Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-12-11
aINsEMcuLTuRE 1N m1ssouR1.
A Novel Industry likely to Make Big
Trade With China.


A Novel Industry likely to Make Big
Trade With China.
China is sending it's noblest sons to
critics of. the Missouri soil as to raising
ginseng for the use Of the millions of
Chinese across the water Within re-
cent months several delegations of not
able Chinese among them being the
this country to investigate the prop
Hon. Ho Vow, Chinese consul at San
Francisco, have journeyed to the coun-
try lying in the heart of the Ozarks.
propitious place, they say, for the cul-
ture of ginseng, the favorite opiate OF
the Chinese.
There has been for some time a gin
seng farm in the Ozark country and
this mover industry-noveT for the
Southwest at leaSt-iS now likely to
grow rapidly. Arrangements have been
made to export the ginseng raised here
direct to the principal ports of China,
where it will be sold. At present Amer
lean raised ginseng is considered of in
ferior quality.
In travelling by rail across that rug
ged unfit known as the OZarks few
persons would think OF connecting the
landscape with the ancient customs
and superstitiOns Of the faraway Chi
nese empire. Yet here has begun the
industry which may establish gigantic
commercial relations between this
country and the opposite side of earth.
The connecting link between such wide
apart localities is ginseng, that tabled
root OF antiquity, generally believed
by learned men to be identical with the
mandrake OF the Bible.
About two hundred years ago ginseng
was discovered among the North Amer
/ lean Indians, and ever since then the
growth as found wild, principally IN
the Catskill mountains, has died until
there is hardly any wild ginseng to be
found. Most of the ginseng cultivated
in the United States is found in Mis-
souri,, and this is indeed a small area
compared to its possibilities.
Ginseng is used alone in China, where
the people believe it is cure for all
ills. They think it lisa blessing sent
from heaven, and when the plant or
root is grown in certain shapes to rep
resent idols, then the Chinese are will
ing to pay almost any price for it to
eat. They make tea out of the root
or eat it dry. 1t produces a sensation
similar to that of opium. The rest Of
the world, except Corea, has little use
for the root, except to raise and sell it
to the Chinese. 1t is estimated that R
the American farmers should try 10
grow ginseng to perfection they could
build up trade of 10000, 900 annually.
At the present time the planters OF
Corea who raise the finest quality Of
the ginseng root have an absolute cor
1ler on the importing of ginseng into
China. This year, it has been reported,
the Corean planters, fearing there was
to be an overproduction of the root,
burned at least one-f1fth of their stock
in hand. This was done to keep the
prices up.
The Corean ginsing is sold for nearly
it's weight in gold. 1t has been known
to bring 800 pound. The poorer
class cannot afford to buy this, and
sometimes they have to do with when
the quantity imported from America
and Japan is not forthcoming The
wild ginsing in the United States has
seen its last days, and now it must be
handled with care to be grown at all.
The biggest gingseng ranch is that H.
S. Millard, near Houston, Mo-, on the
Frisco line of railway. Fifteen years
ago G. F. Millard, then merchant and
farmer of Houston, Mo-, became inter-
ested in the subject Of ginseng culture.
He investigated the matter carefully,
and found out that it could be cultivat-
ed like corn or wheat. 1t took him
three years to get his first crop started.
Gingseng is like horseradish in appear
ance. 1t grows rank, and is kept inside
of covered gardens. The Willard ranch
contains Is acres, and it brings huge
profits. This year from one-fourth OF
an acre the Millards sold $4,000 worth
of ginseng.
But the results have not been accom-
plished without serious difficulty. In
the beginning Mr.. Millard suffered fail
ure after failure. He studied the plant
as it grew in it's wild state among the
sandhills of the Ozarks, and his efforts
at home culture were finally successful.
Ginseng requires two primary ele-
: ments-shade and moisture. Given
these, it can be grown in Missouri to
perfection because of the climate. It is
not advisable to depend upon natural
shade and brush arbors should be
erected over each bed to keep out the
sunlight. While ginsing thrives on
water, it does not necessarily have to
, have it, as a ginseng plan has been
known to outlive any other plant with
out water. 1t is very hardy.
The Millards ship most Of their gin
seng direct to Hong Kong and Pekin,
where they secure from Sc to So q
pound They say the actual cost OF
producing it is less than 25 cents a
pound. The culture is rapidly spread
ing throughout the Ozark region.
The excavations conducted by the
Palestine Exploration fund at the site