Ginseng season is upon us. But while the Mountain State is said to grow some of the best in all the world, most West Virginians don't seem to take advantage of the herb's highly touted medicinal properties. There's a good reason.
"I can't afford it,' said David Cooke, a Boone County extension agent who helps growers cultivate the respected plant.
Prices rise and prices fall but it's not unusual for it to fetch $350 a pound during its Aug. 15 to Nov. 30 season.
"It is difficult for the common West Virginian to buy ginseng ," Cooke said. "There's an exploding economy in mainland China. Folks will pay anything."
But local farmers and others are wising up, with Cooke's help. They are learning to cultivate it, mimicking wild conditions that prompt its high quality. Generally, cultivated ginseng brings about half the price of wild.
But with minimal intervention and planting it in small patches in the woods, the plant _ especially the valued root _ is virtually indistinguishable from the type that has never been touched by human hands.
Bruceton Mills school teacher and farmer Bill Slagle is a case in point. Slagle, probably the state's most prolific grower, cultivates ginseng (he pronounces it "sang") on 100 acres of Preston County land, some of it dotted with black walnut trees.
He said West Virginians are beginning to use it, noting that school athletes ask him for it and some nearby doctors prescribe it Slagle expects he'll harvest five times as much
in the next couple of years as his ginseng reaches the needed seven-year maturity mark.
"We use it all the time," Slagle said. "It slows the aging process down."
Ginseng grown like Slagle's in West Virginia reaps six to 12 times the profit of that cultivated in other states, Cooke said. "The growing conditions are just perfect," he said.
And the market seems strong with alternative medicine gaining respect and with a growing interest in natural, organic herbs.
A 30-day dryy spell thiss year could affect production, however Bob Whipkey is administrator of the ginseng program for the state Department of Agriculture's Forestry division.
"A lot won't be recognized because leaves have wilted," Whipkey said. "Berry production will be less. It will be harder to find unless you're a real expert."
Last year Whipkey's staff recorded 18,882 pounds of ginseng root dug and sold out of state by registered dealers. Law doesn't require in-state sales be documented. Because the plant is considered rare, stringent policies govern its harvesting.
The largest amount, or 1,719 pounds, came from Mingo County with its moist, southern, shady mountains. Other high-producing counties were Fayette, Kanawha, Logan, McDowell, Boone and Wyoming.
For centuries, the Chinese have used ginseng as a cure-all for high blood pressure, arthritis, spiritual and mental problems.
Cooke said new research from China verifies its efficacy as an immune booster and as a treatment with gynecological ailments and drug and alcohol addictions. But back home, it's allure carries dollar signs.
"Most who dig it do so for the supplementary income," Cooke said. "The market is there and will be there for a long, long time."
- BY : Therese Cox
- SOURCE : Charleston Daily Mail1995.09.08
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