GINSENG. 21 



tered the somewhat peculiar, yet quite simple, requirements of the 

 plant, and have to-day on admirable financial success to show as 

 a reward for their efforts. 



About 1900 the boomer took up the proposition and it 

 seemed from his statements that if one wanted to get rich, all he 

 needed to do was to invest a few dollars in ginseng, and his fortune 

 was as well as made. It seemed a certainty that an investment of 

 $500.00 would make him nothing short of a millionaire in five 

 years' time or at least soon thereafter. These statements were un- 

 doubtedly made by someone other an actual ginseng grower. 



As ginseng seed was scarce and not enough to go around, the 

 unscrupulous dealer substituted Indian turnip seed, while others 

 imported Japanese seed. Japanese ginseng is practically worth- 

 less; bringing such a low price in the Chinese market that it is 

 barely enough to pay for transportation charges- It resembles the 

 American variety so closely (Fig. 12) that only an expert can tell 

 the difference, and the inexperienced buyer of seed should be very 

 careful to avoid being deceived. This spurious article along with 

 the genuine, was pawned off on the inexperienced at prices ranging 

 from $100.00 to $400-00 per pound. This went on until about 1905. 

 The early growers were about getting on the road to success, when 

 the knocker took a hand in the game. A rumor was circulated to 

 the effect that there was no market for cultivated ginseng, but that 

 the Chinese wanted only the wild. This rumor originated in a 

 somewhat peculiar manner, not unprofitable to a few, but grossly 

 so to many- It takes too much space to explain it here; but the 

 chief causes were: Improper methods of culture, which resulted 

 in the production of an inferior article, and the attempt made to 

 market this product. The result was that the ginseng boom cost 

 a lot of hare-brained would-get-rich-quick people considerable 



