GINSENG, several species of herbs of the genus Amax, family ifraliaces. The most noted species are Panax ginseng, a native of China, and P. gsiinguefolium, of east ern North America. These two species so closely resemble each other that the discovery of the latter near Montreal, Quebec, in 1716 was based upon a description of the former. The plants grow about 18 inches tall, bear 3 leaves, each composed of 5 leaflets, and end in a flower-stem bearing an umbel of small flowers from which develop conspicuous scarlet, generally two-seeded berries. The light yellow root, especially of the former species, is used by the Chinese for every conceivable domestic and medicinal use, and specimens resembling the human body often command their weight in gold because of supposed occult virtues. Neither species, however, is considered by Occi dental physicians to have any pronounced medi cal qualities. The Asiatic species has long been cultivated in China and Korea.
Shortly after the discovery of the American species a shipment of the wild root was made to China and soon a trade was established. Since the plant has a natural range from the valley of the Saint Lawrence to the mountains of Georgia and westward to the eastern bank of the Missis sippi, the wild supply of roots long met the de mand. In 1858 the price was 52 cents a pound; in 1902, $5.55, the advance being largely due to the decrease of the native supply. In the latter year many lots of northern root (considered always better than southern) sold for $8 or even more. The advancing price led to many
attempts to cultivate the plant, but until about 1885 none were reported successful. Then George Stanton of Apulia, N. Y., succeeded by growing the plant in beds prepared in the forest and later under lath sheds. These methods have led to the establishment of American ginseng growing. Cultivated ginseng has com manded about 20 per cent more than wild root from the same locality.
The plants thrive best in a well-drained, rather loose soil, well supplied with humus, potash and phosphoric acid, but not with nitrog enous material. Little has been done to im prove the plant, but the time required to mature a crop of roots can probably be shortened con siderably and the size of the root increased. In 1902 most growers calculated upon five years as necessary to mature a crop, but at the price of $2.50 a pound they figured upon making a profit under reasonably favorable conditions. The exorbitant prices paid for plants and seed during 1898-1903 were largely due to specu lation, an exaggerated estimate of the demand in China, which is almost the sole market, and to the novelty of the industry, and hence the scarcity of plants and seed. Consult revised edition of Bulletin No. 16, Division of Botany, United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, D. C.) ; Kains, (New York 1902).