Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-09-23
aelistellaneuus 8eadi,1s.
BIG PROFITS IN GINSENG.
CHINA WILL PAY AMERICAN DIGGERS
si,25o,OO THIS YEAR.

SI,25O,OO THIS YEAR.
This Is the Height of the Ginseng Sea-
son-Dangers That the Industry May
Be Ruined Through Ignorance-Wide
Range of the Plant and It's Great VAL
ue-Its Use In the Chinese Pharma-
copeia.
From New York Sun.
BOLIVAR, N. Y, September 9.-The
ginseng diggers of the United States
will earn 81, $50, 900 this season, thanks
to the Chinese belief that the root of
this plant which grows wild in the
forests of fourteen states is specific
for all the ills of mind and body.
Practically no ginseng is used in this
country. About all that is dug is ex-
ported to China. The roots bring Sc
pound this year, the highest price
ever received by diggers, and the de-
mand exceeds the supply. The ex-
port trade is controlled absolutely by a
Chinese syndicate whose profits are
enormous. Years ago the wholesale
drug firms exported ginseng; but with
in Is years Chinese in New York have
secured a monopoly of the business.
This is the height of the ginseng
season, and from the woods of Canada
to the Georgia line the ginseng digger
is at work. Some of the diggers earn
IS day; but the average is about 81.
They walk from 10 to 20 miles day
in their rambles through the forests.
The digger carries a small steel pick
with hatchet blade and handle Is
inches long, with which he loosens the
ginseng root and cuts away the tree
roots that encircle it, for if it can be
avoided ginseng roots are never broken.
The roots are gathered up and carried
in cloth sack slung over the shoulder.
The successful digger must possess a
certain amount of forest lore, and
strength and willingness to tramp many
weary mile out of the beaten path,
for ginseng hides away in deep ravines
and dense forests.
The Indians on the New York reser-
vations and the Indians of Minnesota
earn a great deal of money every year
by digging ginseng but, unfortunate
ly for them, the plant is fast becoming
extinct within the boundaries of those
states. The most picturesque diggers
are found in the Cumberland noun
tain regions in Kentucky and Tennes-
see. There the women and children
Join the men in the hunt for the root,
which for short is called "sang.'
Every storekeeper in the backwoods
of the Cumberland highlands buys gin
seng, and it readily passes for curren-
cy. In that region a queer superstl-
ton prevails among the diggers. They
believe that if the location of a patch
of ginseng found at nightfall, too late
to be dug, is marked by blaze on
tree, or in any other way, the ginseng
will disappear before the next morn
ing.
For many years western PennsylVa.
MIA was paradise for diggers, many Of
whom came from miles away to dig the
root every season. In 1880 party
of four ginseng diggers found $4,000
worth of roots in one county in north,
western Pennsylvania. They discover
ed mountain stream that ran back
into a dense hardwood forest. Both
sides of the gully were covered with
ginseng and they kept the secret so
we'll that they secured about all OF the
patches. Many other big patches were
found in that region but few exist
now, though several thousand pounds
of roots are dug every season. Every
acre of the woods has been tramped
over many times.
The ginseng diggers have only them
selves to blame for the partial extlnc-
ton of the valuable plant, though
many of them assisted in manning the
goose that laid the golden egg through
ignorance. The ginseng plant comes
up in the spring as soon as the frost
leaves the ground. The stock OF the
mature nlant has three prongs with
five leaves on prong and closely re-
sem bles the very common sarsaparilia
plant. 1t thriyes best in hardwood
timber, on the east and northern slopes
of the hills. The sigrs that guide old
diggers are bloodroot and crowtoot,
which always grow near ginseng
patch. In the centre of the fork a
stem appears that bears white BIOS
som about the first of June. Green
berries follow the blossom and at the
end of August the berries turn scarlet:
The frost turns the stock yellow and
the berries drop off. Ginseng should
never be dug until the berries are scar.
let, and the berries should be planted
in the forest mould to insure another
crop. This the ginseng diggers have
seldom done.
The rule has always been to begin
digging as soon as the flower appeared,
thus exterminating the plant. Ken
lucky, realizing the folly of diggers,
has passed a law prohibiting the gath
ering of roots before the berries are
ripe. The Province of Ontario has
passed and enforces similar law. In
West Virginia law prohibits the dig
uirp of ginseng without the consent OF