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LETTERS FROM GROWERS^ ^ ( 111 , 



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250,000 and 300,000 plants of different ages. The 

 oldest will be five in the spring and we have also 

 planted a large amount of seeds of the 1900 crop that 

 will produce plants this spring." 



Mr. Charles B. Parent, Birchton, N. Y. : "In the 

 fall of 1896 I began the cultivation of ginseng by 

 planting about a thousand roots ; the next fall two 

 hundred more roots and two ounces of seed; in 1898, 

 two hundred roots and five ounces of seed; in 1899, 

 three hundred roots and twelve ounces of seed. In 



1900 I transplanted from my nursery bed three hundred 

 and fifty roots and sowed about one pound of seed. 

 Previous to 1900 I bought my increase of roots. In 



1901 I transplanted about twenty-nine hundred roots 

 and planted about a pound of seeds. 



"In the fall, 1901, I dug from my oldest bed of 

 roots to the amount of eight and one-half pounds, dried. 

 Seven and one-half pounds sold for $7.50 per pound 

 the product of about fifteen square feet of ground. 

 Previous to this digging I had taken out three pounds 

 nine ounces, dried. These were removed for the 

 purpose of thinning out, the plants being somewhat 

 crowded. I have now an area of one hundred feet by 

 forty-eight stocked with roots and seeds, the roots from 

 one to six years old and seed that will come up next 

 spring, 1902. The dried roots sold yielded $198.74. 

 Since beginning I value the seeds at $500 not a high 

 valuation. [A partial view of .Mr. Parent's ginseng 

 garden at Ballston Spa, N. Y., is seen in Fig. 19.] 



"Anyone thinking of growing this root for market 

 should take into consideration the time required to 

 place the business on a paying basis. If good two- 

 year-old rot)ts be planted they should become market- 

 able in four years six years from the seed. This is 

 not an estimate of what should be, but what can be 

 done if proper care be given the plant during this 

 whole time of growth. Some will grow a good article 



