The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-02-18
THE G|NsENC TRADE,
4 DEALERS OPINION
REPLY TO Ex-CoNsUL JOHN GOOD
NoW's STATEMENTS.
How Cinnamon and the "syndicate"
Take the Cultivated Plant Min
neapolis Ginseng Trade Amounts to
$4,000 Year; the United States
Several Millions.
To the Editor of Tho Journal.

l wish you would give room for what /
have to say in regard to an article IN
your ] Journal last fall by our ex-
consul,. John Goodnow. Some things he
says are correct: That the demand is
based entirely on superstition; that the
root has life giving qualities; and, that
those having the nearest resemblance to
human beings are most valuable. That
is quite true. 1 have seen the Chinese
exporters eyes dance when they saw such
| roots in lot
! Now for the errors In what he said.
He says The trade is in the hands of a
syndicate and they only handle Korean
/ ginseng. Possibly this syndicate tells the
I Chinese, retail merchants that to keep
4 them from boycotting our American gin
| seng. If so, why is 1t that the wild root.
this fall has been ready sale at S6.75 to
I $40 per pound? We. who buy 1T, do not
hold 1t, ard If we did not find ready sale
for it. we would soon cease to buy 1t. .
| There has been marketed in Minneap-
oils probably $4,000 worth this year, and
/ in the United States several millions Of
i dollars worth. So you see his error; for,
either directly or Indirectly it gets to
China at good prices.
Chinese superstitIons.
Now in regard to the cultivated root,
to show your readers how the value is
DdSeO on SupeTSIlIlOH we Will cite one
instance in our experience We sent our
clerk to laundry where there were a
half dozen ."celestials,"s to sell some nice
cultivated root. Some roots were man
, like in shape. They tasted It, were de-
lighted with 1t, and bought it readily anc
told him to bring them all he could get
as what they did not need for their own
use they would ship to their exporter ir
San Francisco. Our man told them HE
: U-o1 1o orr ~, Dno 1uyna Va
: him again in just week. He said or
: his return that they looked daggers a.
him and said, 1--WE no wantee your cul
tivated root This convinced us the,
i had shipped It to the agents Of the syn
;, dictate at Frisco and received their re
!. turns. Now, does this not show that tn
demand is all based, on superstition? l
: was very good until they were informe
\ that 1t was cultivated
- Now your readers may say, how ca,
"a they distinguish between the cultivate
- and the wild? I will tell you; the cult
"a waited Is usually much hNner and twic
1, as heavy as the wild, and generally niue
~ cleaner. Then most Of the cultivated ha
- been raised from small wild roots du
- from the forests, and in > transplantin
they have not taken pains to place tt
top root straight in the earth. TIL
. causes it to be cluInpy-that is, n,
- straight like most wild roots This, wi,
~ it's solidityi and cleanliness, makes <
20 easy to tell from the wild roots. ,-a
a. Eat The Cultivated Plant.
,r, ..,.E-e. aa H. n
e. Now we have had a number of lots
as | cultivated that we got full price &c
ne They were roots grown from seeds, syn
a metrical in shape, not too large, not t
nd clean, and. dug before they became We
~ solid.s My idea is If not allowed to gre
to more than as large as ones fingers VIII
"a. dry, and dug imm ediately after the see
,st are ripe, or even before, If seeds are n
Ie- needed, and not washed too clean, we C
ne find sale for such. At present the orc
he nary cultivated does not bring quite h,
nv. the price Of wild. There are some w
,le buy that for American use, several fri
MS. putting up ginseng cures. Some Peep
ION like the Chinese, believe it has meri
me but as the demand is limited. the pr
The is low. That the Chinese think that
or root gorwn by nature has life-givi
the qualities and that cultivated has no v
tues, is certain. The only way to do
to grow I'M natural woods soil, dig a
at wash it so they can't tell the differen
M One, thing is certain, it's hardy pls
ore altho slow to get started, and good NOR
adv can be made at 81 to So pound
csc stead Of being hard to grow, as ms
and persons think it Is very hard to kill.
ust w. J. Burnett,
,oIe Manager Northwestern Hide & Fur CO
the Minneapolis, Feb. 16.