34 
American Agriculturist, July 19, 1921 
Discussions by Our Readers 
Growing Gin-Seng—Talking United States—Plucking Geese 
Gin-Seng Growing Under Lattice 
I N a little hamlet named “Moon,” a few miles typed on both sides of the sheet, about the agri- 
from the village of Dancy, Marathon County, cultural outlook for 1924. The Department had 
Wis., a man by the name of Claude Neault moved the right idea that farmers might read what the 
his family and started to make a living, cul- newspapers printed. There was good stuff in it, 
tivating the wild gin-seng for the market. In too. But what editor would or could wade 
less than three years he owned a very attractive through it, or even through the four-page sum- 
and comfortable home with modern conveniences mary at the start? For it was all written in 
and had money in the bank. 
I visited this gin-seng farm 
last August and it was with 
much enthusiasm tlyit he 
showed me the great beds 
and explained to me all about 
the growth, cultivation and 
care of gin-seng. 
The seeds can be purchased 
for 75 cents a thousand, or 
you can raise your own seed 
by procuring the wild plants, 
which grow in shady places 
in hardwood soil. When the 
seeds are planted, they are 
thrown broadcast, then trans¬ 
planted when large enough. 
If the seed is scarified, it 
grows right away. This is 
done by first planting a layer 
of seed, then a layer of river 
sand. Then seed again, and 
then sand, etc. This is done 
in a box eight or ten inches 
high, until the box is full. 
The scarifying takes one and 
a half years. When the seeds 
are all ready for planting, they are placed in beds 
six feet high, four feel wide and any length (usually 
about thirty feet). They must have shade, so a 
slat fence six feet high is built and covered with 
lath. The plants are of a very dark green color 
and sell for one-half a cent apiece when one year 
old. A branch resembles a man’s hand, three 
large leaves and two small ones. The matured 
plant has twenty leaves or four hands. The leaf 
resembles an elm leaf. 
The flower of the gin-seng is white and turns to a 
fiery red. The matured root looks like a parsnip 
and is close to the surface. The plants are sub¬ 
ject to disease, such as fiber rot, soft rot and black 
rot. They have to be sprayed for blight, too, every 
ten days during growing season. A hand sprayer 
and Pyrox is generally used. It is important to 
keep the beds free from weeds also. 
When getting ready to ship, the gin-seng has to 
be dried in kilns or trays, made of cheese cloth, 
on frames and then placed on shelves. It takes 
six to eight weeks to dry. The roots have to be 
washed thoroughly and dried and fiber must be 
separated from the main root. It is then packed 
in barrels and shipped to New York to Chinese 
buyers for from $5 to $12 a pound. 
An acre sometimes produces $25,000, but it 
requires quite a little care. A mulch of rotten 
sawdust is used for covering to protect it from the 
winter’s frost. The Chinese esteem the gin-seng 
root a remedy for all diseases of the body or mind. 
The taste is sweetish, though slightly bitter and 
aromatic.— Mrs. Howard R. Maxwell. 
Why Don’t They Talk United States 
By Leslie Harrison 
T has long been a favorite sport to bait the 
bulletins of federal and state agricultural 
agencies. Persons write protests to the authori¬ 
ties, and these protests are passed on down the 
line to some one who writes a wordy defense or 
a polite letter of thanks for the criticisms. Even 
though the protests are justified, that method of 
bringing about a change seldom works, and the 
words which may have meant 
something or nothing, and 
they started with the dullest 
part of the whole business. 
Any one used to words meant 
to convey ideas, and who 
managed to struggle through 
the first page, must have had 
either of two impressions: 
first, that the writer couldn’t 
“ talk United States or that 
he was trying to conceal his 
meaning—was “ pussy-foot¬ 
ing,” or using “weasel-words.” 
The Deadly Parallel 
Here are the first few para¬ 
graphs done into plain talk: 
In 1924 farmers plan 
for normal output, even 
though farming will have 
high labor and other costs, 
loss of farm workers, and 
low prices as compared 
with those for city-made 
goods. 
America can and will 
buy. City folks want 
good clothes and fancy foods and have money 
enough to pay for them. Other lands still take 
the American farmer’s cotton, pork, wheat and 
tobacco. 
But the costs of labor, machinery, fertilizer, 
and credit ought to make the farmer go slow on 
extra outlays to raise more crops. 
The foregoing statement of the agricultural 
Outlook for 1924, issued by the U. S. De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, is based on general in¬ 
formation and on specific reports from 43,000 
farmers, representing every agricultural county 
in the country. 
And next comes the stuff as originally issued: 
The following statement of the Agricultural 
Outlook for 1924 based upon current information 
and upon specific reports from 43,000 farmers, 
representing every agricultural county in the 
country, stating their intentions regarding the 
planting of spring crops, has been prepared by the 
Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the United 
States Department of Agriculture to provide a 
basis upon which producers may make readjust¬ 
ments to meet economic changes. 
The general agricultural outlook for 1924 indi¬ 
cates that farmers are undertaking a normal pro¬ 
duction program. It is apparent, however, that 
agricultural production this year will still be at¬ 
tended by the difficulties arising from high 
wages and other costs, loss of farm workers, and 
the general disparity between prices of farm 
and urban products. 
Domestic demand for agricultural products is 
at a low level. Urban prosperity is reflected in 
a heavy current consumption of fibers and high 
quality foods and this may be expected to con¬ 
tinue into the summer. 
Foreign markets, on the whole, seem likely to 
maintain about the present level of demand for 
our cotton, pork, wheat and tobacco. 
The situation this season with respect to labor, 
machinery, fertilizer, credit and other cost items 
is not such as to favor any expansion in produc¬ 
tion. 
Read ’em and weep! 
“To provide a basis upon which producers 
may make readjustments to meet economic 
changes,” means what, if anything? Does it 
governmental mills go right on grinding out more mean that farmers may plant or raise less or more, 
of the same old stuff. 
Here is a protest right out in the open. 
Recently the United States Department of 
Agriculture at Washington sent to newspapers 
thirty-three pages of close-space manuscript. 
as they see fit, if farm labor gets dearer or farm 
products get cheaper? If that is what is meant, 
why not say it? Better still, why say anything 
if that is all that is meant? Why not give the 
farmer, who gets too much advice already, credit 
for being able to draw his own conclusions and 
to do at least a little of his own thinking after Ip 
has been given the straight facts in clear words 
that say what they mean and mean what they say? 
* * * 
How to Pluck a Goose 
S EVERAL weeks ago American Agricul¬ 
turist received a request from a subscriber 
for information about plucking geese. Since that 
time we have received several inquiries about that 
practice, especially with reference to the method of 
holding the bird. We are printing the picture of a 
farm woman who is in the midst of the task of 
plucking a goose. Note particularly how she is 
holding the goose on her lap, especially keeping 
the goose’s wing beneath her left arm. 
There is only one detail in this picture that 
we could comment on and that is an absence of a 
hood over the 
goose’s head. 
If the bird is 
p articularly 
friendly and 
not subject to 
a great deal of 
excitement, it 
is perfectly all 
right to pro¬ 
ceed with the 
operation as in 
the picture. 
However, if the 
goose is in¬ 
clined to be 
rather frac¬ 
tious and ex¬ 
citable, or vi¬ 
cious, as is very 
often the case, 
it is usually a good idea to slip a stocking over the 
bird’s head. 
* * * 
Nothing Like a Gas Engine to Keep the 
Boy Interested 
r PHE best way to keep a growing boy on the farm is 
I to keep him interested in farm work and farm life. 
Young lads are keenly imaginative, and up to the age of 
20 or 25, the outside world has a strong appeal to them. 
They hear about mechanical jobs in the cities and this 
brings to their minds an imaginative picture of city life. 
They feel an urge to expand and develop their 
latent talents, and they imagine that the city affords 
thern ,a better opportunity to realize their ambition. 
If the farm does not provide the means of satisfying 
this desire, the boy is likely to seek the opportunity 
elsewhere, in the city. But give that boy an engine to 
tinker with—so that he can satisfy his craving for 
mechanics to his heart’s content—and he will be more 
willing to stay on the farm. 
Nothing serves this purpose better than the all- 
around type of farm engine. This is because an engine 
of this type can be used on almost all kinds of farm 
work, the year around—for such things as pumping 
water, grinding feed, shelling corn, sawing wood, 
running a lighting system, cream separator or churn— 
and scores of other uses. 
{Continued on page J+G) 
Householder Hey, fireman! First thing you 
do, run and drop this letter in a post box. It’s 
very important; it’s my fire insurance! Judge. 
