The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-09-05
GINSENG FIELD A FORT.
owner Protects II with BristIinr Array
of Guns.

of Guns.
The queerest vigil in Pennsylvania
Is that Kept by ]. q. Osborne. n gin
seng grower. whose garden is near
Wcstfield. No gold mine claimant ever
watched his treasure with greater
care than does Mr.. Osborne his
precious ginseng beds. He was twice
robbed of the best roots in the garden.
and to prevent further thievery he
has resorted TO n most effective plan.
Guns bristle about the edge Of the
patch, and in the centre of the little
farm stands q watch-box that is
verltable arsenal. 1t Is fitted with n
burglar alarm, which Is connected
with hidden wires that encircle the
field, and within the Matchbox Mr..
Osborne keeps nightly vigil. his com
pany being a number of trusty rifles
and shotguns. The guns that form
deadly Gordon about the edge of
the garden are connected with an al
most invisible wire' The guns point
inward. their range forming terrible
network of angles from which the
thieves can hardly escape
Once cooked and primed. and the
wire attached, the slightest jar against
the latter would explode every gun
in the circle. 1t is calculated, that
thieves, be they ever so cautious, will
step upon or stumble over the deadly
wire, at some point in it's circle, and
IL they miss the wire connected with
the battery of guns they are quite
sure to run afoul of the burglar alarm
wire. and then Mr.. Osborne, from his
point of vantage will do some pep
pering. Though his Matchbox is in
the centre of the circle formed by the
range of the bristling guns, yet II is
high enough above the ground for the
occupant to escape being hit.
1t Is not Mr.. Osborne's intention
TO kill anybody. He wants to Grip
PIE thieves so badly that he will be
able to overhaul and arrest them. Last
season, on two different occasions, his
ginseng beds were robbed of the oldest
and best roots. and he does not pro-
pose to have his valuable crop again
despoiled.
Mr.. Osborne expects to make $500
from his ginseng patch this fall, and
this Is the reason why he does not
propose to have somebody else dig
from his patch the choicest and most
valuable roots. Next month the gin
seng digging will commence, and then
the professional "sheng" hunters,
mostly old men and women, will go
into the mountains for the seasons
digging. There they live in shacks.
digging the mountain wild lands over
and over for the precious roots. 1t
takes three pounds of green roots to
make one pound of dry or marketable
stuff. but over and over again some
of the diggers have days that they
find as much as ten pounds of the
root, and perhaps a quarter-pound of
seed. the latter having, according to
the Chinese, n special virtue.
The cultivation of ginseng is a re-
cent experiment. and Mr.. Osborne has
been among the most successful of
the experimenters. 1t is for this rea-
son that his valuable crop has become
the temptation of covetOus and un-
princlpled ''sheng" gatherers, and
made necessary his vigorous methods
of protection. 1t is calculated that it
requires about eight years before the
first crop of ginseng root can be dug.
and during all that time the growing
plants require careful and constant
watching and n great deal of care.
This fact also explains why Farmer
Osborne protects his plants from
thieves by bristling guns and startling
burglar alarms.