Special Prime Time Ginseng Seed Sale
For Subscribers of The Panax Newsletter Only!!!

Glacial Ginseng Co. is offering a 10% Discount on Our "Glacial Gold" Ginseng Seeds from now until the Oct. 31st 2000.  This is for the readers of this news letter only.  If you know a ginsenger that might not have a computer, print them a copy.  This offer will not be on the web site, so be sure to mention the Panax Newsletter.
We are doing this for a number of reasons, The primary reason is that Oct. Plantings have proved to be the most successful of the plantings.  The second reason is repeat business.  Our volume of business has almost tripled since last season and the majority of it has come from repeat customers.  Now that tells us one thing, the people who bought seeds from us last year, their plants came up!  The 3rd reason is that we are now buying seeds for next years planting and need all the Capital that we can raise.
Just how well is Glacial Ginseng doing and what does our future look like?  We move about 2000 Pounds of Ginseng seeds per season now and have just a little over 500 Growers, from all around the World of "Glacial Gold" Ginseng.  That may seem like a lot, but we do this on about 1000 hits per mo.  Google search engine (they power yahoo and many others) has a deal, that for $599.95 per mo. they will deliver 1,000,000 hits per year.  That's 83,333 hits per mo.  We here at Glacial Ginseng Co. want to go there on our own, but we are really going to need growers!!!
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A New Federal  Ginseng Law?  As we said in our last Newsletter, we would update you on what we found out.

We have a  new Federal  Law  out this season that says that "Wild" ginseng roots have to be at least 5 year old to be harvested?    There are a lot of rumors going around about this new law, but We can not seem to find any facts.  If anyone has the new Law and would email us I will publish it in a Special Edition of the Panax Newsletter and on the web site.
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First You Do Not want to judge by the number of Stems on the plant.  I have seen many three stem 20 to 40 year old ginseng plants.  Some ginseng plants just do not develop a four stem.  A prime example is the picture of my father holding a three stem wild ginseng plant.  This picture is at the top of our home page.  
Well, how  do you tell if a Ginseng Plant is  5 years old?  It is generally assumed in the 5th. year, they start to develop a rizone, a nubbin, or a neck, up at the top of the plants.  There is a picture of this on our web page.  After the 5th year, you can see that it's very pronounced and if the growers out there in the field will take a look, all he's got to do is clean  the dirt back around the stem to see if the rezone has started to develop.  If it started to develop a neck, they say 5 years, but it sometimes takes 6 or 7 years for that first notch, there should be at least one nubbin or growth ring above that rizone. You should be able to just flick the dirt back and it should be pronounced.  Our dealers should be consciously aware of this new Federal  Law and so should the harvesters.   If it's got a nubbin up there and got the start of a neck to it, then the ginseng plant is old enough to harvest.   If it isn't there, Don't buy them.  This Federal Law can be fairly serious about that.  Give these plants a chance to kind of re-establish themselves.  Pay a little attention to the seeds, they may not be big enough to harvest, but pick the seeds and get them growing back in their Natural Environment.  I'd love to buy some of these wild ginseng seeds where it's legal.  I realize you can't harvest them in Wisconsin but, a lot of the other States can harvest wild ginseng seeds and I'm definitely in the market for them.  We are always in the market for top quality seeds.

I wrote the above before I read This, Michael Hunter.
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All the information you need will be found on this page  . Go to SEARCH and type in ginseng.

I live in Indiana and we have a state law requiring that a plant must have at least 3 prongs or 4 internodes, i.e. bud scars. I could not find anything on Michigan's dnr. page.  Hope this helps.

Sincerely, Greg

Hi Michael, I have in front of me here a letter from Tim Smith{botanist}
with Missouri Department of Conservation dated August 12,
1999.                     Letter starts like this:  Attention Missouri
Ginseng Dealers  " We have received recent information from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Scientific Authority{OSA} that will
affect Misouri's 1999 ginseng harvest season which begins September 1,
1999.  The OSA has established a minimum age requirement for wild or
woods-grown ginseng roots to be exported.  The change in export
requirements does not affect roots of cultivated
ginseng.                  Under this recent ruling, export will be
approved only of roots of plants that were at least five years old at
harvest time.  If shipments of ginseng roots younger than five years of
age reach export locations they may be refused shipment after inspection
by USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspectors.  If
dealers purchase roots that are younger than five years old, they may
have difficulty reselling them.  If young roots reach ports and are
refused shipment, the ginseng market may suffer from the uncertainty of
commerce with other countries."    The letter goes on  there is a phone
number at Missouri Relay Center at 1 800 735-2966       I talked to
dealers last year here in Missouri and from what root buyers told me was
folks can come inspect their barrels of ginseng dumping entire contents
of roots on ground damaging the good ginseng while looking for young
roots.  I've heard from ginseng buyers here in Missouri they will have
two different locations storing ginseng roots so the inspectors won't
see entire shipment.  If government persists underground ginseng is a
reality.  Dealers have said so, they may pay cash just to avoid
inspectors.  Email if you have any questions.  Best Regards, Lindy of
Ozark Mountain Ginseng


here you go Michael.  check this out..........

it's from the Appalachian Ginseng Foundation web page:

Michael. there are also 2 stem older plants as well ,although I have found
very few, nonetheless,I HAVE found them. And Ginseng also 'sleeps'.
I have been watching my own planted patches
and know that they will not send up a top every year-some plants that is.
So to establish a
'guaranteed' way of determining age prior to
actually digging a plant is a bit of nonsense.
I have a copy of last years newsletter (someplace) that outlines that
law-I was fairly
certain that it was thrown out. If not, it needs to be. Minimal
government interference and a strong forum for harvesting, planting, and
so forth would be a wiser step. As always , money
and need will allow quarter for some persons to be less than responsible
when it comes to harvesting-but government interference is by far a
worse situation. I am part native amerinidian and abide by the
conservation policy that was instilled in my youth. I always
plant back. I also plant in new places. And if
I inadvertently dig or injure a small plant-I do what I can to get it
back to growing. there is no 'law' or government mandate that will insure
a better method of harvesting, whereas, constant and serious education
of the 'reasons' for not
digging future potential is a much better platform. I like what you are
doing with your site. It IS educational . Also -you Do buy seeds? If so
what do you give and how do you like them? As far as I am aware
,Illinois has no law against a harvest. Anyway, just thought id give my
input.                     sincerely.
                                    longshadow