The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-25
SEARCH FOR GINSENG.

Northern Woods of Michigan Furnish
an Industry Fostered by China.
Grand Traverse County claims the dis
tinction of being the home of an industry
of considerable Importance which is but
little known. This industry consists OF
gathering ginseng for expectation to
China, where it is almost held in sacred
reverence, the CelestiaIs believing it to be
cure for about all the ills which afflict
humanity.
The Traverse City Herald says that
from the middle Of July until late in
October the Indians, as we'll as many
white residents. devote their time to
hunting for the ginseng roots which are
to be found only in the dense forests
and which will not stand cultivation or
thrive in the openings. These hunters
dry the roots and bring them in bags to
the local druggists, who in turn ship them
to the jobbers, by w ON they are for
warded to the chinese markets.
The dried roots bring from So rs to So a
pound. and the green ones bring an aver
age of 80 cents pound. A considerable
sum of money is paid out fol- them at
Traverse City every season. The best
quality of ginseng root is found in North
ern Michigan. although the root is to be
found in other sections of the United
State.
An examination OF the best roots shows
that in shape they resemble the human
body. The Indians have given them the
name "A-ne-she- ma ba- sci wang" which
means "the little Indian" Tue Indians
have many superstitions about this root,
believing, among other things, that unless
an offering of some kind is made to it it
will, if dug, exert an evil influence and
even bring on war. In order to appease
this evil spirit they always scatter a little
tobacco in the hole from W ich the root
is dug as an inducement for it to grow
again and also to avert any evil influence
which 1t might otherwise exercise.
Under no circumstances can the indi-
ans be induced 10 use the root themselves
for medicinal purposes. although they
have faith in the curing properties OF
many other kinds of root. and herbs.
1t is not generally known that the name
ginseng is the anglicized form of the
foreign sound. The Chinese are the only
people who have any use for the root, and
they, too, are full OF superstitions con-
corning it. All classes of the Chinese use
it, il being the most favored potion of the
high st mandarin as well as the lowliest
cooie. They believe that if they carry it
wi them on long journeys it will give
LDeul blIeNSlu anu ncdltu anu Keep them
from all misfortune. They believe that 10
whaiever form water appears In the cody
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.
They also believe that the nearer the
root rese mbles the human form the more
efficacious 1t is. They say that the genu-
inc root will have two offshoots near the
crown TO represent the arms, while about
the middle it will bifurcate to represent
the lees. 1t is the opinion of all the
Celestials that they never get the genuine
root, as that grows only in the garden of
the gods. and their druggists tell them
that only earth-grown limitations can be
procured. The roots, they say, have the
power of concealing themselves from the
eyes of the curious, and few of them,
whose natures are entirely pure, can at
night see the halo of spiritual essence
which it puts forth; thus locating it, they
can unearth it at daybre This pretty
idea would doubtless be dissipated If they
could once see the Indians of northern