 . . . The question comes up many times in this 

 country as to what use is made of our ginseng in 

 China, and I should like very much to be informed/ 



"The last question was answered in my previous 

 report. 



"The sample box of ginseng arrived, and it was 

 found that no care had been taken in the packing, and 

 no attention was paid to the directions clearly laid 

 down in my previous report. The three grades were 

 more or less mixed and broken, and, worse still, were 

 somewhat damp. All this could have been easily 

 guarded against by careful packing. As the sender 



