SwampDonkey, My inlaws place is a mile or less from lake Superior. Yes it is a moist environment. The land mostly slopes to the North and I would guess the grade is about 15 to 30 degrees. While the ground is fairly sandy, there is a nice layer of woody loam on top- primarily from hard maple leaves. When they came through and planted the 80 acres, they cut down all the understory and took out hemlocks and oaks and cedars. I would guess that 95% of the remaining forest is maple. It looks like a park in there. You can nearly see from one end to the other. It sucks for deer hunting but it is a pretty woodlot. They leased the land for 7 years with the genseng corp. having an option for an additional 8 years. They are paying 8 g's per year. When viagra hit the market the genseng companies nearly went belly up. They had to file chapter 11 (I think). If you run the figures on the probable yeild, the 80 acres could in the future warrent a security detail. Depending on the market, values could run into the millions. The reason for the lease option is that they can't predict the growth of the roots nor the market. An 8 year window for harvest is a pretty decent time period for them to maximize their investment. The way I understand it they will only be able to grow genseng in this woods one time. The plants build up something in the soil that inhibits future genseng plant growth. The operation is labor intensive in that there are several full time employee's that go about with roundup sticks killing any thing competeing with the genseng and also spraying for certain blights and such that attack the plants.
