New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-13
AMONG THE SANG-DIGGEKo.
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERs WHO
SEEK CURIOUS PLANT
TRICKS AND DEVICES OF THE MoUNTAlNEEhs
ro INCREASE THE VALUE OF THE GIN
sENG-THE CHINESE DEMAND
FOR THE ROOT.

SENG-THE CHINESE DEMAND
FOR THE ROOT.
staunton Va. Sept IL (SpeciaD.-A traveller IN
some OF the back counties OF West virginia a' ,i''
time of the year meets a good many S""e no
gers as the people who gather ginseng are '"
4, ,be,r native Businesses. They are Simple n'o""
,nors u,bo have never been twenty miles from
their cabins ma dare shftless ana uh"i'ine ~
work hard They work little on their patcheS'
90 ,ho, cau their farms but spend more time In
hunting Many Of them have never heard OF new
York or the Atlantic Ocean
"Wel yes sang's done pretty well TINS year.
said one Of them while sitting In front OF MS nan
log and half-board cabin on the edge OF "''e
CLEARING TO the writer. cit down. stranger won
- w. song,s NIFTY good and the season ain
oyer vit-the wImmn folks Is out huntin every day'
All the wlmmin round here hunt and are me pest
hunters: seems like they can smell out "here II
grows and they never git tired.
Don't the men ever huntT
.Soue do but most of us have somethin else 10
do But there amt so much OF II az there useu ~
be and II amt so easily found. When my ole
woman and me were chiun We could git ten Tunes
as much az now and not go so fur neither
"vhere does fl grow the writer asked TOT
have never seen 1t growing nor dried
Never seen sang?" the mountaineer asked VIII"
a grin OF surprise. well, II grows IN THESE "oou'
all a bout here in black sile and generaily De'"ee"
rocks We begin 10 hunt Tor IL III SPINS a. CIV"
as leaves are out and stop when the frost comes
in October. How much we git In season depehus'
We've got moren hundred pounds already-some
people git more and some less. We sell 1t TO the
storekeeper Just soon as we GIT H. always 'ahe
trade tho some folks git money, perhaps ~ cen'S
a pound and agin 30 cents. Sometimes 1eHars
come along and want to buy IT, but We won't sell
to 'um-they cheat us.
A neighborng village mer-@-t talking about
said
shiftless and ignorant. The man you saw Is one or
the most Intelligent Of them-had you questioned
most OF them, you would not nave got worn out
of them and they would have watched you wei
out of sight. They keep their knowledge OF where
and how the stun grows very closely to them
selves and they scour the woods for miles and miles
around They are race of hunters; their fathers
and erandfathers hunted in the mountains. ana
suppose their grandchildren will hunt when we are
dead They haven't always hunted sang that
business has grown up within the last thirty years
,or do all conine themselves 10 that now. We
buy a great many other roots and herbs from 'he"
black snakeroot, Solomon's seal, dried bayberry
seeds sarsaparilla and elmbark-but sang pays
best so they hunt for it most. We buy great
MANY dried backberries of them, though the mar
ket for them is not as good as II used 10 be.
reckon they make from s75 TO 800 In season.
our prices differ according to months. we market
the sang in a dried state; they bring II 10 us green
takes nearly twice as mucn 10 MAKE POuiiu "a
June and July as in October, hence our change OF
price Sometimes we dry 1t in the sunshine, and
at others In kns. but steaming Is the quickest way
and makes the most salabe root
"Rut perhaps YOU think those fellows are guile
less tell you they full OF tricks as FOX.
won't buy root of one of them until nave eH-
amned I'll thoroughly They will bring In here
saclxs of roots and swear they are ginseng and
ginseng only yet an examination will reveal ele-
campane pokeweed. colts-foot and dozen otner
kinds and the strangest part OF II Is that they WI"
repeat the attempt year In and year out. Or they
will soak the root n water and dry 1t on the OUT
side 1t IS the same with the berries they fetch
around TO sell: YOU will find mixed in a dozen differ
ent kinds Some of them | won't deal with They
will cut little gashes in the larger roots when
green and insert pieces OF lead and then, winding
the aperture dry them. 1t is very hard to detect
this work and | have been caught several times.
At the village hotel buyer from New-York
on his way TO the sang regions. "Our market
for ginseng" said he rs China; the Chinese are
the only people that IT, and their faith In 1t Is
centuries old and as unbounded as ever. They use
1.-THE highest mandarin and the lowest coolie
alike Their theory Is that In whatever form mois-
ture appears in the body IT is governed by the
veins and ginseng SO tones them up that they keep
the other organs In normal state of saturation
and the animal spirits flow freely The nearer the
root resembles the human form the more efficacious
Il Is supposed to be. The genuine root. they say.
will have two off shoots near the crown 10 repre-
sent the arms and about the middle will bifurcate
TO represent the legs. Their physicians know It's
worthlessness, but the people use IL Just the same
* taken In three ways Pills, CONNECTIONS and
infusion. The pills are made of the poorest roots
and are known as Young deer horn PiliS fonteG
infusion, the most common process Is by sleeping
In a closed vessel with sugar People at first take
a tenth OF an ounce at a dose. but after awhile
often take two three ounces. and families at
the beginning Of summer buy enough TO meet emer-
gencies.
our name ginseng is simply the Chinese 'Jen
shan Anglicized. rhe people believe that they
never get the orignal-that root grows only In the
Garden of the Gods-and their druggists tell them
that only the earth-grown imitation can be had
The roots they say. have the power of concealing
themselves from the eyes Of the curious, while "A
few who have pure natures. Ike Sir Galahad. can
see at night the halo OF spiritual essence II puts
forth and al aybreak can uncarth II. Dragons
are supposed TO guard II. When In China several
years ago / typical specimens. They were
They guarded by jealous watchers. In size
they were about five inches long and scarcely an
inch in diameter, and the bifurcation was almost
perfect No money, suppose could have bought
them though two very perfect roots weighing not
over three pounds were sold in Picking not long ago
for $500 The older the root the better.
THE supply OF ginseng comes from North China.
Corea, Japan and the United States. Europe sends
none. The best grade comes from Manchuria. and
is known the imperial; 1t is usually of good
shape il guarded In its growth, and il used by
the wealthy classes 1t varies in price from $40 to
500 pound. Then comes the corean product, fol-
lowed by the American Ours sells AT from 81 to s.
according to quality and shape. We export about
a quarter of million of pounds each year and we
can always supply the demand. though the price
81 The Chinese have a way of preparing our root
which greatly enhances its value. The trade IS
steady and VIII probably continue a. long China
lasts. We collect supply from the whole Ap-
palachian mountain region. There are a good
many 'sangers' in Jersey. and though the root is
becoming scarcer each year yet We get enough. All