LEBANON --
When Wilson County's Jim York was 6 years old, his father took him out in the woods and taught him to hunt. But his quarry, though a master of camouflage and a resident of the most remote spot in the woods, never moved.
And when finally cornered, York's prey did what it it had always done stood erect and firmly rooted in the ground. York is not your typical hunter no guns or bows just a simple grubbing hoe. He tracks and bags ginseng , a special kind of plant with a special kind of root.
"It is fun and exercise...and it's like a treasure hunt," York said.
The plant's name is derived from the Chinese word which means likeness of man, and the roots do appear to take on the human form in a variety of postures. But it's not its looks that make ginseng so sought after. Many believe that ginseng cures a variety of ills and provides energy, and it is used in skin creams, shampoos and tonics. Dried and ground, the ginseng root powder is served in tablets and capsules. Many believe it to be an aphrodisiac.
York has been trudging up and down the hills of Tennessee in search of ginseng for 51 years, about as long as the plants he found had been growing. While on a routine trip, he looked along the side of one hill along the Cumberland River and couldn't believe his eyes.
"I thought I had died and gone to heaven," York said of the patch of ginseng he had found. In a half-century of hunting, he had never found so much in one spot, and the roots were the biggest he had ever collected.
"There are some that go their whole life and never find a plant like that," he said.
The ginseng patch York discovered may have been destined to be found by him. He estimates that the biggest roots had been growing for about 50 years, putting the plant and his life on the same timetable.
York still hunts the wild root with his father. In a good year they will make $8,000 each from selling ginseng . The most recent harvest will produce about -1/2 pound of usaable ginseng and pay about $150, he said.
Although York collects ginseng as a hobby, when he started with his father there was a more practical reason.
"It was one of the things my father did to support the family," York said.
- BY : Warren Duzak - Staff Writer
- SOURCE : The Tennessean1996.10.09
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