Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-02-21
GINSENG FARM TRUST.
Proposition 10 Form One OF
Wisconsin Growers.
BIG PRICES PAID FOB THE BOOTS.

Fantastic shapes Ia Great Ccaaaaa
Among CAinanen-Ceieesfnls Wor-
Sip Medical PLANT when 1t RE-
serabIes the Form OF a Human Re-
ang-EIosy It ~ Cultivated.
An agent Of an American ginseng
eomgag was ia Milwaukee a few days
ago tn consultation with men in that
city who have been buying lands for
the purpose Of raising ginseng and who
own ginseng gardens, the object being
to form d trust Of the growers. says
the Chicago Inter ocean.
Recently d number Of Milwaukee aud
Chicago capitalists have invested large
sums in lands in Wood and juneau
counties, IN Wisconsin, to be utilized
as ginseng farms or gardens. These
lands are located near Nekoosa and
Armenia, the latter town being in Ju
neau and on the banks of the Wiscon
sin river, while Nekoosa Is in Wood
county, a few miles north.
The attention of the United States
agricultural department was called to
this section Of the state by a Chica-
goan, and the soil and climatic condi
tons were pronounced among the best
In the country for the successful cul-
t1yation of ginseng. The trust, it is
said, which it is proposed to form has
options on large gardens In Michigan
nearly opposite Milwaukee and in Mis-
souri, and is in a fair way to make a
deal In a county in the southwestern
part of the state, where a most success
full garden has been in operation for
several years.
The roots are worth from So to S10
a pound, according to quality, ard
crops valued at $4,000 have been
raised on one acre, while the seed alone
sells at $50 q pound, or an average Of
2a cents a seed. The entire crop of
ginseng raised in the United States
goes to China, where the natives not
only eat 1t for all the ills that flesh Ia
heir to, but worship 1t. Enthusiastically
shaped pieces of ginseng bring almost
fabulous prices, especially if they be
In the form of a human being or re-
semble the body, with legs, arms
and head. One of these is said to have
brought from a famous mandarin So.
GOO.
The agricultural department in a re.
cent report stated that there was no
danger of an oyerproduction and that
all the ginseng raised in the United
States in the next twenty years would
find a ready market.
The syndicate that has been formed
has made offers to the owners of gar
dens in Roc3, Wood, Juneau, Dodge,
Waukesha and other counties, where
second and third year crops have been
raised. 1t takes about four years to
produce a marketable root from the
seed.
A few years ago wild ginseng grew
In nearly every county in Wisconsin,
but Indians and others have dug up
every root and shipped it to the ex-
porters in New York, where they have
received big prices for it. 1t is believed
that every seed and growing root Of
ginseng will he controlled by the trust
within a very few weeks.
Ginseng is cultivated either in the
woods or under cover of brush thrown
upon a latticework supported above a
crop of posts or poles. Seeds are har-
vested for three years, and the fourth
year the roots from the first seeds sown
are ready for market. A man living
at Palmyra, n few miles west of Mil
waukee, planted a quarter of an acre
with seeds three years ago, and an
agent this winter bought 100000 seeds
from him at 21a cents apiece.
The ginseng is sold in China, it is
said, for prices ranging all the way
from $50 to 5000 a pound, according to
it's quality. 1t will be seen, therefore,
that while the growers are now reap
ing a rich harvest the exporter is max.
ing a vast fortune. Cinnamon call gin.
seng the man plant" and believe they
must have it, and consequently they
will pay, If able, any price asked.