ASIATIC GINSENG INDUSTRY AND MARKET. 105 



granite. For the past few years the annual crop has 

 been growing larger; 15,000 catties (19,650 pounds) 

 has been regarded as the normal quantity, but by 

 gathering it at five years instead of seven, and by 

 increasing the number of beds, the supply has finally 

 exceeded the demand. This must be of interest to the 

 number of Americans who have of late gone into 

 ginseng culture." 



In reply to inquiries by a New York correspond- 

 ent, Consul James W. Ragsdale, of Tientsin, under 

 date of June 26, 1902, writes in Consular Reports : 



"There are four principal kinds of ginseng known 

 to the trade the native, which comes from Kirin and 

 its neighborhood ; the Korean, the American, and the 

 Japanese. Miraculous healing properties are ascribed 

 to the Kirin ginseng, and it commands a very high 

 price, the best specimens being sold at two hundred to 

 six hundred times their weight in silver. Only the 

 wealthy, of course, can indulge in this costly drug, but 

 such is the faith of all classes of China in the life- 

 giving virtues of the plant that even the poorer classes 

 make tremendous sacrifices to obtain it, in cases of 

 emergency. Owing to the immense demand and the 

 limited supply in the wild state, the farmers near Kirin 

 are doing a thriving business in cultivating ginseng, 

 although it commands only a fraction of the price that 

 is paid for it in a wild condition. 



"Korean ginseng is next in cost, the prices ranging 

 from $5 to $75 ($2.07 to $31.12) per catty (one and 

 one-third pounds), according to size and quality, one 

 Mexican dollar equaling forty-one and one-half cents. 

 The consumption of Korean ginseng must be enor- 

 mous, but no statistics are available, as most of it is 

 smuggled over the border from Korea to China. 



"American ginseng is becoming more widely 

 known and more popular every year, especially in the 

 southern provinces. In the last few years, the prices 



