Introduction 



Owing to the incompleteness of all existing literature on the 

 cultivation and marketing of ginseng and goldenseal, the writer 

 has practically been forced to the preparation of this handbook.. 

 The flood of inquiries that has come to him has revealed the 

 popular interest in this most fascinating and intensive form of 

 gardening and has compelled him to recognize the demand foi- a 

 practical guide to ginseng growing. 



To answer by ijersonal letter the almost innumerable ques- 

 tions that come to him in the course of the mail is impracticable, 

 not to say impossible; at the same time all these questions should 

 be answered, to the end of preventing misadventures and failures 

 in ginseng growing and of keeping the cultivation of this profita- 

 ble plant out of the hands of reckless and unscrupulous exploiters. 



Nearly all of the literature on ginseng culture now availa- 

 ble is notably lacking in a clear statement of the various diseases 

 and plagues by which the ginseng plant is sometimes attacked. 

 To this particular feature the writer has given especial attention 

 and has attempted to make his statements understandable to the 

 amateur. In fact, throughout, he has tried to hold the needs of 

 the novice and amateur constantly in mind. 



The writer became interested in the habits of the wild gin- 

 seng plant in his childhood, and evei- since then— a period of some 

 thirty years or more — he has been almost continuously engaged in 

 the study and growing of ginseng. His experience in growing 

 ginseng on a commercial scale, however, began in 1900. His ef- 



