The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-05-04
Farmers all Over the Land See
Millions in 1t.
Its Delusion, Though, and Those who
try to Raise it are Likely to Suf-
fer Thereby.
From the New York Sun.

something can be done to convince
them of the folly Of trying to raise
ginseng. Ginseng is plant used
only by the Chinese. The root is
aromatic and slightly stimulant, and
the people Of China have a faith in
its medicinal properties that amounts
almost to superstition. They are
willing to pay as much as S. q pound
for the dried root, and on this fact
and to statements made by the agri-
cultural department some time ago is
due the craze for raising it which has
swept over this country.
Ginseng grows wild in the United
States and Canada, but the best root
comes from Corea, and from that
country the Chinese annually import
large supply. The plant is cultivated
in Corea and Manchuria and to
small extent in the United States.
Here is the danger to American farm
ers who go into the cultivation Of
ginseng Prior to 1902 China imported
IT, COO pounds Of ginseng. That
amount of roots could have been raised
in field of fifty or seventy-fve acres,
The agricultural department. has
distributed to inquirers not fewer than
25, 600 or 80, 600 copies of pamphlet
describing ginseng, and the officials
are now painfully aware of the fact
that if dozen persons in the United
States should seriously take up the
culture of ginseng they would i'm
mediately supply the entire Chinese
demand for ginseng from this country.
Moreover the market price Of the root
would Immediately decline until it
reached next to nothing. The crop
wouldn't be profitable.
James Wilson, Secretary Of Agricul-
ture, is an enthusiast on the subject
of introducing new agricultural pur-
suits into the United States, but he
makes no bones of denouncing the
ginseng craze. He says ginseng is
delusion and snare.
The eagerness to take mp ginseng
culture is especially noticeable on the
Pacific coast, where hundreds of thou
sands Of farmers and small ranchers
are dreaming of great riches to be
had from marketing their product in
China. In Seattle few weeks ago a
we'll known actor announced his in
ention of retiring from the stage,
buying small ranch near the city
and raising ginseng for the Chinese
market. The agricultural department.
constantly receives requests for infor-
nation about this fascinating crop.
Corea is recognized as the natural
habitat of the ginseng plant, and
United States Minister Allen has
thrown up his hands in despair over
the growing volume OF his correspond,
ence on this subjct. He has received
so many letters from would-be ginseng
farmers in the United States that
he has informed the State department
that he cannot undertake to answer
any more of the communications.
Every mail, the minister says,
brings to him requests for ginseng
seeds and plants and information.
Not realizing that the agricultural de-
partment long ago became swamped
with similar inquiries, Mr.. Allen has
referred his correspondents to that
department. In letter to the State
department, in which Minister Allen
tells of his troubles from the ginseng
craze, he says:
with great difficulty living roots
have been shipped to America and a
reliable supply must now be available.
At least one enterprising American
(of San Francisco) has spent some
months at the ginseng farms in Corea,
studying the culture and conditions
and taking away with him large
shipment of living plants, so that
dealers in the United States must
now have plentiful supply of reliable
plants and fresh seed.
The ginseng farmers are some sixty
miles distant from Seoul and there
is no person there TO whom one may
apply for seeds or plants TIE Ameri-
can missionaries residing near the
farms have wisely decided not to
attempt to export the seeds and plants,
as such course would ultimately,
cause trouble for them with the
natives.
eff all the ginseng plants in America
succeed the product will be of little
value. The only market for the roots
is in China, and it is overstocked,
while the Corean product-which
SGCulS w 10 " CSPOSlcA va oS, NAO W.
conditions of soil and ciimte-is in
creasing so greatly that the purchasers
of the last crop were obliged to destroy
large quantity in orde, to keep the
supply more nearly within the
demand. -
Both Minister Allen and Secretary of
Agriculture Wilson are of the opinion
that ginseng is a greater delnsion than
was Col. Sellers famous Oriental eye
linament. 1t may seem as if there
were millions in it for the ginseng
farmers of the United States, but Mr..
Wilson says: Let ginseng alone. y
1t was the department of agriculture
that began the trouble. 1t issued a
pamphlet of thirty 1.-TWO pages on the
subject of ginseng as long ago as'lo9o
It was long time before the authors
of this really innocent publication
fully realized the trouble they had
| made for themselves.
Farmers all over the country began
to make inquiries about ginseng, cul-
ture, and the inquiries increased IN
number until the officials were sorry
| thew had ever heard of ginseng, much