Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-08-15
THE TRADE IN GINSENG.
Facts About an American Prod
uct Sold In China.
DEMAND FOB 1T NOW CEASED.

Uprising Six Hundred Thousand
Americans Ever Heard of Sent Out
by Us Last Year.
II noticed not long ago a dispatch In
the newspapers from Corbin, KY"
said a Kentuckian of pretty general in
formation to q New York Sun man, Ito
the effect that the Chinese disturb
ances had interfered so seriously with
the business of shipping ginseng that
the sang diggers of that part Of the
state had about lost their occupation.
Possibly you do not know 1t, but 1 can
tell you that China uses our entire
product OF ginseng, and, while you
may never have given the subject any
thought, the fact remains that for more
than 100 years we have been shipping
ginseng to the Chinese and that the
Celestials in that time have consumed
In the neighborhood OF SO, 900
worth OF a root that the majority of
Americans never saw and good many
never heard OF. Since 1920 we have
never shipped less than 10000 pounds
yearly, and shipments have reached as
high as $4,000 pounds annually.
These large shipments, however, &C.
CURED i'm the earlier history of the
trade and before the supply began to
diminish. Values have changed ac-
cordingly also. and the 1881 pounds
shipped In 1922 represents n value Of
S313, 943 as against a value of $4,000
for 10000 pounds shipped in 1897.
Shipments fOr 1898 amounted to about
175. 900 pounds, valued at 500, 900, and
for 1899 $4,000 pounds, worth, say,
5000, 900 showing a continual decrease
In quantity and increase in price. The
Chinese disturbances, however. have
knocked the trade all out of keller, and
as the demand for ginseng has ceased
dealers are not buying, and the sang
digger is out of job. Such a condi-
ton has never before occurred in the
ginseng trade. and as it cannot con-
tinue the wise dealer will buy up the
roots at the present low price and real
ize on them later.
More or less mystery has always at
tached to the use of ginseng by the
Chinese, and, while some persons as
sert that it is a tonic Of rare powers,
the general belief is that it's use is in
fluenced rather by superstition than by
science. Ginseng Is supposed to be
corruption of the Chinese word Jen-
shen,' which means manwort. the root
Of the plant much resembling the figure
of n human being. The more nearly 1t
resembles the human form the more
powerful 1t IS considered to be, and
when OF extra good quality the China
man will balance the scales with gold
for his sang Physicians and chem
lists in the United States have made a
study of ginseng from a therapeutic
standpoint, and they have concluded
that about the only virtue the root has
is the high price it will bring among
the heather Chinese, the figures rang
ing ordinarily from IS to $25 a pound.
the same being worth in the United
States from S1.75 to $3.50 pound. dry.
Green 'sang'-that IS, the fresh roots
are worth only about 40 or 80 cents
pound to the digger. and they are not
often sold in that shape.
Ginseng prevails all along the east
ern sections of the United States and
Canada, but 1t Is found now only in
the remoter parts, as the root needs a
sandy soil in the deep woods. Ken
lucky and Tennessee furnish large
quantities. though OF an inferior grade.
and fancy that the typical sang dig
ger does not exist elsewhere as he does
in these states and in West Virginia
and North Carolina. Here he is at his
best, and when he can scratch around
all day in the cool shadows of the pri-
meval forests and get 81 for the sang
he digs he is perfectly content. During
the civil war the ginseng trade was
disturbed by reason of the mountain
GERS going off to fight. and for four
years the r6ots We're left to grow in
the fastnesses of the hills. That made
n fine crop for the returned soldier
Some efforts have been made in va
rious localities TO cultivate ginseng,
but 50 many difficulties are encounter
ed that not a great deal has been done.
Kentucky has several fairly successful
ginseng farmers. and Professor Gar
man Of the Kentucky agricultural eX-
pertinent station at Lexington has
written a bulletin on the nature and
culture of ginseng which is an inter
esting and valuable work Kentucky
has no laws protecting the ginseng
farmer. but West Virginia has, and
there is also such a law in Canada,
" itLt sang HAS bCth pIOduCcu
ZIG. There is not state east Of the
Mississippi river In which some gin
seng is not produced. but the bulk of it
comes from the less settled or noun
famous states. China raises a lot Of
her own sang and some comes from
Japan and Russia. the japanese using
considerable quantity themselves,
but as far as statistics show the bulk
IF the sang used in the orient comes
from North America. What the re-
suits of the present disturbance in Chi
ma will be cannot be known for some
time yet. but II the foreign dog must
so and China's ports be closed you may
soon expect to see sang schooners
headed to the westward and hear stir
ring stories of the sang smugglers, for
John Chinaman must have his ginseng.