136 PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



at this time, will be the statement that a preparation 

 of ginseng is now being placed upon the American 

 market, and is receiving the attention and endorse- 

 ment of many reputable physicians who have used it 

 with success in their practice. It appears to act purely 



(as a secernent to the secretory glands of the alimentary 

 canal, thereby materially assisting the proper assimila- 

 tion of food. In cases characterized by a lack of 

 functional activity in the digestive tract, as well as in 

 general malnutrition, its use has been highly recom- 

 mended. 



PROTECTION BY EAW 



As mentioned on Page 13 there are laws pro- 

 tecting ginseng during certain seasons of the year. 

 Since these will be of interest to the grower, especially 

 in the States where these laws are in operation, they 

 are quoted together with the remarks therein con- 

 tained in Bulletin 16. The reduction of our forest 

 areas and the pasturing of those which remain con- 

 tribute seriously to the failure of the wild crop. The 

 importance of ginseng is hardly sufficient to have 

 much bearing on the forest question; but, so far as 

 our forests shall be preserved for other reasons, there 

 are two lines along which the law may act toward the 

 preservation of the ginseng supply. The first of these 

 lies in the direction of limiting the time of digging the 

 root. The close season should extend at least from 

 the time the plant starts in the spring until the seed 

 is fully ripe in the fall ; for, as we have already seen, 

 ginseng has no means of reproduction except its seed, 

 while at the same time the root is not in good condition 

 during the growing period. It might be wise to make 

 the open season still shorter than this would imply, in 

 order still further to reduce the collection. The ques- 

 tion may be raised, also, whether the destruction of 

 undergrown roots might not be prohibited, as in the 



