Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-08

all ch ,rgcs. This is the lowest marx.
The possibilities at maximum may
be guessed from the following facts
Ginseng, in China, is a Government
monopoly, and Professor Lockhart, o.
London, is the authority for the state
ment that il is sold to privileged deal
ers by the imperial Government at Its
weight in GOLD. This is denied by some
American dealers, but the value is
still high. The root is very light, and
| the 50 25 q pound, it's wholesale price,
here, is enormous. All the ginseng
which can be supplied will find a GER
tain market by the houses which DIS
poses of it.
There are certain single roots, es-
pecially of certain shapes, very rare,
which b, ing from $25 to $400, and are
only possessed by the wealthy class
mandarins and others.
Ginseng from Manchuria was once
valued above all other varieties, and
imperial edict prohibited it's collection,
because the enormous export was re-
ducing it to scarcity. Ginseng in this
country is limited Only 400, 900 or
500, 900 pounds OF it can be collected IN
one year. Its price here t$2.2 q poHnd)
| is enormous, and even ludicrous, when
the worthlessness of the article is con-
sidered. OF the root, although light
| it only requires q hatful to make a
pound. And yet the wholesale price
here is slowly, but always steadily,
rising, and the ridiculous fact is be-
fore US that the price OF this futile
drug, used by nobody in this country,
will in time become greater than that
of opium itself, as the gradual bu'
sure process of its determination in
America continues. The amount is
limited by the fact that it cannot be
cultiyated-only the wild kind is OF
commercial use, and this is becoming
scarcer every year.
What, then, is ginseng2 Ginseng is
the root Of shrub which has flour
ished for ages in China 1t is called
in botany Aralia Quinguefolium-quin-
quefoli,sm meaning tive-ea>ed; and
its iive-leaved twigs branch off, to the
number of three, from smooth,
round stem about foot high.
1t happened that in 1909, a Jewish
priest, one Father +. Fastoux, was
diligently employed in making map
of rartary. During this labor he ga"
the plant growing in its mystic land,
four leagues away from the Kingdom
of Corea, in the spot where Tartar
village lay.
The Tartars were full Of the praise
of the fabulous ginseng and its won
derful powers. Good Father Fastoux
became an enthusiast also. He had
missionary friends on the other side
OF the world, in Canada. To these
the priest sent some OF the root and
an extollnent OF Its properties as a
cure 70 all human ills. Back in due
time came the reply that the same
r." was well known to the Canada
priests and in full use by the Indians.
The American ginseng perhaps dif-
fers slightly from the Chinese, for
there are FIVE or six varieties OF the
root, but it possesses all the external!
attrib ties Of the celestial variety.
The ginseng WAS sent at that time
o Europe, and was then first intro
ducei t, the civilized world; even at
that date, in the last century,
Europeau savants rudeiy shattered
the illu-ion "a 10 the root, ard pr
nounced it almost inert a. q ding.
Tnis does not affect its value to the
Mongol races. Long afterwards,
as it was discovered over the
regions of North America, the idea OF
its export arose. 1t grows about the
wild lands and farms of the North
west and Northeast. AS cultivation
ruins its favor it cannot be made 4
re sular industry, either in growth or
c,lectiou. In 1860 its price was
about % cents per pound. In 1865 ii
had risen to 60 cents a pound. Its
export now is 375 900 pounds. The
biggest yield OF all was in 1861, when
the export almost doubled; 1850 had
seen ginseng collec ing craze, like
the gold fever, in the lake States,
where the people left their homes.
camped for weeks in the hills
and raised tho export OF ginseng tc
633 600 pounds-tle highest export
ever madc-and 70 tied out the plant
80 that it has been scarce ever since
At present the best regions for it art
New York, Pennsylvania and ONO
the prime article coming from New
York. The poorest sold is from Min
nesota. North AMI South Carolina
in shnrt all u rita vi the United States
where the sugar maple grows, wer'
originally its habi; t.
The average ex ort since 1860 Ia
been 425 900 poun Is a year. The ex
port of 1886 was 4 ii, 900 pounds.
The root, the on = valuable part o
the < nseng, IL Ioui or five lnche
long, and forked. The Indian nam
for it, "garent ogaen," means log
apart. Geneing means about TIN
same.
The q avor is bitter and slight, al,
neil her unpleasant nor deleclable.
Ginseng groTs along the great wal
in Chinese Tartary and Corea. TIN
American is the only other suppl
except Japanese. The Chinese thai
the latt r poor and will not re eive il
| TIE Chinese ginseng mountains ar
fenced in by the Government an'
patrolled by guards. .--tSt. Louis Glob
Democrat.
A Bows Essay ON Anatomy.