400 
The  Cultivation  of  Ginseng. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     August,  1894. 
people  into  the  business,  thus  flooding  the  market  and  spoiling  prices,  it  seems 
that  after  all  there  may  be  good  money  in  the  culture  of  the  root. 
The  following  are  communications  received  from  ginseng  growers  in  reply  to 
our  direct  inquiries  : 
GINSENG  GROWING  IN  KENTUCKY. 
Ginseng  seed  will  germinate  in  six  months  if  proper  conditions  exist.  Two 
years'  growth  makes  a  good  salable  root.  Of  course,  two  or  three  years'  addi- 
tional growth  would  make  them  much  larger.  I  have  roots  grown  direct  from 
the  "seed  "  that  are  from  one  half  to  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  from  five  to 
twelve  inches  in  length,  tapering  to  a  small  fibre  at  second  year's  growth.  On 
an  average  five  to  seven  roots  will  weigh  one  ounce  when  dried.  Ginseng 
thrives  best  in  moist,  fertile  soil,  in  woods  where  it  is  lightly  shaded.  It  must 
have  light  and  air.  My  nursery  is  located  on  a  rich,  north  hillside.  The  soil 
is  of  limestone  nature.  Timber  was  walnut,  beech,  ash,  poplar,  oak,  hickory, 
dogwood,  etc.  A  rich  north-west  and  north-east  slope  is  good.  So  is  fiat  land, 
if  not  swampy,  and  in  fact  an}'  rich,  moist,  fertile  soil.  I  have  a  trial  bed  in 
open  land.  Will  give  it  artificial  shade.  I  used  virgin  soil,  humus  and  leaf 
mould  from  the  forest  to  bed  with. 
The  best  roots  are  grown  direct  from  the  seed.  The  quickest  and  best 
way  to  get  a  start  is  to  plant  roots  that  bear  or  produce  seed.  If  seeds 
are  planted,  they  will  not  produce  any  seed  until  the  second  year,  and  not 
many  then  ;  but  if  roots  are  planted  they  produce  seed  first  year,  and  plenty  of 
them  if  old  enough.  I  have  a  lot  of  old  roots,  taken  from  the  forest  and  trans- 
planted to  my  nursery.  These  I  keep  to  produce  seed.  Some  of  them  produce 
from  75  to  ioo  berries,  or  from  150  to  200  seeds  ;  some  as  low  as  three  berries 
or  six  seeds.    A  berry  contains  one,  two,  three  and  sometimes  four  seeds. 
In  the  fall  of  1891  I  planted,  or  transplanted,  a  bed  of  roots  one  year  old,  cul- 
tivated them  two  years,  then  I  dug  them.  They  weighed  all  the  way  from  one 
to  two  pounds,  dry,  per  100  roots ;  average  size,  one  inch  in  diameter  and  ten 
inches  long,  tapering  to  a  fine  fibre.  Last  year  I  transplanted  one  root  (eleven 
years  old)  taken  from  the  forest.  It  was  nine  inches  in  circumference,  fifteen 
inches  long,  and  weighed  nine  and  three-quarter  ounces.  This  root,  if  dried, 
would  weigh  about  three  ounces,  and  would  bring  75  cents  at  $4  per  pound. 
Somerset,  Ky.  J.  W.  Sears. 
FROM  A  NEW  YORK  GINSENG  FARM. 
I  am  aware  that  very  many  efforts  to  cultivate  ginseng  have  proved  failures. 
This  is  no  evidence  that  the  plant  cannot  be  grown. 
Ginseng  seed  requires  eighteen  months  to  germinate.  It  should  not  be 
allowed  to  get  dry,  but  must  be  sown  as  soon  as  ripe,  or  may  be  packed  in  moist 
loam,  and  kept  in  condition  to  promote  germination  one  year,  and  then  sown. 
Anything  in  the  shape  of  a  ginseng  root  is  salable,  but  the  larger  the  root 
the  greater  its  value. 
The  plant  can  be  grown  in  any  light,  rich'soil.  We  find  it  wild  in  all  kinds 
of  dry  soil,  but  it  needs  shade,  either  natural  or  artificial.  We  can  successfully 
cultivate  it  in  garden,  orchard  or  forest.  My  own  operations  thus  far  with 
transplanted  roots  have  been  in  open  garden  with  artificial  shade.  From  my 
own  experience  in  this  business,  I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  pay  to  cultivate 
