The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-03-11
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
CONCERNING THE CULTlVA-
TON OF GINSENG.
How to Supply tho Increasing De-
mand-To Prepare Stock for
Market-Poultry Pickings
and Household Helps. n
Gins ing and Its Cultivation.

Ginsing and Its Cultivation.
The great demand and high prices
paid for the dried roots of ginseng,
very naturally incites inquiry in re-
gard to its history propagation and
cultivation. Ginseng is largely ex-
ported from the United States to China
where it is highly esteemed for its
supposed medicinal virtues, being
there universally regarded as remedy
for all the diseases that flesh is heir to.
but particularly for exhaustion Of
body or mind.
The doctors. in both America ana
Europe. have decided that there is but
little real medicinal worth in the root.
We are more inclined to think that
the medicinal virtue of this root is
wholly imaginary, from the fact that
the Chinese doctors claim that the
roots of different shape possess widely
different medicinal properties and
should one be found. from its fancied
resemblance to the form of human
being, with body, legs, ETC.. it will
readily sell for it's eight in gold.
The Chinese believe that a root
which has been grown after the form
OF a man must have been intended to
cure all his ills. They assert that
when a person is in the last extremity
and is unprepared for death, the medi-
cine will ward off the terrible enemy
for four or five days, thus giving the
man chance to arrange his family
affairs. SO that he can pass calmly and
contentedly to the other shore. If we
could only have the same faith, how
much trouble it would save.
This root, from its fancied resem-
blance to the form OF man. excites
much superstition and fear among the
Chinese. It is said Ito love moisture
and the depths OF forests. and nestles
in recesses where the sun never pene-
trates." And they believe that when
the root is torn up from the ground it
emits cries and groans. and in some
places it is dug up with fear and
trembling, as it is supposed to be
guarded by the wolf tiger leopard
and snake in the gloomy forest depths
which it loves and can crawl under
the ground if it pleases. But we are
not so much interested in what be-
comes of the roots as to how we are
to supply the increasing demand.
The exports from the United States
are nearly 500, 900 pounds per annum.
writes j. w. Sears in the Journal of
Agriculture.
Many attempts have been made to
cultivate ginseng in America, but with
little success till recently.
Ginseng is indigenous to the great.
er parts of the cooler regions of the
United States. In Georgia and Ala
bama it is found in the mountains and
thence nOrthward to Canada ana west
to the Rocky mountains. It appears
to thrive best N loamy soils, such as
are found in oak forests at the North.
Shade seems also to be an essential.
for when the plants are exposed to the
direct rays of the sun they soon die
out, and for this reason open field or
garden cultivation of the plants has
rarely or never been attended with
success. Raising ginseng can be made
profitable where u man has suitable
land in a forest Or grove. The cost
Of preparing the ground cannot be
very much. and requires but little
labor for it's cultivation. At the end
of the third season. the roots will
have reached marketable size. and
may then be dug. and the same ground
worked over and restocked with seed.
Setpeml er is the month selected for
digging the roots. as at that time the
berries are fully ripe. and the sap has
returned to the roots, making them
heavier and consequently more valua-
able, and, when nicely dried. being
worth from $3 to S. per pound in
market the price depending partly on
the size.
The yield is at the rate of $50
pounds of dry root or about 81, 500
per acre.
Ginseng berries are of a bright scar
let color when ripe. The season for
ripening depending somewhat upon
latitude. Each berry contains from
one to three seeds. produced IN small
clusters at the top of a central pedun-
Gle, elevated ABOVE the principal
leaves Each seed makes one plant q
berry containing two seeds will have
two plants and so on; but one plant
may have from two to four rootlets. a
single plant often bearing from fifty to
seventy-f five seeds
The larger cleaner and more entire
roots have greater value when put on
the market.
This will doubtless open up a new
industry. important to those who own
forest lands. where they can establish
plantations of ginseng which will pay
them handsomely, if we'll cared for.
: Talk Practical Facts.
One of the things dairymen in a To-
cality where the dairy industry is just
becoming noticeable need to avoid is
rushing into the manufacturing of
butter and cheese before there is sui
ficient material to work. and so col
lapse the enterprise by simply a lack
of material to work with. The Prairie
Farmer, of Chicago. says that in ILL