LETTERS FROM GROWERS. 



during the winter. I think it might be a good idea to 

 put woven wire around the seed beds to protect them 

 from mice." 



[To show the extensive range of ginseng cultiva- 

 tion in America we present in Fig. 23 a corner in 

 the ginseng gardens of Harlan P. Kelsey, Kawana, 

 N. C] 



Mr. George Stanton, Apulia, N. Y. : "The Chi- 

 nese ginseng farm at Apulia Station, N. Y., has now 

 about fifty square rods of ground stocked with roots 

 and seed sown. The seed crop of the past season was 

 fifty pounds, which can be sold for $5 to $6 an ounce 

 or $70 to $80 a pound, and was the product of less 

 than a quarter of an acre of seed-bearing plants. 

 Ginseng culture is having a great boom. Demand for 

 stock much greater than supply. We closed the 

 season this year with orders for more than six thou- 

 sand roots which we could not supply. We had 

 shipped more than 17,300 roots and nearly forty 

 pounds seed during the season. 



"We are learning the importance of thorough 

 drainage for ginseng culture. Our experience with 

 clay hard-pan subsoil and imperfect drainage has been 

 very unsatisfactory, resulting in loss of roots from 

 rot. Such soil should be tile drained. But, if possi- 

 ble, deep loamy soil should always be used ; if slightly 

 sandy all the better. 



"We are also forcibly impressed with the impor- 

 tance of humus in the soil. This leads us to the natural 

 conclusion that it is not safe to put ginseng into ground 

 from which a crop of matured roots has been taken for 

 market. Practical experience has confirmed this con- 

 clusion. Ginseng does not supply humus to the soil, 

 and the four or six years required to produce a crop 

 will entirely exhaust the humus. This is a lesson we 

 did not like to learn. After putting up framework 



