The market here for wild root since June 1st has been the dullest we have ever known and the same condition prevails in China. We are glad to state that cultivated root is selling at much better prices than last year. It is hard to account for the disfavor with which it was regarded a year ago in China, and the prejudice against it has been overcome more rapidly than we expected. At this time last year it was almost unsalable and we were buying as low as $3.00 to $4.00 per pound. Many houses declined to buy at all.
Now that the prejudice against it has sort of worn off, we look for a good market and consider the outlook very favorable and would advise people not to give up their gardens in too great a hurry. We make a specialty of cultivated root and will be pleased to give information as to handling, drying, etc., to any reader who desires it. We have been buying Ginseng for over thirty years.
Belt, Butler Co. New York.
Consul-General Amos P. Wilder of Hongkong, in response to numerous American inquiries as to the trade in Ginseng, with especial reference to the cultivated root, prices and importations, reports as follows:
The Ginseng business is largely in the hands of the Chinese, the firms at Hongkong and Canton having American connections. (The five leading Hongkong Chinese firms in the Ginseng importing business are named by Mr. Wilder, as also the leading "European" importing concern, and all the addresses are obtainable from the Bureau of Manufacturers).
I am authorized to say that American growers may correspond with the European concern direct relative to large direct shipments. They receive goods only on consignment and have some forty years' standing in this industry. This firm, as do the Chinese, buys in bulk and distributes thru jobbers to the medicine shops, which abound in all Chinese communities. The Cantonese have prestige in cleaning and preparing the root for market.
Last year the best quality of Ginseng brought from $2,000 to $2,300 Mexican per picul (equal to 133 1/2 pounds), but selected roots have brought $2,400 to $2,550. It is estimated here that growers should net about $7.25 gold per pound. The buying price of Ginseng is uncertain. There being no standard, no price can be fixed. The American-Chinese shippers have the practice of withholding the Ginseng to accord with the demand in China. Owing to failures among Chinese merchants since the war and the confusion in San Francisco, trade in this industry has been slack and prices have fallen off. If the root is perfect and unbroken it is preferred. Much stress should be laid on shipping clean, perfect and attractive roots. Size, weight and appearance are factors in securing best prices, the larger and heavier the root the better.
When the shipment arrives the importer invites jobbers to inspect the same. The roots are imported in air-tight casks in weight of about 100 pounds. It is certain that there are many different qualities of Ginseng and the price is difficult to fix (except on inspection in China).
As to wild and cultivated roots, two or three years ago when cultivated Ginseng was new, buyers made no distinction and the price ruled the same; but having learned of the new industry, experts here assure me the roots can readily be distinguished. They say that the wild root is darker in color and rougher. The wild is preferred. Experts now allege a prejudice against the cultivated root, affirming that the wild root has a sweeter taste. The cultivated roots being larger and heavier, they first earned large prices, but are now at a disadvantage, altho marketable.