FUR FACTS 223 



It is said that the Chinese do not use ginseng so much as a curative 

 medicine as they do as a preventative. It is said that their favorite 

 method of taking ginseng is to steam the roots for many hours, 

 drinking it as a tea. It is their belief that many diseases are caused 

 by indigestion, and that ginseng has the qualities of a medicine that 

 will regulate the digestion and thus forestall disease. Whether this 

 is true or not, it is a fact that practically all of the ginseng produced, 

 both the wild root and the cultivated root, is exported to China. It 

 is also said that the Chinese will pay big premiums for certain pe- 

 culiarly shaped pieces of root. For instance a piece of ginseng root 

 that resembles the human form is said to be particularly desired and 

 in high favor with the Chinese. As to whether there is any medical 

 merit to the root or not, has not been decided by medical authorities 

 in this country. At any rate the medical profession seems to give 

 little value to it. But that is not the question. Whether it has 

 merit or not, the Chinese believe that it has, and they are the users, 

 and we have been exporting ginseng root to the Chinese for over one 

 hundred years. There is a big demand for it now and probably will 

 be for many years to come, so that any one who will undertake the 

 raising of ginseng, and raise it successfully, will be well repaid for 

 his work. 



It requires an infinite amount of patience and quite a little work 

 to successfully raise ginseng. One must wait for several years before 

 cashing in any profit, but when you finally reap a crop of roots and 

 are able to sell it at the prevailing price on today's market of $12.00 

 per pound, there is no crop that will return the same high rate of 

 cash dividends. 



Ginseng in its wild and natural state grows mostly in thick hard- 

 wood forests. The seeds ripen early in the fall or late summer, de- 

 pending a good deal on the locality in which it is found. For many 

 years the only crop of ginseng was the wild root, which was gathered 

 by ginseng diggers, many of whom were trappers in the winter time, 

 and looked for ginseng during the summer months. They became 

 familiar with the leaf and general appearance of the plant and would 

 then travel through the woods and when they found a plant that 

 was the proper size and gave evidence of having a fair sized root, 

 they would dig it up with their mattock, carry it home, wash and 

 dry it, and ship it into market. In some districts where ginseng was 

 plentiful this would be a very profitable summer occupation, but the 

 diggers would soon strip the district of all the wild ginseng there wa* 

 to be had. In some sections large beds of ginseng would be found, 



