104 PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



and since last year they have been carrying on the 

 work, paying cash to the government immediately on 

 receipt of the root and then exporting and disposing 

 of it at the firm's risk. It is a big business, involving 

 a floating capital of over a million yen annually, and 

 whether the results have thus far been favorable to the 

 Japanese firm we do not know, but rumor says that 

 they do not succeed in collecting their money from the 

 Chinese consumers as promptly as they themselves pay 

 over the purchase price to the Korean authorities. The 

 point is, however, that a new invasion, of adventurers 

 has taken place at Kaisong, this being the time for 

 harvesting the crop, and that some seventy persons, 

 Japanese and Koreans in collusion, are resorting to all 

 sorts of devices to evade the official monopoly. Appli- 

 cation has been made by the Korean government to 

 Mr. Hayashi, and it is said that the matter is causing 

 some trouble." 



Minister H. N. Allen, of Seoul, under date of May 

 28, 1902, sends a report on the Korean ginseng crop 

 for 1901, as follows: 



"The crop of Korean ginseng for 1901 has been 

 sold to a Japanese firm for 1,255,500 yen ($625,239). 

 It amounted, with beard, to 52,000 catties (68,120 

 pounds). After purchasing this ginseng, the pur- 

 chasers deliberately burned 10,000 catties (13,100 

 pounds), as the supply was in excess of the demand. 

 It is said that a considerable portion of last year's 

 supply still remains unsold in China, and that this 

 year's crop in Korea was enough for nearly three 

 years' consumption. The market is limited, as the 

 Chinese are about the only consumers. Although 

 ginseng is regularly raised in various parts of Korea, 

 only that raised upon the imperial farms at Songdo is 

 said to have the real virtues claimed for the root as a 

 medicine. These Songdo plantations are the only ones 

 that are guarded with care. The soil is a disintegrated 



