Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-09-23

Canada. Southern root is quoted at
81 a pound less than northern root.
1t takes four pounds of green root dug
in the spring to make one of dry. In
the fall it takes only three pounds of
gfeen for one of dry. Only dry root
is exported. The average mature gin
seng plant is 10 inches high and the
average root weighs an ounce. Stocks
feet high have been found and roots
weighing 80 ounces have been dug,
but they are very rare. One peculiar
ity about ginseng is that many OF
the roots are forked and resemble in
form the human body with spurs for
arms and legs. Such roots, if they
are extremely old, bring their weight
/ in gold in China. The Chinese believe
that the root of a plant that thus ex'
pands into the human form in dark
forests and thickets must be intended
to alleviate the sufferings of the hu.
man race.
In color the ginseng root resembles
the garden parsnip. 1t has pleasant,
aromatic taste. Nearly every digger
chews it and regards it as specific for
stomach troubles, at the same time
poking fun at the Chinaman who gives
up good money for it. Ginseng is a
plant of slow growth and long lived.
Every fall the dying stalk leaves a
wrinkle that is as plain as the rings by
which the age of a tree is told, and old
diggers say that they frequently find
roots fifty years old.
The process of preparing the roots
for market is simple. The digger
washes them in spring water to remove
the earth and dries them in the sun.
When cured he carries them to the
country store and trades them for cash
or goods. All over the ginseng coun-
try buyers are many and competition
so lively that the digger gets d good
price. The country dealers ship the
roots to the city dealer for whom he
buys in bags or barrels. One firm in
Lexington, KY, handled $4,000 worth
of ginseng last season, and one ship
ment by express from Kentucky
mountain town to a commission firm
in New York was valued at $40, 900.
All the ginseng root dug in the United
States finally reaches New York city.
There are 20 firms in New York city
that buy ginseng from country and
small city dealers. When the ship
ments reach New York they are sort
ed and the roots placed in heaps on
the floor ready to be inspected by the
Chinese exporters who make daily
rounds. The Chinese pack the roots
into wooden casks that hold 200
pounds and ship them direct to Hong
Kong. The commission men know
little more about the Chinese end of
the ginseng question than the diggers
in the backwoods, for the Cinnamon
are reticent. Some diggers are not un-
like these honest farmers who put the
big apples in the top row when pack
ing a barrel. Commission men fire.
quently find ginseng roots filled with
lead and other metals, and often cheap
southern roots are found mixed with
shipments from as far north as Canada.
A good idea of the value of wild
ginseng may be secured by a visit to
one of the New York commission
houses late in September when business
is brisk. On the floor will be seen a
little pyramid of roots, perhaps bush
ell in all, that the dealer asks $500 for.
Such roots have been assorted, are OF
good size and perfect in every way.
One commission man says that the Chi
nese exporters make strong effort
every season to learn the names of the
country buyers so that they can deal
direct with them and save the COM
mission mans profit but the commits
sion men guard their list Of dealers
carefully. Even when approached by
Chinaman, as they occasionally are, the
country dealers are shy and prefer TO
deal with Americans. Three or four
wears ago an American went to Hong
Kong with big shipment of ginseng !;
but the Hong Kong branch of the
Chinese syndicate blocked his efforts
to dispose of it so cleverly that he lost
money and gave up the idea of being
an exporter. Even the commission
men are shy about giving out any in
formation about the business.
American ginseng ranks third in
China. The finest ginseng grows wild
in the forests of Manchuria and is rare,
choice roots selling readily for S4OO
an ounce. The Chinese believe that
ginseng is endowed with the power Of
concealing itself from capture and
that heaven has appointed the wolf,
tiger, leopard and snake to guard over
its safety in the dark wooded glens.
They firmly believe that it has the
power to ward Off disease and evil
spirits and that its use will prolong the
life of dying man for days. The
roots are on sale at all the botanic stores
in China and are universally used.
The Manchurian ginseng is reserved
for royalty and the very rich. The
poorer classes use cheap grades and
broken roots.
. There are three ways of taking gin
seng In pills, in confection and by