ASIATIC GINSENG INDUSTRY AND MARKET. 103 



references through the banks, and his familiarity with 

 the ginseng trade recommends him to American 

 exporters of this article." 



Mr. S. lida writes of the condition of "Ginseng 

 in Korea" as follows in American Gardening, March 

 i, 1902: 



"There seems to be a renewal of the once perennial 

 trouble about ginseng in Korea. This valuable root 

 is grown in considerable quantities in the peninsula, 

 especially in the neighborhood of Kaisong, in Kyong- 

 ki-do, which is near Seoul. The cultivators have never 

 been allowed to dispose of the root on their own 

 account. The business has always been a government 

 monopoly. In old times, when Korea sent annual 

 tribute to China, her envoys used to carry with them 

 the year's exportable supply of ginseng, which they 

 sold as best they could to Chinese merchants. But 

 when Korea acquired, her independence, under Japan's 

 auspices, in 1896, it became necessary for the Seoul 

 authorities to provide some other means of disposing 

 of the root. They therefore established agencies at 

 suitable places in China. 



"Meanwhile, Japanese adventurers, fcaking advan- 

 tage of the discontent caused among the cultivators by 

 the extremely low prices at which they were compelled 

 to part with their produce to the government, repaired 

 to Kaisong, and succeeded in obtaining large quanti- 

 ties of the root. Things went merrily enough until 

 this illegal trading began to bear its inevitable fruit. 

 Some of the Japanese, secure against open complaint 

 on the part of the Korean cultivators, obtained supplies 

 of ginseng on the credit of promissory notes which 

 they never redeemed. 



"Finally these irregularities became so flagrant 

 that, after much consultation, it was decided to entrust 

 to a Japanese firm the whole business of selling the 

 ginseng. The Mitsui Bussan Kaisha were selected, 



