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| Panax ginseng root. |
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| Panax ginseng plant. |
The Cortland Democrat, Friday, Oct. 25, 1901.
MESSRS. W. L. & A. D. FRINK'S GINSENG FARM, SCOTT, N. Y.
The town of Scott is destined to be the future leader in the raising of ginseng. Since this plant has become so well known to the outside world, because of the high prices which it commands, in foreign markets, many have begun raising ginseng on a large scale, among them being Messrs. W. L. and A. D. Frink of Scott. Both these young men have for years past hunted the root in its wild state, and have made a nice little sum by so doing. Realizing that if ginseng could be gathered wild and sold at the price paid for it by wholesale buyers, the Messrs. Frink decided to raise it by cultivation, and the result of this experiment is that they have now one of the finest ginseng farms in the country and are continually enlarging its output.
From one bed, 4 by 14 feet in size, over one hundred dollars worth of roots have been sold this year, leaving about $60 value yet in the same bed. For beds 40 by 40 feet they were recently offered $2,000. They have sold this year over $1,500 worth of seed, and more than twice that amount could have been sold could they have had it to spare. Think of it, readers of the Democrat, ginseng seed is to-day worth $80 per pound [gold was $20/oz.—CC ed.], and the demand this fall, even at that fabulous price, far exceeds the supply. Several large beds have been added this fall and over $200 worth of seed sown for another year. The call for roots this season has been enormous on account of so many going into the business, for when it is estimated that not enough ginseng can be raised in the United States in the next thirty years to supply the demands of the 450,000,000 Chinamen alone, it can readily be seen that there is no probability of a dull market in years to come.
According to the statistics of the treasury department at Washington, there was shipped from the United States in 1878, the aggregate amount of 421,395 pounds at 71 cents per pound. In the year 1897—nineteen years later—only 179,573 pounds were exported at $4.71 per pound. This demonstrates the fact that the cultivated roots are growing in favor with the Chinese. The root is used chiefly in China, because the natives of that country believe it will cure all diseases of both mind and body. They use it for the same purpose that people in this country use patent medicine. Large roots having the resemblance of the human form are decked with gold bands, and often bring their weight in gold. The dried root is said to be worth $8 per pound, this high price stimulating the people to dig the wild root to such an extent that in many places it is now difficult to find.
An acre of ginseng is estimated to be worth $40,000. It is beyond any doubt the best paying crop in America at the present time—a crop that can be grown with great profit by people with limited means. It is the poor man's friend. It requires but little land, and a small piece of ground set with ginseng with good care will yield a larger profit than many two hundred acre farms. No large barns are needed to store the crop, no outlay for teams, cows, stock and tools, nor board nor pay for hired help. A man and his wife can easily do the work and see it grow with pleasure. Wild roots will not give as quick returns as carefully selected cultivated roots, but to start with, where the cultivated roots cannot be obtained wild roots can often be secured with little expense or trouble. If bought, the price will vary from six cents to twenty-five cents each. If well cared for, ginseng will increase rapidly. One hundred and fifty well-developed seeds from one plant has been raised, though this is uncommon. More often from fifty to sixty seeds only will be obtained.
Seed is selling from $15 per thousand to twice that sum. Wild roots will generally grow the next year after setting, and grow more thrifty when dug and set in the fall. Care should be taken in digging, not to break the small fibrous roots, because if broken or bruised they will often decay. The top should be removed as soon as dug. The sprout for the next year's growth starts in July or August, but if injured it will not grow until the second year, and possibly never. The seed will not grow under eighteen mouths so that in buying seed, secure last year's crop.
It is gathered when in a bright red color, packed in a box with alternate layers of berries and dirt, a perforated tin or wire-cloth cover placed on the box, and it is then buried in the ground. The following fall the seeds are planted before they become dry. Freezing does not harm the seed. When a plant has finished a year's growth the top falls from the neck of the root, leaving a scar which always remains. Hence the age of a root is easily told by the number of scars. If the root is given good care it can be dug for market at three years from the seed, yielding a great profit. The cultivated roots, with good care, will grow from 20 to 36 inches high. When a root has reached its best the top will not grow as vigorous as before, and will be smaller each year. It will take from four to eight years to mature, depending upon the care it receives. It will grow on any soil. The beds should be not more than four or five feet wide and about thirty feet long. Thoroughly prepare the ground with well-rotted horse manure, worked in the soil to the depth of at least twelve inches. Remove all stone, grass and weed roots. Place boards on each side of the bed. The roots are placed in rows not closer than four to six inches, at an angle of forty-five degrees, cover with loose dirt and press down upon the roots. Then sprinkle the bed with a liberal supply of rotted manure. About 25 of bone meal can be worked through the bed with profit. Sow the seeds in the fall in rows three inches apart, and never put them deeper than one inch. Spread a light coat of well-rotted manure over the bed. Never sow seed until one year old. A good sized, thrifty root should give a fair crop of seed the next year after setting, and should get its full growth in four years. Buy only good sized thrifty roots, or get wild roots from the woods. It will give you a start, and they increase rapidly.
Shade the beds by driving posts 8 1/2 feet long two feet into the ground and eight feet apart. Nail strips of boards or pole at the top of each row of posts one way. Then nail strips across the other way a proper distance apart, upon which fasten the sections of lath. The lath should be three-fourths of an inch apart. Attach them together by nailing to three other lath laid at angles, one on each end and the other in the center, nailed with wire nails clinched. These sections should be tied to frames overhead and hung on the east, south and west sides of the garden.
Roots weighing less than two ounces should be re-set and not sold. Care should be taken in drying the roots. About three pounds of green cultivated root is required to make one pound of dry. It is estimated that about 8,000 seed will weigh a pound, valued at $80.
There are dealers in all large cities who buy the dried root, among them being Samuel Wells & Co. 211 and 213 Vine-st., Cincinnati, O. and Belt, Butler & Co., 83 Spring-st., New York. Any other information concerning the roots, seeds and manner of handling will be furnished by the Frink Bros. of Scott. These young men have made ginseng a study for years past, and the Democrat cheerfully vouches for their honesty and integrity.
PAGE FOUR—BRIEF EDITORIALS.
There will be no weeping eyes caused by Czolgosz's fate [execution] next Monday.
The safest way to vote on November 5 is to cast a ballot unmarked except a cross over the Democratic column.
Unless there be Democratic treachery in the Fifth ward Wilbur L. Wingate will be elected alderman by a large majority.
Voters of the Fifth ward: Ask yourselves candidly which of the two men you prefer to have represent you in the common council, Bob Pettigrew or honest Billy Wingate?
A mass-meeting at Cornell has vigorously denounced hazing. Football is a jealous mistress, and no side-attractions can hope to compete.
Previous Republican majorities in Cortland cannot be taken into account this year. Everybody will vote for the Democratic candidate for aldermen.
The fact that Theodore Roosevelt had to go to the Democratic party for a fit man for a judicial appointment in Alabama would seem to confirm what the Democratic journals have always maintained as to the character of southern Republicans.
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| Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley. |
The Scope of The Inquiry.
Much has been said in the newspapers to the effect that not only is Admiral Schley on trial before the court of inquiry, but the navy department as well. We can also add to this list Admiral Dewey. His bearing in the Schley court of inquiry and his final summing up of the case and the verdict therein, will have much to do with fixing his future rating in the hearts of the American people.
There can be no question that the people of this country sympathize with Admiral Schley. It is not a question of tactics or the planning of battles in the public estimation, but the man who did the work deserves the credit. Against all the criticisms and quibblings over the question of naval ethics and discipline, stand out the bold and incontrovertible facts that Schley's flagship, the Brooklyn, was the central object of attack by Cervera's fleet; that it was in the thick of the fight from start to finish, that it received more than all the other ships of our fleet put together; that the only man killed in battle was killed on board the Brooklyn very near to Admiral Schley, and that more damage was inflicted on the enemy's ships by the guns of the Brooklyn than by those of any other ship in our fleet.
Facts are stubborn things, and in the face of this actual battle record, it is impossible to make the people of the United States believe that Schley shirked his duty, or that he was not the master spirit in the greatest naval battle that has been fought in years.
If Admiral Dewey shall give Schley the credit which is his due from these facts, and brush aside malicious criticism, which has only the tendency to belittle our navy and detract from the glory of a marvelous sea victory, then the public will recognize in him a man of breadth and magnanimity, and one who is above lending himself to the petty jealousies of rival officers. On the contrary, should Admiral Dewey lose sight of these great controlling facts and base the finding of the court of inquiry on mere technical and tactical points, then the people will begin to compare the achievement of Schley at Santiago with that of Dewey at Manila Bay, and show the difference in the strength and danger of the enemy that was faced by these two fearless fighters.
Not only Schley and the naval department, but Admiral Dewey is on trial before the people.—Albany Times.
Mark Hanna.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
(From Our Regular Correspondent.)
Washington, October 21.—As was to be expected a split has come between the president and Senator Hanna. While those who had the best interest of the party at heart wished that these two gentlemen might be able to get along together, they had little ground on which to base any such hopes. Mr. Hanna had so long exercised a dictatorship authority over the party and had so carefully laid his plans to secure the nomination for himself at the next national convention that the succession of Mr. Roosevelt was a severe blow to his ambitions. Mr. Roosevelt with his positive disposition, his iron convictions and his forceful method of putting them into execution was almost bound to run counter to the feelings of the Ohio ''boss," even if he had no ambition for a second term, which he certainly has. During Mr. McKinley's administration Mr. Hanna had complete control of all appointments in the South and had so used them as to cement together a solid machine which would stand bound to do his bidding at the next convention. President Roosevelt has upset all this good work and proposes to make Southern appointments to suit himself. The appointment of Ex-Governor Jones was a direct set back to the Hanna machine and more will follow, therefore Senator Hanna is sulking and talking of resigning, a threat which will not have the slightest effect upon the president.
President Roosevelt started out with the determination to build up a Republican party in the South and by his first appointments, but even more by his expressed sentiments, made a most favorable impression. So impressed by the statement of his plans was old Col. Howell of Atlanta that he expressed himself as believing that the president would succeed in building up quite a respectable party, but he concluded with the sage advice that Mr. Roosevelt and his party must "talk protection and let the negro alone.'' This, unfortunately for Mr. Roosevelt's ambitions, he could not do, and with that love of the spectator which led him to appear at the national convention at Philadelphia in his colonel's uniform, he invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House. Washington came and as he demolished the president's viands, so he demolished his popularity in the South, and today all the good that had been accomplished by the appointment of Ex-Governor Jones, Dr. Claton and others, has been extinguished, and the Southerner feels that Mr. Roosevelt is no better than any other Republican president, and that the first act of a successful local Republican party would be an attempt at his humiliation by the exaltation of the negro.
Notwithstanding President Roosevelt's desire to be the first to advise the country of the conditions of the new Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the important features have leaked out and are as follows. The new treaty will set aside the Clayton-Bulwer convention, the United States will be the sole guarantor of the neutrality of the canal and she alone will have the right to fortify it. These features practically dispose of the opposition met with in the senate of the last congress and it is assumed that definite canal legislation will be enacted by the Fifty-Seventh congress. The question of route, of course, remains to be disposed of. While a majority of those interested seem to think that the Nicaraguan route will be adopted, the Panama canal will not down and M. Hutin, of the French Panama Canal company, is now in Washington to press the claims of his route to consideration. It is M. Hutin's desire to sell their canal to the government and it is understood that the price asked is $35,000,000. The only cloud on the canal sky is M. Hutin and his associates, the fear being confidentially expressed that the enemies of canal legislation may use the Panama company's proposition as a means of delaying all legislation on the subject.
Notwithstanding Senator Frye's assurances that the new ship subsidy bill would be amended and presented in a form that would insure its almost immediate passage, there still seems to be some friction in the Republican camp on the subject. Representative Minor of Wisconsin recently called on the president to protest against executive support being given to the bill, even in its amended form. Mr. Minor pointed to the president that the bill was so drawn as to convert most of the subsidy into the treasury of the International Navigation company, and simply for making fast runs which they are now making and will [continue to make, whether they receive any subsidy or not]. Mr. Minor is in favor of a bill which will give encouragement to the lower class of freight carrying vessels and states that if the Frye bill is not so amended as to provide for a far wider distribution of the subsidies, he will prepare and submit a measure which will do so. It is said by people who have the presidents' confidence that he was a good deal annoyed at what he considered a lack of faith on the part of Senator Frye, in asking his support for the bill and leaving him so much in the dark as to the manner in which its propositions would work out.
HERE AND THERE.
That snow storm last week was certainly the harbinger of fine weather.
Just think of it. Only nine weeks before Christmas and the holidays. Time seems to be keeping up with everything else in this rapid age.
Lynch & Co. have moved their grocery store from 101 Main-st. to No. 10 same street.
Chas. H. Thompson has bought of Hilton R. Rouse the house and lot No. 13 Owego-st. for $3,500.
Many car loads of beets for the Binghamton sugar factory are going south daily over the Lackawanna road.
The freight depot is nearly completed, and the work of grading on the west side has been going on this week.
The Delphic fraternity of New York and Pennsylvania will meet in Cortland to-day and to-morrow, holding a banquet at the Kremlin [hotel] this evening.
Weather prophets are predicting a mild winter because the wind was in the south when the sun crossed the line. It doesn't seem to affect the price of coal a particle.
As announced in the Democrat several weeks ago, the D., L. & W. company will run its trains under practically the time-table of the past summer, beginning Nov. 3.
John Andrews has given up the proprietorship of the Sautelle House, Homer, which he has conducted since last April, and Mr. Sautelle is carrying on the business himself.
Fred P. Coffin has just received one of the very latest and most improved machines for clipping horses, and may now be found at the Dexter House barn ready to do your work promptly.
The citizens of Cortland should bear in mind the centennial anniversary of the First Baptist church, which begins Sunday, and they may be assured that all will be welcome to attend the services throughout.
Rev. O. M. Owen will give an illustrated gospel and scientific temperance lecture next Sunday evening in the Free Methodist church, using a large Dantean painting 4 1/2 by 27 feet. It will be an interesting lecture.
At 2:30 o'clock Wednesday morning many of the citizens of Tully living near the post-office were awakened from their slumbers by a loud explosion and on reaching the street three men were seen hurrying south on foot at some distance away and soon disappeared in the darkness. Investigation showed that the post office had been broken into and the safe blown open. When the office was reached it was found to be on fire but the flames were quickly extinguished without calling out the fire department. Besides the safe most of the lock boxes were destroyed by the explosion and the scene presented was a sorry one. As near as can be learned about $300 worth of stamps and money were taken.—Homer Republican.
AUCTION.
I will sell at auction at Messengerville, N. Y., Friday, Nov. 1, at one o'clock p. m. registered Holsteins, 1 choice cow, 1 yearling bull. 1 yearling heifer, 1 calf. Also the John Miller farm on Snyder Hill, containing 120 acres. Also 50 tons of hay and 200 bushels of buckwheat. Terms liberal. W. A. Miller.
A. B. Gardner, Auctioneer.
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