Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-15
THE GINSENG TRADE.
A SUPERSTITION WHICH COSTS A
MILLION DOLLARS YEARLY.

| A Universal Chinese Medicine of No Value
to Caucasians-A Strange Article OF
Traffic A Priests Discovery The
American Plant.
One of the mysteries IN the world #
! commerce is ginseng. Ii you speak TO an
ordinary man about ginseng he will ask
you what you mean. If you tell him that
ginseng is an article Of commerce IN which
a traffic Of about 81, Zoo, eco year is done
By Americans, he win stare at you. If
you tell him that it has been in certain
places Of the world worth its weight in
gold, he viii probably stare harder. If,
In addition TO this, you tell him that It e
a vast humbug, and that it is very or
binary root Of an American shrub, almost
without particle Of any but imaginary
value, he viii concede that it Is strange
article for traffic. Finally, when he
learns that the populace Of vast nation,
high and low. consider it cureali. and
that it enters into every medicine fer
every ailment in that nation, he will only
understand the matter VIXEN he learns
that it is the eccentric Chinese to whom
this in reality uninp0rtant root IS yalua-
ble
WHAT Is IT GOOD FOR.
Physicians and authorities Of the civil.
lied world give the assurance that in
medicinal properties the root is almost
inert, at the most contains to very mild
extent tonic properties. None but the
singular and rice eating Celestial can feel
any effects from the use of it; but among
the Cinnamon Of this country there is
q l.
bought here by resident Cinnamon for
home export. They do not use it them
selves, however, and inquiry from these
Celestial worthless has seldom brought out
any satisfactory statements as to what
ginseng Is good for.
The belief among TIE home Chinese is
mostly superstition. Il is sort of fetish:
its powers are supposed to be- occult, OF
the nature OF magic. 1t is believed to
have mysterious and powerful effect OF
the fecundativa powers and TO be tnfslli-
bic in cases of barrepness This is its
primary Importance, and occasionally
Caucasians have attempted to test its
value IN this direction, but satisfactory re-
suits are wanting. IN China tho belief is
STU implicit, and besides the vast amount
grown in that country, it receives ell that
America can supply, which is on the
average 425,OJO pounds a year. The
American wholesale price IS now So 25
pound.
Ginseng, in China, is government mo-
nopoly, and Professor Lockhart, Of Lon
don, is the authority for tho statements
that it is sold to privileged dealers by the
imperial government of China at its
weight in gold. This is denied BY some
American dealers. But the value is still
high.
There are certain single roots especially
of certain shapes, very rare, which bring
from $50 to $500, and are only possessed
by the wealthy class-nandarins and
others.
Ginseng from Manchuria was once
valued above all other varieties, and i'm
perial edict prohibited its collection, be-
cause the enormous export was reducing
it to scarcity. Ginseng in this country is
limited. Only 400, GOO or 500 600 pounds
of it can be collected in one year. Its
price here is enormous, and even ludicrous,
when the worthlessIesS Of the article is
considered. OF the root, although light,
1t only requires hatful to make pound.
And yet the wholesale price here I. slowly,
but always steadily, rising, and the ride
ulous fact is before us that the price Of
this futile drug, used by nobody in this
country, will III time become greater than
that of opium itself. as the gradual but
sure process Of its determination in Amer
lea continues.
FATHER FAsTOUX'S DISCOVERY.
1t happened that In 1909, a Jewish
priest, one Father +. Fastou4, was dill
gently employed in making . map of Tar
AIRY. During this labor he saw the plant
growing in its mystic land, four leagues
away from the kingdom Of Corea, in the
spot where Tartar village lay The
rartars were full of the praise of the |
abulous ginseng and its wonderful /
powers. Good Father Fastoux became |
IN enthusiast also. lie had missionary |
friends on the other side Of the world in |
canada. To these the priest sent some OF |
he root and an extolment of its proper
les as cure for all human ills. Sack in |
Tue time came the reply thxt the same
DOT was well known to the Canada
priests and in full use by the Indians.
The American ginseAg perhaps differs
lightly FROM the Chinese, for there are
i've or six varieties of the root. but it DOS
esses all the external attributes OF the
CELESTIAL variety.
The ginseng was sent at that time to
.urcpe, and was then first introdsced to
he civilized world; even at that date, in
ne last centary, European savsnts rudsly
battered the illusion as to the root and
ronourced il almost inert IS a drug.
his did not affect its vslus to the Mon
ol races. Long siterward, =. it wa. dis
oNered over the regions Of North Amer
"a, the ides Of it. export arose. 1t grows
bont tho wild lands and farms Of the
Orthwest and northeast As cultivation
uins its Favor it cannot be made q reg
lar industry. esther in growth CT collec-
on. The biggest yield of all vas 1861,
hen the export almost doubled; 1850 had
zen ginseng collecting craze, like gold
sysr. in the lake states. where the prople
II their homes, canped for weeks in the
Ills, raised the export OF ginseng TO esq.,
10 pounds--the highest export ever made
and rooted out the plant so THAT it has
zen scarce ever siace.-Cor. st. Louis
lobe Democrat.