THE STORY OF GINSENG.
History and science have their romances as vivid and as fascinating
as any in the realms of fiction. No story ever told has surpassed in
interest the history of this mysterious plant Ginseng; the root that
for nearly 200 years has been an important article of export to
China.
Until a few years ago not one in a hundred intelligent Americans
living in cities and towns, ever heard of the plant, and those in the
wilder parts of the country who dug and sold the roots could tell
nothing of its history and use. Their forefathers had dug and sold
Ginseng. They merely followed the old custom.
The natural range of Ginseng growing wild in the United States is
north to the Canadian line, embracing all the states of Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, West
Virginia, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky
and Tennessee. It is also found in a greater part of the following
states: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Georgia
and Alabama. Until recently the plant was found growing wild in the
above states in abundance, especially those states touched by the
Allegheny mountains. The plant is also found in Ontario and Quebec,
Canada, but has become scarce there also, owing to persistent
hunting. It also grows sparingly in the states west of and bordering
on the Mississippi river.
Ginseng in the United States was not considered of any medical value
until about 1905, but in China it is and has been highly prized for
medical purposes and large quantities of the root are exported to
that country. It is indeed doubtful if the root has much if any
medical value, and the fact that the Chinese prefer roots that
resemble, somewhat, the human body, only goes to prove that their use
of the root is rather from superstition than real value.
Of late years Ginseng is being cultivated by the Chinese in that
country, but the root does not attain the size that it does in
America, and the plant from this side will, no doubt, continue to be
exported in large quantities.
New York and San Francisco are the two leading cities from which
exports are made to China, and in each of these places are many large
dealers who annually collect hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth.
The most valuable Ginseng grows in New York, the New England states
and northern Pennsylvania. The root from southern sections sells at
from fifty cents to one dollar per pound less.
Ginseng in the wild or natural state grows largely in beech, sugar
and poplar forests and prefers a damp soil. The appearance of Ginseng
when young resembles somewhat newly sprouted beans; the plant only
grows a few inches the first year. In the fall the stem dies and in
the spring the stalk grows up again. The height of the full grown
stalk is from eighteen to twenty inches, altho they sometimes grow
higher. The berries and seed are crimson (scarlet) color when ripe in
the fall. For three or four years the wild plants are small, and
unless one has a practical eye will escape notice, but professional
diggers have so persistently scoured the hills that in sections where
a few years ago it was abundant, it is now extinct.
While the palmy days of digging were on, it was a novel occupation
and the "seng diggers," as they are commonly called, go into the
woods armed with a small mattock and sack, and the search for the
valuable plant begins. Ginseng usually grows in patches and these
spots are well known to the mountain residents. Often scores of
pounds of root are taken from one patch, and the occupation is a very
profitable one. The women as well as the men hunt Ginseng, and the
stalk is well known to all mountain lads and lassies. Ginseng grows
in a rich, black soil, and is more commonly found on the hillsides
than in the lowlands.
[Illustration: Ginseng Plant and Roots.]
Few are the mountain residents who do not devote some of their time
to hunting this valuable plant, and in the mountain farm houses there
are now many hundred pounds of the article laid away waiting the
market. While the fall is the favorite time for Ginseng hunting, it
is carried on all summer. When a patch of the root is found the
hunter loses no time in digging it. To leave it until the fall would
be to lose it, for undoubtedly some other hunter would find the patch
and dig it.
How this odd commerce with China arose is in itself remarkable. Many,
many years ago a Catholic priest, one who had long served in China,
came as a missionary to the wilds of Canada. Here in the forest he
noted a plant bearing close resemblance to one much valued as a
medicine by the Chinese. A few roots were gathered and sent as a
sample to China, and many months afterwards the ships brought back
the welcome news that the Chinamen would buy the roots.
Early in its history the value of Ginseng as a cultivated crop was
recognized, and repeated efforts made for its propagation. Each
attempt ended in failure. It became an accepted fact with the people
that Ginseng could not be grown. Now these experimenters were not
botanists, and consequently they failed to note some very simple yet
essential requirements of the plant. About 1890 experiments were
renewed. This time by skilled and competent men who quickly learned
that the plant would thrive only under its native forest conditions,
ample shade, and a loose, mellow soil, rich in humus, or decayed
vegetable matter. As has since been shown by the success of the
growers. Ginseng is easily grown, and responds readily to proper care
and attention. Under right conditions the cultivated roots are much
larger and finer, and grow more quickly than the wild ones.
It may be stated in passing, that Chinese Ginseng is not quite the
same thing as that found in America, but is a variety called Panax
Ginseng, while ours is Panax Quinquefolia. The chemists say, however,
that so far as analysis shows, both have practically the same
properties. It was originally distributed over a wide area, being
found everywhere in the eastern part of the United States and Canada
where soil and locality were favorable.
Ginseng has an annual stalk and perennial root. The first year the
foliage does not closely resemble the mature plant, having only three
leaves. It is usually in its third year that it assumes the
characteristic leaves of maturity and becomes a seed-bearer. The
photos which accompany give a more accurate idea of the plant's
appearance than is possible from a written description. The plants
bloom very quickly after sprouting and the berries mature in August
and September in most localities. When ripe, the berries are a rich
deep crimson and contain usually two seeds each.
The seeds are peculiar in that it usually takes them about eighteen
months to germinate and if allowed to become dry in the meantime, the
vitality will be destroyed.
Western authorities have heretofore placed little value on Ginseng as
a curative agent, but a number of recent investigations seem to
reverse this opinion. The Chinese, however, have always placed the
highest value upon it and millions have used and esteemed it for
untold centuries. Its preparation and uses have never been fully
understood by western people.
Our Consuls in China have at various times furnished our government
with very full reports of its high value and universal use in the
"Flowery Kingdom." From these we learn that "Imperial Ginseng," the
highest grade grown in the royal parks and gardens, is jealously
watched and is worth from $40.00 to $200.00 per pound. Of course its
use is limited to the upper circle of China's four hundred. The next
quality comes from Korea and is valued at $15.00 to $35.00 per pound.
Its use is also limited to the lucky few. The third grade includes
American Ginseng and is the great staple kind. It is used by every
one of China's swarming millions who can possibly raise the price.
The fourth grade is Japanese Ginseng and is used by those who can do
no better.
Mr. Wildman, of Hong Kong, says: "The market for a good article is
practically unlimited. There are four hundred million Chinese and all
to some extent use Ginseng. If they can once become satisfied with
the results obtained from the tea made from American Ginseng, the
yearly demand will run up into the millions of dollars worth."
Another curious fact is that the Chinese highly prize certain
peculiar shapes among these roots especially those resembling the
human form. For such they gladly pay fabulous prices, sometimes six
hundred times its weight in silver. The rare shapes are not used as
medicine but kept as a charm, very much as some Americans keep a
rabbit's foot for luck.
Sir Edwin Arnold, that famous writer and student of Eastern peoples,
says of its medicinal values: "According to the Chinaman, Ginseng is
the best and most potent of cordials, of stimulants, of tonics, of
stomachics, cardiacs, febrifuges, and, above all, will best renovate
and reinvigorate failing forces. It fills the heart with hilarity
while its occasional use will, it is said, add a decade of years to
the ordinary human life. Can all these millions of Orientals, all
those many generations of men, who have boiled Ginseng in silver
kettles and have praised heaven for its many benefits, have been
totally deceived? Was the world ever quite mistaken when half of it
believed in something never puffed, nowhere advertised and not yet
fallen to the fate of a Trust, a Combine or a Corner?"
It has been asked why the Chinese do not grow their own Ginseng. In
reply it may be said that America supplies but a very small part
indeed of the Ginseng used in China. The bulk comes from Korea and
Manchuria, two provinces belonging to China, or at least which did
belong to her until the recent Eastern troubles.
Again, Ginseng requires practically a virgin soil, and as China
proper has been the home of teeming millions for thousands of years,
one readily sees that necessary conditions for the plant hardly exist
in that old and crowded country.