The sun., 1895-02-17

Hendricks OF Men aud women GatheriaE
uoots and Herbs for Hrugntsts.

| herbs ana gathering leaves, Dark'. NUTS anu
berries for the great pharmaceutical labora-
tories. They are known ~ the "diggers' OF
tho state. The people who began the business
were born In the bnckwords. Farming afforded
them only a stant living. fishing. and hunting
| werc for sport and evtry time they operated \
! stll the revenue officers swooped down upon
| them with handouts and warrants. success
| sion of jai sentences convinced them that II
was better to buy whiskcy than 20 make II them
selves When they quit nloonshninE they had
! to discover s0nic new way to mako enough
money to keep things going in bnckwocds style,
| which means store clothes. red-;opvcd boUts,
| tobacco. and plenty Of wh'skpy !or the men. and
snufT. calico. and feathers for thc women. \
druggist in trouble supp!ici! the idct needed.
| The old women Of the digger lis;rlc;s hsd al
ways made dccoctons. teas. and httcra from
roots. herbs barks. and leaves to- ailny all sorts
| Of ailments, but tho idea Of selling The roo,s and
| bnrks Ind never presented Itself. Long Tom
| lInrrer was moonshiner In NIcNairy county.
| and the Federal Judge sent him 20 jail for six
months at Memphis once Long Tom served
out his term, and that Jail sentence changed
many sinners into dicgers. Among othcr rri son.
! ers there was a druggist who Ind been incar-
ccra;cd FOR Il misdcmcanor. The druggist asked
Long Tom atout the herbs III his district. aud
Tom told him all he knew. Tie druggist
ptouoscd To 20 home with Long Tom and gather
roots and herbs for market. NoOnshining with
a Jail sentence added was not pleasing to tom.
and ho was easily induced to 20 into the new
venture. for the prOspsct of hard work didn't
seem imminent. That years ago. Long
Tom and the drug man dug roofs and herbs,
stripped trees -: their Lar,,. and hauled bundlcs
Of IL to the railway stations 10 Ge shippPd
away Toms neghbOrs began digging too.
and now they dig all the year round
L., Ins b,r FIR Yliur.g on "a lao
gathered in winter. although the greater part Of
their cole, tiuns are made IN tho spring and
autumn. Tho men and womrr engaged in
the business know very It'll, about pharmacy
or the way science dstils the secret juices OF
what they gather but the busntss pays them.
Nature hid thousands OF her secrets IN the
fora OF the South. and tlc distilled extracts or
powdered forms Of her roofs. bark. leaves. rud
herbs cuter into many thousands OF prepara-
tiOns in tho biG Laboratories Of the Manufacture
ing pharmacists. The ran& weeds. grasses.
flowers. and shrubhcry that grow wild ia every
county and that other men crush under their
feet worth much moncg to the diggers who
never nope to gather thuusajdth part
uf the plants nature has provided SO lavi,hly.
The digger j. pretty shrewd fellow nbUu. ma
tUrc. lie was u weather pro phet, II wOCdsman. and
n natural astronomer from infancy and the
encouraging pay of the pharmacists made him
mixture Of business man, herb doctor. and
bOtanst. nggers work in every part Of Inc state,
in the big woods. IN the mountains. and in the
ouiskirisof the towns and cities. When theyare
away from home on II collecting expedition ther
are provided with tents-UutdUur lite is " liCai Of
the business and they wear OyeIalls ard heavy
GENERALLY tic tgu,rs hesin ~ the head OF a
small river and move slowly down il until they
have gathered thousands of bushels of roots and
herbs and many pounds OF bark. They use
spades and trnwtls, and the use of the spade
Is n science with them.
There are squads and companies Of them in
the employ Of the laboratories ui New York
Chicago, st. Lonis. Cincinnati. and other big
connected with laboratories keep well informed
about prices, the demands of the pharmacists
and those articles Which can be cuIlt ctcd N
season. One tl.ng they gather is sarsaparila,
which crows wild IN proiu1ion, and Is used
zine ii srf%t G 3 S" sres sd
fine red tingc to oils. fats. wax, tu"pcntine.
spirits, and essences. and is also 'Isri to
nishes. The spiritUous solution stains marble Il !
deep red, and wax tinged with aikanet and ap-
color The roots of golden seal yellow dock, |
and gold thread ARG valuable to the chemist;
its root Is used incidentally. The common |
plants that grov wild and are used in medicinal
the brink OF rivers. IN swamps ana meadows: |
burdock, used i'll blood medicines: sassafras, |
sorts of berries. buchu leaves pricily ash snake [
root, castor beans. ginseng. horchollud. sweet /
ferns, and mandraHe are other herbs gathered. /
The trees dro2 berrics. nnts, ard seeds, us"fn! I
for oils and extracts. and there Is always brisk .
demand for SUCH things. The seeds of the cones /
of the mountain pines nre sold for 5" u pound. .
and are gathered from the trees. The long heau .
OF The ratalpa tree t., very y2lunLlo tor iti |
ms $50. The seed brings biz: prices in section,
where shade trees are scarce. ard the demand !
from Texas alone takes ali Thar /, gathered /
about here The collie rtors in climbing he trees
OF tho pine and cataipa o!fentines find rivals IA
the little squirrels thHt hasten TO pick the seed
ont of "a cone or cca'I sron rs II rpens. Cauli-
GrC,which grows wild Is species OF dock Valuu-
bic tor the tannic acid contained in il.
0 lsfsts IN. i,sfNs
leaves. berries. and herbs. The QUITE. bark is
never used. for they know that nature provides
grows. RarkS arr prcstrlcG hy hanging them in
pa2rr bags in the dry aHd airy part of tie her
ia nf the dirt and par; VI the mucous substance
that would Otherwise render them mouldy. |
are spread on seves or hurdles and dried in
II Ecat OF about 100 degrees in II steam closet
connected with the he rhGrium, care being taken
TO shake them occasionally to change the
face exposed to tnc mir. Thick and juicy roots
like rhubarb or brinY are cut il slices ana
and dried in the hot closet. Leaves
are dried as quickly as possible by putting them
belweca layers OF absorbing paper.
some small plants, with roots, and leaves en-
tire, are removed from the soil wRh garden
boxes almost alrtiGhr. il is imp0ssilio to re.
move some Of the larger plants in one piece. and
in such cases all the par,s-roo.s stems leaves,
howeIs. ana fruit n!e secured. Sometimes tn"
ENDS cut are sealed with wax un:ii they reach
the lnboraiores In Me hcrbarinms are many
sc value other than 20 sell to colleges and scien-
'iic institutions.
The largest herharium operated by the diggers
IN this section is near Hickory Flat Mineral
springs in Henderson county and is the
headquarters for more than a hundred men
employed in this business. who prospect from
there in tents over all the section between
The Tennessee and Mississippi rivers I'm the
regions there are large herbariunis,
from which collectors ara sent out also
Many hundreds OF men and women are en-
and for backwoGdsman who has studied
nature 1t IS the hest-payina business he can en-
gage in. The ordinary dggcrs receive from 81
10 81 day. and men who have been in Tho
business long time uni have become proficient
hotnniSts get H. much ~ 81! a tny, They aro
mid according to their knoWiedgr OF common
nand may be,