Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1897 — Ginseng Culture. [ARTICLE]

Ginseng Culture.

The secret of raising ginseng has been discovered at last. It is being grown upon Missouri soil and cultivated by a Missouri farmer, says the St. Louis Republic. China has an unlimited demand for the ginseng root, and because of its scarcity pays ths handsome price of $2.50 for a single pound of it. Heretofore the market has been supplied from certain mountain sections, where the herb grows wild. Repeated attempts to cultivate It have ’proved a failure. But, according to Waldo Parks, a guest at the Laclede Hotel, Spencer Brown, a farmer down in Texas County, is cultivating an acre of ginseng. It matures in six years. From the product of that acre he expects to realize the modest sum of $20,« 000. He will limit the product so as to keep the price up. Mr. Brown says that ginseng flourishes in rich limestone soil, shaded from the sun. It requires eighteen months to germinate and six years for full growth. Ho is making no secret of the discovery, but explains its mysteries to any one. By the Chinese ginseng is considered a medicinal ingredient of wonderful powers. A liquor is distilled from it which is supposed to cure all diseases. They have never been able to find the secret of its culture and have depended upon the wild roots found here and there, for their supply.