Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-28
GINSENG AND SNAKES
-ExPERIENcE OF A SANG DIGGER
In THE OPEN.
Plant Only Found Near the Butternut
Tree-Rattler Under Every
Flat Stone.
in Forest and Stream,

| The parson, the professor and the super
1ntendent waited until the Sang Diggers
wife and the older children had gone Off In
| the dark to the little village church when
| they slipped across the street to sit by. his
warm, bright kitchen stove. His youngest
girl had remained at home, and she was
sitting at the table near the lamp working
| out her problems In multiplication for the
| next day Of school The Sang Digger, q
| small, wiry man. Drowned by the weather
| to the color OF a late autumn leaf, was pot
| tering around the stove and the table look
| Ing over some fishing tackle preparatory to
| a trip for bass the next day. He seemed
| very glad to have the visitors call on him,
and did his best to make them feel at
home
The parson was tired. He was a heavy
man, and the days pheasant hunting over
| the mountains had pretty nearly played
| him out, and after he had lighted his
| Pittsburg stogie he sagged down into his
chair like lump of dough. The profess
sor had not slept well the previous night
| He Is small man, and as his bedfellow
| weighed nearly three hundred pounds, and
| In addition to occupying the middle of the
| bed, had snOred terrifically whenever he
| lay on his back, the professor had put in
| the night between cat maps and spells of
| kicking the big man awake and over into
| his own side of the bed. So the task of
| interviewing the Sang Digger and making
him talk about his experiences in the woods
| and along the streams fell to the superin-
| tendent.
| Where Bass Bite.
The Sang Digger was given to much cir
| cumlocution In his conversation. He would
| back and fill, start over again, get ahead of
| his story and tell the same thing over again
| with slight variations, so that 1t was some
| what difficult to get him to make progress
| in his story. One favorite theory Of his
that If you found that the bass would not
bite in one pool, and you would go down
| to the next pool where they would bite.
| and then return to the first pool you would
find them ready to bite there-he told over
! SO many times and with such slight changes
| that the superintendent was compelled
| finally to switch him off to keep the parson
| from falling out of his chair with inward
| laughter
| But finally he was headed in the direction
| of his experiences in the digging OF GIN
| seng, which he followed from the middle
| of August until the heavy frosts SO broke
could not find them in the woods. and
| when well started he proved an entertain
| ing talker.
He had theory that ginseng plants and
| butternut trees are always associated IN
| the woods, and that the presence of red
| oaks always indicated the absence of gin
| seng. But his one example seemed to prove
| only the one section of his rule He and
| his partner had climbed to the top of
| high knob and were debating which direc-
| ton to take next. Just below them was
! small fat covered with little red oak sap
| lings, and the Sang Digger said thai there
was no use to hunt down there. But after
! some further argument his partner plunged
| down over the bank into the red oaks and
| the Sang Digger followed Near the edge
| of the red oak tract the Sang Digger dis
| covered a few scattering plants which he
stopped to dig. In the meantime the part
ner wandered away some little distance
nd or, q Ia nl9ntS
| which he finally dug several dollars worth
| of roots. And, to cap the climax the Sang
| Digger found in the same locality still
larger patch. From the two patches they
| dug in all some seven eight dollars
| worth. All of these plants were among the
red oaks, but when he came to examine
more closely he found that near each patch
was a small butternut tree
Hunt for Ginseng.
His adventures had been mostly with rat
tlesnakes. In his hunt for ginseng he
compelled to travel the mountains for fifty
or sixty miles around, and his trips some
times lasted for weeks. at which times he
would live in the woods like an Indian One
evening he had come down a small noun
tain stream until he reached fall, and
near this fall he found little lean-to camp
made by a fisherman. 1t was nearly dark
and a light rain falling. He threw his
coat and bag of ginseng in on the dead
boushs that had made the bed of the for
mer occupant of the shelter and hurriedly
prepared and ate his supper. He then built
up a good fire fer the night and went to
get his coat to dry It, AS he picked UP his
coat he heard rattlesnake Sing out" as
he expressed 1t, and on making light enough
to see inside he found a large yellow rat
tlesnake had rounded out among the boughs
| depression that looked not unlike the nest
of hen, and was lying coied up in this
nest with head and tall both up. But a
snake that he could see he had no fear Of
and he soon killed it, and after determin-
ing that there were no others in the neigh
borhood he calmly lay down and slept until
morning.
At another time he and a companion had
made camp at the foot of a mountain after
long and hard days tramp. After eating
supper and getting ready for the night
both had pulled off their boots to rest their
feet. Just before lying down to sleep the
companion stepped outside the light of the
fire In order that he might see If he could
tell what the weather would be on the NOR
row. In a minute the Sang Digger heard
him call In an alarmed way for a light
The Sang Digger snatched burning stick
from the fire and hurried out, when he
found his companion standing with his feet
wide apart and a coiled and rafting snake
exactly between them. He had known from
the sound that 1t very near and had
not dared to move for fear of stepping on
1t. And from between his legs the Sang
Digger had killed ii with neatness and dis
patch before the man had dared move an
inch
Once in daylight he was coming down a
mountain side that was bare of anything
but scattered vegetation and covered with
thin, fiat rocks. He had cut a long, stout
pole to assist him in the descent, and when
near the middle of a patch of stones he
heard snake rattle. Standing still he
managed to turn over with his pole many
of the fiat stones nearest to him, and under
nearly every one he found a snake. After
killing ten or twelve he made more vlo-
lent movement than usual and heard
DO tl4 hn lrrrr
which he was standing. Moving back a
little, he pried up this stone and found
under it three rattlers. all of which he
killed, The odor given off by these snakes
IL. IL L.. I'll