106 PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



paid for it have more than doubled. In the province 

 of Chinkiang, American ginseng is in special demand. 

 Almost everybody takes it in the spring as a tonic. 

 The retail prices prevailing at present are: 



"The cheapest ginseng comes from Japan; it is 

 used principally by those who cannot afford the other 

 kinds. 



"There can be no doubt that a profitable business 

 can be done in this article, if the trade is properly 

 pushed by Chinese agents of good social standing. 

 Wild ginseng [Manchurian] commands a much higher 

 price in China than the cultivated article." 



LETTERS FROM GROWERS 



An attempt was made to get letters of experiences 

 from many growers throughout the land for the pur- 

 pose of including them in this book. It is to be 

 regretted, however, that so few men were willing to 

 write at all and that the majority of those who did 

 send letters, wrote so little that might be of interest to 

 the general reader. Since the author wishes to keep 

 in close touch with ginseng culture as it gradually but 

 surely rises to the dignity of an industry, he will keep 

 a register of growers and dealers. He, therefore, 

 requests all such to send him their addresses on a postal 

 card, with the words ginseng grower, or ginseng 

 dealer, etc. 



Mr. George C. Foulk describes in Foreign Rela- 

 tions of the United States, 1885, the ginseng gardens 

 of Korea and the methods of growing the crop there 

 as follows : 



