n- I X D FA LLS . 



381 



knife encounters a comparatively solid mass of tissue 

 which, if seen in side view, is somewhat thimble-shaped. 

 This thimble is made up of pith or the central cellular 

 part of the twig which has become hardened by a process 

 called lignification. That is, lignin, which is the sub- 

 stance of hard wood, has been deposited in the walls of 

 the cells. Usually, in addition to this, there is a great 

 deposition of starch in these cells which may be seen by 

 carefully splitting the twig and placing the pieces (one 

 or both) in a weak solution of iodine ; this causes the 

 starch to take on a dark blue color. Starch is stored up 

 at this place near the terminal bud, to be used by it in 

 early spring, at which time it changes over into sugar and 

 is ready for use, 



Now, if a similar longitudinal section be made through 

 the twig at the place where two years' growth join, that 

 is, at the point, for example, where the terminal bud was 

 the year before, this same thimble may be found, but less 

 prominent than at the tip of the same twig. Through 

 this portion of the twig, which is a little larger than the 

 stem above or below it, the pith is broader than else- 

 where, the cells are much liguified and are filled with 

 starch. If the iodine test be applied midway between 

 the extremities of two years' growth, the pith as a rule 

 is less lignified, often not at all in the central portion, 

 and may bear only a little starch. 



The point of all this is, that at the junction there is a 

 place for the storage of starch. Here the pith is well 

 adapted for holding this reserve food material, because 

 constructed for that purpose during its first year, when 

 it made up nearly the whole of the substantial part of 

 the base of the terminal bud. If any person should try 

 the iodine test, which is a very simple one, let it be said 

 that all trees and shrubs do not store up an abundance 

 of starch. Ttius the apple and pear abound in this 

 substance, while the poplar and willow have but little. 

 The box elder responds to the iodine, while the buckeye 

 has almost no starch in the junction. Other substances 

 may take the place of the starch. — Byron D. Halsted. 



Ginseng. — Thanks to the Chinese for their passion 

 for ginseng, and to kind nature for bestowing it largely 

 upon this region ! Western North Carolina is many dol- 

 lars the richer from the sale of "sang" roots. The 

 great demand and high prices paid for dry roots of our 

 little native plant have led to much inquiry concerning 

 its cultivation and history. 



Ages ago it was abundant in the great forests of Chin- 

 ese Tartary, but it was such an important factor in the 

 materia medica of China that it has almost entirely dis- 

 appeared from China, and if our farmers allow the root 

 diggers the freedom of their mountain lands, it will soon 

 disappear from our region also. But the Chinese cannot 

 give up ginseng because they have used up their local 

 supply. They seek it everywhere, and were highly de- 

 lighted to find that through Chinese agents in New York 

 they could obtain it cheaper from America than anywhere 

 else. It is their chief curative agent — a specific, in their 



opinion, for all diseases. They wear it upon their per- 

 sons to keep off evil spirits, and worship it in their houses. 



American physicians think that the medicinal virtue 

 of this root is largely imaginary with the Chinese. Roots 

 of different shapes are said by celestial doctors to pos- 

 sess widely different medicinal properties. For instance, 

 while ordinary dry roots of ginseng in China are worth 

 their weight in silver, a root in the shape of a man, with 

 body, legs, etc., readily sells for its weight in gold. We 

 are very glad to let the Chinese have it at the high figures 

 they pay, our only anxiety being to supply their demand, 

 for in this country ginseng holds an insignificant place 

 in therapeutics. 



Linnaeus, when scientifically naming American gin- 

 seng, evidently considered it allied to the Chinese plant, 

 for its generic name of panax is taken from the old Greek 

 noun used by Theophrastus to indicate a remedy for all the 

 ills of the flesh. The specific name, quinquefolium, was 

 given with reference to its five-leaved arrangement. We 

 have several other native panaxes, but none except quin- 

 quefolium has the aromatic, pungent taste of ginseng. 



I have heard of ginsengs being found sometimes in the 

 oak and sugar maple forests of the north, but believe it 

 is chiefly indigenous to Georgia, Tennessee and North 

 Carolina. It grows in loamy soils along elevated pla- 

 teaus, or near the sea level in northern states. With us 

 it is peculiar to mountain sections, and so far has not 

 proved amenable to culture. Shade seems to be essen- 

 tial in cultivating it, for plants exposed to the rays of the 

 sun in open fields or gardens soon die out, though given 

 the best of care. Lately, some success has been 

 achieved by selecting the edges of forests, where it is 

 found growing wild, clearing out small trees and under- 

 brush, and leaving some large trees for shade. This is 

 done in early summer. The ground is then broken and 

 pulverized with harrows, rakes or hoes, and all grass, 

 weeds and roots killed. This bed is then sowed in ber- 

 ries or small unsalable roots. 



Ginseng berries, ripe in autumn, are of a pretty, bright 

 crimson color, and contain two seeds each. They are 

 rubbed from the pulp and planted in the soft soil of the 

 prepared bed about half an inch deep and six inches 

 apart, in rows two feet apart. Seeds and small roots 

 must be all planted in the ground before leaves begin to 

 fall, that these, settling down over the bed, may give 

 needed and natural protection through winter. 



These leaves are allowed to remain upon the bed 

 through the next summer as a mulch, and to keep down 

 the weeds, and all the cultivation the plants seem to 

 tolerate is this keeping up of continual mulch about 

 their roots, throwing dry branches over the leaves, if 

 during winds, and the keeping down of weeds and tree 

 sprouts. 



At the close of the third season, the ginseng roots 

 will be of marketable size, and may be dug, marketed^ 

 the old bed loosened, covered with fresh leaf mould 

 from the forest, and replanted with the seeds and small 

 roots from the late harvest. 



