The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-29
GHOVLMEGH DIGGING ROOTS
HES. STONE FOUND HEALFH AND
HONEY IN TIE WOODS.

HObs LVtns ArOund Up n lIatnA
CANDVuLz, Ne; March H. os into
the high hills q ncgtharn o. oastsm Maine
aid the doctor IN ths Portland Hospital
10 me after l had SomSWhat recovered
from my first hemOFThage, and p0t away
1t Once OF you Vim not be abb 70 90 At al.
go 70 some airy farmhouse On q high
hill and find . room that h light and Olnan.
Shove tho windows up and ke0p thsm un
day and night, and ram about outdoors
and eat simple country foods and don't
worry. II you stay In ths city two mouth4
longer you arc . dead woman.
Consult no physician and take no modi-
cine. Dress warmly and take W0ruiao IN
the sunlight. II you GEs alive ns1t sep-
tsmbor oome and 80 me- and IN give yol
further directions.
Nov, hurry away. HIS . good rr,
boiorO I have 10 make out and sign yopt
death c~eFtihcate.'
'Now you know why I came down hsrs
10 Cardvills TO i've went On Mn. ANY
Stone, tho widow Of . shipmaStor sailing
out Of Bath. MY husband had loft Gum
life insurance policy in . sound COMPANY
and some 1900 in debts for mo 10 pay.
Il taught school with good g1ccoss and
with some profit for . year and ahah, but
during the second winter / broke down
and was taken 10 tbs hospital suffering
from a pronounced case Of tuberouloGs
Wben my fever had sbated and I vas Sbh
10 tOtter about the hospital wards Tia
attending doctor met me and gave M MI
ordsu, which I have ohsysd.
Il came 10 this farmhouse two years
ago this spring, and with The exception ~
an annual visit Of six weeks or two months
among my friends In Bath and Portland
during the Christmas a 7 hAve ~
sided here and worked here ever sinoe
I have not only paid my modest board
bill regularly and clothed myself respeo.
tably, but I have saved money,
III I live long enough ! expect to de
rich and leave money for founding open
air hospitals or sauitariums. Most Of nv
income has come from digging and drying
and selling the medicinal roots that grow
wild in this vicinity.
"Before my marriage ! went IN a finish
ing school for young woPe and gained
considerable knowledge Of botany, ~
when | came down here broken in health
and poor, I picked up my studies where
/ had left them on six years before. and
have turned them into money.
why. I can look out from the window
OF my room on stormy days and see Atty
cont pieces and quarters and dollar bills
sprouting up and growing all along tho
hillside. Over there at the edge Of that
oattail swamp there Is a border Of skunk
cabbage Just breaking through the Ice
and Soggy ground.
along in April when the Toe has gone
I can 60 out there and dig enough roots
Of skunk cabbage plants TO keep me busy
cleaning and slicing and drying, for three
rainy days. and when that lot Of cured
roots il marketed In Boston or New York
| shall receive more than $40 for my labor
and there will be plenty Of skunk cabbage
roots left In the muck for other hsrvests.
AS soon as the skunk cabbage has given
out | can 60 into the cold woods Of early
spring and pull the roots Of the purple
trillhlm from their coverings Of autumn
leaves. And the wake robin roots are
worth digging. When sliced and dried
they bring IS 10 70 cents q pound, and the
wholesale druggists want all they can get.
Just think or III | can sell dried roots
OF the weke robin for as much as you pay
for hest Mocha and Java coffee, and ] can
collect from 50 70 rs pounds in a day. Why,
a woman who is sick aud without money
and without friends can become opulent tn
the Maine woods II she starts right
There are 90 many roots growing wld
here In the woods and pastures and fields
which one can convert into money that at
times / do not know where 20 begin. Here
IL dried burdock root that | can sell for five
or siX cents a pound. Then there are the
big and milky roots Of the common dande:
lion that the druggists cannot get enough OF
at seven tents a pound,
1T Is a fact. Last year more than 1000
pounds Of dried dandelion roots was i'm
ported TO New York from Europe. That one
item alone would have given an American
woman an income OF $500.
zone day last August when ] was walking
home staggering under a bag of drug roots
which 7 had collected | san an old farmer
top Of a large stone by the roadside.
1'WhAtll you take for the lotf asked
by way OF banter.
'"'WhatTl / take1' repeated the fanner in
condemnation. 'Consarn the stun. amt
l ! narrowed and raked and picked for three
days 10 cit rid Wv it2 You can take the
hull pot and bilin', an good radiance
'Itook up his offer so quickly that It made
his head swim, and in three days Of wash
ing and sorting and drying ! was able N
bag and ship away enough witohgass
roots to bring me a check for $3.50. u
was just like finding the money.
Perhaps the most satisfactory wot
I have TO perform is in September, when
l take a cushion and a plush robe and ait
among the cradle knolls in the pastures
and dig the delicate and lbrous roots OF
the gold thread, which are still In great
demand for curing canker and sore throat,
All l have TO do Is TO lift OF the NOISY caps
from the knobs and pick out the yellow
threads and place them in my collecting
THE roots are very fine, and I must
keep busy to gather more than four pounds
In q day; but " | get 70 cents q pound for
all l oan find the pay is good for a sick
Of iun-just like being a little girl again
and playing real fairy stories.
the presence OF snow and frozen ground
for at least FIVE months in the year puts
aourb upon my desire to get rich too quickly,
but / am 10 idle.
when / am not writing TO wholesals
drug houses to get new contracts and learn
prices, l put On my snowshoes and walk
Tar out into the young pine woods opics
the ripe cones. which | take home an
shell and ship to the nurserymen who grow
evergreens for the large landed estates In
New York. New Jersey and Massachusetts,
The seeds Of the genuine pumpkin pins
trees are getting very scarce.
There are very few genuine soft pine
trees left standing In the country. and The
red squirrels eat the seeds Of these as fast
A. they form. Last fall l made q oontracr
TO furnish q Long Island nurseryman with
ton Of Dumnkin nine seeds Tor 400.