Produced by Linda M. Everhart, Blairstown, Missouri (This
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Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants
[Frontispiece: Delights in His Ginseng Garden.]
GINSENG AND OTHER
MEDICINAL PLANTS
A Book of Valuable Information for
Growers as Well as Collectors
of Medicinal Roots, Barks,
Leaves, Etc.
BY
A. R. HARDING
Published by
A. R. Harding Publishing Co.
Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1908
By A. R. Harding Pub. Co.
CONTENTS
I. Plants as a Source of Revenue
II. List of Plants Having Medicinal Value
III. Cultivation of Wild Plants
IV. The Story of Ginseng
V. Ginseng Habits
VI. Cultivation
VII. Shading and Blight
VIII. Diseases of Ginseng
IX. Marketing and Prices
X. Letters from Growers
XI. General Information
XII. Medicinal Qualities
XIII. Ginseng in China
XIV. Ginseng--Government Description, Etc.
XV. Michigan Mint Farm
XVI. Miscellaneous Information
XVII. Golden Seal Cultivation
XVIII. Golden Seal History, Etc.
XIX. Growers' Letters
XX. Golden Seal--Government Description, Etc.
XXI. Cohosh--Black and Blue
XXII. Snakeroot--Canada and Virginia
XXIII. Pokeweed
XXIV. Mayapple
XXV. Seneca Snakeroot
XXVI. Lady's Slipper
XXVII. Forest Roots
XXVIII. Forest Plants
XXIX. Thicket Plants
XXX. Swamp Plants
XXXI. Field Plants
XXXII. Dry Soil Plants
XXXIII. Rich Soil Plants
XXXIV. Medicinal Herbs
XXXV. Medicinal Shrubs
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Delights in His Ginseng Garden
Seneca Snake Root (Cultivated) in Blossom
Indian Turnip (Wild)
Canadian Snake Root (Cultivated)
Blood Root (Cultivated)
Sarsaparilla Plant (Wild)
Ginseng Plants and Roots
Garden Grown Ginseng Plants
Northern Ginseng Plant in Bloom--June
Plan for Ginseng Garden 24 x 40 Feet--Ground Plan One Line,
Overhead Dotted
A Lath Panel
One, Two and Three Year Old Ginseng Roots
Ginseng Plants Coming Up
Bed of 10,000 Young Ginseng Plants in Forest
One Year's Growth of Ginseng Under Lattice Shade
A Healthy Looking Ginseng Garden
Diseased Ginseng Plants
Broken--"Stem Rot"
End Root Rot of Seedlings
The Beginning of Soft Rot
Dug and Dried--Ready for Market
A Three Year Old Cultivated Root
Bed of Mature Ginseng Plants Under Lattice
Some Thrifty Plants--An Ohio Garden
New York Grower's Garden
Forest Bed of Young "Seng" These Plants However Are Too Thick
A Healthy Looking "Garden"--"Yard"
Root Resembling Human Body
Wild Ginseng Roots
Pennsylvania Grower's Garden
Ginseng (Panax Quinquefolium)
Lady Slipper
Young Golden Seal Plant in Bloom
Golden Seal Plants
Thrifty Golden Seal Plant
Golden Seal in an Upland Grove
Locust Grove Seal Garden
Golden Seal (Hydrastis Canadensis) Flowering Plant and Fruit
Golden Seal Rootstock
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga Racemosa), Leaves, Flowering Spikes and
Rootstock
Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum Thalictroides)
Canada Snakeroot (Asarum Canadense)
Virginia Serpentaria (Aristolochia Serpentaria)
Pokeweed (Phytolacca Decandra), Flowering and Fruiting Branch
Pokeweed Root
May-Apple (Podophyllum Pellatum), Upper Portion of Plant with
Flower, and Rootstock
Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala Senega), Flowering Plant with Root
Large Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium Hirsutum)
Bethroot (Trillium Erectum)
Culver's Root (Veronica Virginica) Flowering Top and Rootstock
Stoneroot (Collinsonia Canadensis)
Crawley-Root (Corallorhiza Odontorhiza)
Marginal-Fruited Shield-Fern (Dryopteris Marginalis)
Goldthread (Coptis Trifolia)
Twinleaf (Jeffersonia Diphylla) Plant and Seed Capsule
Canada Moonseed (Menispermum Canadense)
Wild Turnip (Arisaema Triphyllum)
Black Indian Hemp (Apocynum Cannabinum), Flowering Portion, Pods,
and Rootstock
Chamaelirium (Chamaelirium Luteum)
Wild Yam (Dioscorea Villosa)
Skunk-Cabbage (Spathyema Foetida)
American Hellebore (Veratrum Viride)
Water-Eryngo (Eryngium Yuccifolium)
Yellow Jasmine (Gelsensium Sempervirens)
Sweet Flag (Acorus Calamus)
Blue Flag (Iris Versicolor)
Crane's-bill (Geranium Maculatum), Flowering Plant, Showing also
Seed Pods and Rootstock
Dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale)
Soapwort (Saponaria Officinalis)
Burdock (Arctium Lappa), Flowering branch and Root
Yellow Dock (Rumex Crispus), First Year's Growth
Broad-Leaved Dock (Rumex Obtusifolius), Leaf, Fruiting Spike and
Root
Stillingia (Stillingia Sylvatica), Upper Portion of Plant and Part
of Spike Showing Male Plant
American Colombo (Frasera Carolinensis), Leaves, Flowers, and Seed
Pods
Couch-Grass (Agropyron Repens)
Echinacea (Brauneria Augustifolia)
Aletris (Aletris Farinosa)
Wild Indigo (Baptisia Tinctoria), Branch Showing Flowers and Seed
Pods
Pleurisy Root (Asclepias Tuberosa)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis), Flowering Plant with Rootstock
Pinkroot (Spigelia Marilandica)
Indian Physic (Porteranthus Trifoliatus)
Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia Nudicaulis)
American Angelica (Angelica Atropurpurea)
Comfrey (Symphytum Officinale)
Elecampane (Inula Helenium)
Queen-of-the-Meadow (Eupatorium Purpureum)
Hydrangea (Hydrangea Arborescens)
Oregon Grape (Berberis Aquifolium)
[Illustration: A. R. Harding]
INTRODUCTION
When the price of Ginseng advanced some years ago hundreds engaged in
the business who knew little or nothing of farming, plant raising and
horticulture. That they largely failed is not to be wondered at.
Later many began in a small way and succeeded. Many of these were
farmers and gardeners. Others were men who had hunted, trapped and
gathered "seng" from boyhood. They therefore knew something of the
peculiarities of Ginseng.
It is from the experience of these men that this work is largely made
up--writings of those who are in the business.
Golden seal is also attracting considerable attention owing to the
rapid increase in price during the early years of the present
century. The growing of this plant is given careful attention also.
Many other plants are destined to soon become valuable. A work gotten
out by the government--American root drugs--contains a great deal of
value in regard habits, range, description, common names, price,
uses, etc., etc., so that some of the information contained in this
book is taken therefrom. The prices named in the government bulletin
which was issued in 1907 were those prevailing at that time--they
will vary, in the future, largely according to the supply and demand.
The greatest revenue derived from plants for medicinal purposes is
derived from the roots, yet there are certain ones where the leaves
and bark are used. Therefore to be complete some space is given to
these plants. The digging of the roots, of course, destroys the plant
as well as does the peeling of the bark, while leaves secured is
clear gain--in other words, if gathered when matured the plant or
shrub is not injured and will produce leaves each year.
The amount of root drugs used for medicinal purposes will increase as
the medical profession is using of them more and more. Again the
number of people in the world is rapidly increasing while the forests
(the natural home of root drugs) are becoming less each year. This
shows that growers of medicinal roots will find a larger market in
the future than in the past.
Those who know something of medicinal plants--"Root Drugs"--can
safely embark in their cultivation, for while prices may ease off--go
lower--at times, it is reasonably certain that the general trend will
be upward as the supply growing wild is rapidly becoming less each
year.
A. R. Harding.
CHAPTER I.
PLANTS AS A SOURCE OF REVENUE.
With the single exception of ginseng, the hundred of plants whose
roots are used for medical purposes, America is the main market and
user. Ginseng is used mainly by the Chinese. The thickly inhabited
Chinese Empire is where the American ginseng is principally used. To
what uses it is put may be briefly stated, as a superstitious
beverage. The roots with certain shapes are carried about the person
for charms. The roots resembling the human form being the most
valuable.
The most valuable drugs which grow in America are ginseng and golden
seal, but there are hundreds of others as well whose leaves, barks,
seeds, flowers, etc., have a market value and which could be
cultivated or gathered with profit. In this connection an article
which appeared in the Hunter-Trader-Trapper, Columbus, Ohio, under
the title which heads this chapter is given in full:
To many unacquainted with the nature of the various wild plants which
surround them in farm and out-o'-door life, it will be a revelation
to learn that the world's supply of crude, botanical (vegetable)
drugs are to a large extent gotten from this class of material. There
are more than one thousand different kinds in use which are
indigenous or naturalized in the United States. Some of these are
very valuable and have, since their medicinal properties were
discovered, come into use in all parts of the world; others now
collected in this country have been brought here and, much like the
English sparrow, become in their propagation a nuisance and pest
wherever found.
The impression prevails among many that the work of collecting the
proper kind, curing and preparing for the market is an occupation to
be undertaken only by those having experience and a wide knowledge of
their species, uses, etc. It is a fact, though, that everyone,
however little he may know of the medicinal value of such things, may
easily become familiar enough with this business to successfully
collect and prepare for the market many different kinds from the
start.
There are very large firms throughout the country whose sole business
is for this line of merchandise, and who are at all times anxious to
make contracts with parties in the country who will give the work
business-like attention, such as would attend the production of other
farm articles, and which is so necessary to the success of the work.
If one could visit the buyers of such firms and ask how reliable they
have found their sources of supply for the various kinds required, it
would provoke much laughter. It is quite true that not more than one
in one hundred who write these firms to get an order for some one or
more kinds they might supply, ever give it sufficient attention to
enable a first shipment to be made. Repeated experiences of this kind
have made the average buyer very promptly commit to the nearest waste
basket all letters received from those who have not been doing this
work in the past, recognizing the utter waste of time in
corresponding with those who so far have shown no interest in the
work.
The time is ripe for those who are willing to take up this work,
seriously giving some time and brains to solving the comparatively
easy problems of doing this work at a small cost of time and money
and successfully compete for this business, which in many cases is
forced to draw supplies from Europe, South America, Africa, and all
parts of the world.
From the writer's observation, more of these goods are not collected
in this country on account of the false ideas those investigating it
have of the amount of money to be made from the work, than from any
other reason; they are led to believe that untold wealth lies easily
within their reach, requiring only a small effort on their part to
obtain it. Many cases may be cited of ones who have laboriously
collected, possibly 50 to 100 pounds of an article, and when it was
discovered that from one to two dollars per pound was not immediately
forthcoming, pronounced the dealer a thief and never again considered
the work.
In these days when all crude materials are being bought, manufactured
and sold on the closest margins of profit possible, the crude drug
business has not escaped, it is therefore only possible to make a
reasonable profit in marketing the products of the now useless weeds
which confront the farmer as a serious problem at every turn. To the
one putting thought, economy and perseverance in this work, will come
profit which is now merely thrown away.
Many herbs, leaves, barks, seeds, roots, berries and flowers are
bought in very large quantities, it being the custom of the larger
houses to merely place an order with the collector for all he can
collect, without restriction. For example, the barks used from the
sassafras roots, from the wild cherry tree, white pine tree, elm
tree, tansy herb, jimson weed, etc., run into the hundreds of
thousand pounds annually, forming very often the basis of many
remedies you buy from your druggist.
The idea prevalent with many, who have at any time considered this
occupation, that it is necessary to be familiar with the botanical
and Latin names of these weeds, must be abolished. When one of the
firms referred to receives a letter asking for the price of Rattle
Top Root, they at once know that Cimicifuga Racemosa is meant; or if
it be Shonny Haw, they readily understand it to mean Viburnum
Prunifolium; Jimson Weed as Stramonium Dotura; Indian Tobacco as
Lobelia Inflata; Star Roots as Helonias Roots, and so on throughout
the entire list of items.
Should an occasion arise when the name by which an article is locally
known cannot be understood, a sample sent by mail will soon be the
means of making plain to the buyer what is meant.
Among the many items which it is now necessary to import from
Germany, Russia, France, Austria and other foreign countries, which
might be produced by this country, the more important are: Dandelion
Roots, Burdock Roots, Angelica Roots, Asparagus Roots, Red Clover
Heads, or blossoms. Corn Silk, Doggrass, Elder Flowers, Horehound
Herb, Motherwort Herb, Parsley Root, Parsley Seed, Sage Leaves,
Stramonium Leaves or Jamestown Leaves, Yellow Dock Root, together
with many others.
Dandelion Roots have at times become so scarce in the markets as to
reach a price of 50c per pound as the cost to import it is small
there was great profit somewhere.
These items just enumerated would not be worthy of mention were they
of small importance. It is true, though, that with one or two
exceptions, the amounts annually imported are from one hundred to
five hundred thousand pounds or more.
As plentiful as are Red Clover Flowers, this item last fall brought
very close to 20c per pound when being purchased in two to ten-ton
lots for the Winter's consumption.
For five years past values for all Crude Drugs have advanced in many
instances beyond a proportionate advance in the cost of labor, and
they bid fair to maintain such a position permanently. It is safe to
estimate the average enhancement of values to be at least 100% over
this period; those not reaching such an increased price fully made up
for by others which have many times doubled in value.
It is beyond the bounds of possibility to pursue in detail all of the
facts which might prove interesting regarding this business, but it
is important that, to an extent at least, the matter of fluctuations
in values be explained before this subject can be ever in a measure
complete.
All items embraced in the list of readily marketable items are at
times very high in price and other times very low; this is brought
about principally by the supply. It is usually the case that an
article gradually declines in price, when it has once started, until
the price ceases to make its production profitable.
It is then neglected by those formerly gathering it, leaving the
natural demand nothing to draw upon except stocks which have
accumulated in the hands of dealers. It is more often the case that
such stocks are consumed before any one has become aware of the fact
that none has been collected for some time, and that nowhere can any
be found ready for the market.
Dealers then begin to make inquiry, they urge its collection by those
who formerly did it, insisting still upon paying only the old price.
The situation becomes acute; the small lots held are not released
until a fabulous price may be realized, thus establishing a very much
higher market. Very soon the advanced prices reach the collector,
offers are rapidly made him at higher and higher prices, until
finally every one in the district is attracted by the high and
profitable figures being offered. It is right here that every careful
person concerned needs to be doubly careful else, in the inevitable
drop in prices caused by the over-production which as a matter of
course follows, he will lose money. It will probably take two to five
years then for this operation to repeat itself with these items,
which have after this declined even to lower figures than before.
In the meantime attention is directed to others undergoing the same
experience. A thorough understanding of these circumstances and
proper heed given to them, will save much for the collector and make
him win in the majority of cases.
Books and other information can be had by writing to the
manufacturers and dealers whose advertisements may be found in this
and other papers.