Am.  Jonr.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  1894.  J 
The  Cultivation  of  Ginseng. 
399 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  GINSENG. 
By  the  Editor. 
Considerable  inquiry  and  report  relating  to  the  cultivation  of  this 
drug  has  recently  been  printed  in  agricultural  journals.  As  various 
branches  of  the  drug  trade  are  expected  to  act  as  distributors  of 
this  commodity,  the  following  information,  which  appears  to  come 
from  headquarters,  may  be  of  interest. 
A  correspondent  of  the  American  Cultivator  in  New  York  writes 
as  follows : 
I  have  recently  taken  up  the  roots  from  three  beds  3  x  16  feet  each,  which  had 
been  in  cultivation,  one  five  years,  the  others  four  each.  The  combined  pro- 
duct of  the  three  beds  was  1,074  roots,  which  weighed  73>{  pounds.  From 
these  I  assorted  out  833  roots,  weighing  20)/%  pounds,  for  transplanting  again, 
leaving  52^  pounds  of  clean  washed  roots  to  be  dried  for  market.  These  will 
make  about  17  pounds  when  dry,  worth  $3  to  $3.50  per  pound.  The  seed  pro- 
duced from  the  plants  during  the  time  was  worth  at  least  $40.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  stock  had  been  decreased  only  241  roots.  The  beds  were  set 
with  small,  wild  roots  four  or  five  years  ago.  The  roots  originally  set  were 
much  smaller  than  those  taken  off  for  resetting.  Two  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  seedlings,  three  seasons'  growth,  weighed  3X  pounds.  I  have  at  this 
time  in  my  garden  32  beds,  3x16,  stocked  with  roots  and  seeds,  only  one  bed 
more  than  three  years  old.  Have  over  30,000  seeds  in  forest  culture.  It  looks 
to  me  as  though  this  was  a  paying  business  and  worthy  the  attention  of 
gardeners. 
American  Gardening  furnishes  the  following  information,  which 
can  easily  be  verified  by  anyone  who  may  feel  doubt  about  it : 
WHAT  GROWERS  IN  THE  BUSINESS  HAVE  TO  SAY  ABOUT  IT. 
In  recent  years  there  has  been  much  inquiry  about  ginseng  culture  and  its 
possibilities.  People  in  our  hilly  sections  have  for  years  been  engaged  in  dig- 
ging the  wild  ginseng  {Aralia  quinquefolia).  They  had  no  trouble  to  find  a 
market  for  the  dried  root  at  paying  prices,  the  demand  of  the  Chinese  people 
for  the  product,  on  account  of  its  great  but  mysterious  medicinal  properties, 
being  usually  larger  than  the  supply.  The  diggers  of  the  plant,  well  aware  of 
the  gieat  commercial  value  of  the  root,  have  often  attempted  to  transplant  the 
root  to  their  gardens,  or  to  start  plants  from  seed,  but  have  uniformly  made  a 
failure  of  it,  either  because  the  plant  defies  the  cultivator's  skill,  or  because  no 
such  skill  has  been  brought  to  the  task.  We  believe  that  the  latter  is  the  case, 
and  that  the  plant  can  be  made  to  thrive  under  cultivation,  if  the  same  condi- 
tions are  provided  under  which  the  plant  thrives  in  its  wild  state. 
Evidently  the  seed  is  slow  to  germinate  and  the  root  of  slow  growth.  We 
have  feared  that  this  growth  was  indeed  too  slow  to  make  the  culture  of  the 
plant  profitable.  Recently,  however,  we  have  the  reports  of  a  few  persons  who 
have  made  a  success  of  ginseng  growing.  As  most  of  these  persons  hesitate  to 
give  information  on  the  subject,  for  fear  of  drawing  a  considerable  number  of 
