The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-09-23
ABOUT GINSENG.

ABOUT GINSENG.
Big Profits IN the Root-China Will
Pay Americas Dlggers $1,25O,OOo
This 'Year-Danger That Industry
May be Burned Through Ignorance.
Bolivar, New York correspondence of
the Sun: The ginseng dlsEers OF the
United States viii earn S1,25O,OOO this
season. thanks 70 the Chinese belief
that the root Of this plant which grows
wild in the forests OF fourteen states
is a speciae for ali the Ills of mind and
body. Practically no ginseng IS used in
this country. About all that is dug is
exported to China. The roots bring six
dollars q pound this year, the highest
price ever received by diggers, and the
demand exceeds the supply The ex-
port trade Il controlled absolutely by a
Chinese syndicate whose profits are
enormous. Years ago the wholesale
drug firms exported ginseng; but with
In fifteen years Chinese in New York
have secured a monopoly of the BUSH
ness.
This Is the height Of the ginseng sea-
son. and from the woods of canada TO
the Georgia line the ginseng digger is at
work. Some Of the dIEgers earn IS a
day, but the average is about Sc. They
walk from ten to twenty miles a day in
their rambles through the forests. The
digger carries . small steel pick with a
Ratchet blade and a handle eighteen
inches long, with which he loo5aEs the
ginseng root and cuts away the tree
roots that encIrcle 1t, for II 1t can be
avoided EinSsug roots are never
broken. The roots are gathered up ana
carried in a cloth sack slung over the
shoulder. The successful digger must
possess 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-
yatIons and the Indians Of Minnesota
earn a great deal of money every year
by digging ginseng: but unfortunately
for them, the plant Is fast becoming
extinct within the boundaries of those
states. The most picturesque diGgers
are found In the Cumberland mountain
region In kentucky and Tennessee.
There the women and children join the
men in the hunt for the root, which for
short is called "sang." Every store
keeper in the bankwoods Of the Cum
berland Highlands buys ginseng. and 1t
readily passes for currency. In that
region queer superstition prevails
among the diggers. They believe that
II the location of patch Of ginseng
found at nlghtfall too late to be dug is
marked by Z blaze on a tree, on In any
other way, ne ginseng will disappear
before the next morning.
For many years western Pennsylva-
MIA was a paradise for dIggers, many
Of whom came from miles away to dig
the root every season. In 1880 party
Of four EinSang dlggers found $4,000
worth OF roots in one county in north
western Pennsylvania. They discover
ca a mountain stream that ran back
into a dense hardwood forest. Both
sides OF the gully were covered with
ginseng ana they kept the secret 80 well
that they secured about all OF the
patch. 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 einOang dlggerS have only them
selves 10 blame for the partial extinc-
lion OF the valuable plant, though many
Of them assisted in manning the goose
that laid the golden egg through isnor-
anee. The ginseng plant comes up In
the spring e soon ms the frost leaves
Tho ground. The stock or the mature
,,sn, Ia, three pronEs with 1--WE leaves
an prong and closely resembles inc
yorv common sarsaparllla plant. II
,brlves best In hardwood timber. on the
east and northern slopes Of the NILS
The signs that guide old dissers are
hIoodroot and crow foot, which always
ROW near 4 rinseng patch. In the cen
re OF the fork a stem appears that
beArs 4 white blossom nbout the hrst
N June. Green berries follow the BIOS
,om ana a, the end Of August the Der
ries turn scarlet. The frost turns me
stock yellow and the berries drop on
clbasng should never be dug UNI. INC
berries are scarlet and the berries