The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17
BIG PROFITS IN GINSENG.
CHINA Will PAY AMERICAN DIGGERs
NI.e5O.0 900 THIS YEAR.

Itulneu AnEOukh ignorance" luo mango
of the Plant and Its Great valuo-Its
Use In the Chinese Pharma copeia.
BOLIVAR, N. ", Sept s.-Tho ginseng dig
gers OF the United States will earn 81, $50, 600
this season. thanks TO the Chinese belief that
the root OF this plant which grows wild in the
forests OF fourteen States Ia specific Tor all the
Ills OF mind and body. Practically no ginseng
10 used In this country. About all that is dug
10 exported 70 China The roots bring ak dol
lars q pound this year, tho highest price ever
received by diggers. and tho demand exceeds
the supply. The export trade 10 controlled alb
solutely by q Chinese syndicate whose profits
are enormous Years ago the wholesale drug
hrms exported ginseng; but within fifteen years
Chinese In New York have secured monopoly
OF the businessso
This 10 the height OF the ginseng season. and
from the woods OF Canada TO the Georgia line
the ginseng digger 10 at work. Some OF tho dig
gers earn IS day. but the average 10 about ga
They walk rom ten 70 twenty miles q day In
their ranbes through the torostA The digger
carries Q small steel pick with q Ratchet blade
and q handle eighteen inohcs long. with which
he loosons the ginseng root and cuts away the
tce roots that encircle II Tor II Il oan DO
avoided ginseng roots arc never broken. Tho
roots are gathered up and carried in cloth sack
sluns over the shoulder Tho successful digger
strength and Willingness TO tramp many q woary
mile out OF the beaten path Tor ginseng hides
away In deep ravines and dense forests
The Indians on tho Now York reservations
and the Indians OF Minnesota earn a great deal
oil money every year by digging ginseng: but
unfortunately tor them, the plant 10 last bocom-
ing extinct within the boundaries OF those States
Tho most picturesque diggers arc found in the
Cumberland Mountain region in Kentucky and
Tennessee There the women and children Join
tho men In the hunt Tor tho root which Tor short
IL called sang. Every storokeeper In tho back
woods OF the Cumberland Highlands buys gin
seng and II readily passes Tor currency In that
region queer superstition prevails among the
diggers They believe that IL tho location
Of patch Of ginseng found at nightiall too late
TO be dug Is marked by blazs on a trea or In
any other way, tho ginseng will disappear before
tho next morning.
For many years western Pennsylvania was
paradise for diggers, many Of whom came from
miles away to dig the root evcry season In 1880
party OF four ginseng diggers found $4,000
worth Of roots In ono county In northwestern
Pennsylvania They discovered mountain
stream that ran back into dense hard wood for
est Both sides of the gully wore covered with
ginseng and they kept tho secret 50 we'll that
they secured about all Of tho patch. Many other
big patshes 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 uampod over many times,
Tho ginseng disgers have only themselves
to blame for tho partial extinction OF the valu-
able plant though many OF them assisted In MAIN
ing the goose that laid the golden egg through
ignorance Tho ginseng plant comes up In tho
spring as soon as the frost leaves the ground
The stock OF the mature plant has three prongs
with 6ve leaves mn nj
tho very common sarsaparilla plant 1t thrives
best In hardwood timber. on the east and north
ern slopes OF the hills The signs that guido
old dlggers arc hloodroot and crow foot which
always grow near a ginseng patch In the centre
Of tho fork stem appears that bears a white bios
som about the first Of june Green berries follow
tho blossom and at the end OF August tho berries
turn scarlet Tho frost turns the stock yellow
and the bofriee drop of. Ginseng should never
DO dug until the berries are scarlet and the ber-
rics should be planted In the forest mould to insure
another crop This tho ginseng diggers have
seldom dona
The rule has always boon 70 begin digging
as soon as the flower appeared. thus oxterminat
ing the plant Kentucky, realizing tho folly
OF diggers, has passed a law PROHIBITING the gath
erng OF roots before tho berries arc ripe Tho
Province OF Ontario has passed and eniorces q
similar law In West Virginia law prohibits
tho digging OF ginseng without tho consent OF
the owners OF the land
The best rinsonr comos from p.nr,v,v,n;.
New York. Minnesota and Canada Sopth.rr
root La quoted at 81 A pound less than North.r,
root II take, four pounds Of green mot suv In th
spring to mako ono of drv. In IN. fan II t,l.,
only three pounds Of green for one Of dry Only
dry root Ia exported Tho av.r,pe m,trr. civ
senr plant is tan incba, high and IN. average 700,
Weighs an ounc. Stocks ,ou, f.., b,,h h.u.
been found and roots Weighing thirtv ounce.
have bean dug. but thew ara y.,v ,sr. IN.
peouliaItv about p,ns.ns 10 that ,nnv =, ~
roots ARE forked and resombls in form, N. hur,.r
body with spurs for arms and l.rs Such root. %
they are extrem.lv old hiring their w.,obt In o-o,d
in China Tho Chinese believe that IN, root AZ .
plant that thus expands into III, human to,r, IN
dark forests and tboketa mus, h. intended a. ALL.
viate tn. suferinea Of the bum.nr.o
In color tho ginseng root resemble. IN. r.rd.,
parsnin Itb.s A nleas.nt ,,om.tiot..t. NIL
every digger ohews IL and regard. II AZ a sn,ciHo