Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993 TAG: 9306270019
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's a very closed community," said Andy Hankins, an agriculture extension specialist at Virginia State University in Petersburg. "Anybody who has ginseng on their site won't tell you."
There's a good reason.
Wild ginseng is a small plant whose bitter roots are coveted in Asian countries for their supposed curative and aphrodisiac powers. The plant sells for as much as $300 a pound from export dealers because it flourishes naturally in only a few regions of the world.
Among those places are the mountainous areas of Western Virginia, western Maryland and West Virginia. Because ginseng hunters, landowners and dealers closely guard their sources of the plant, details about exactly where it's found are hard to come by.
"I heard about it, so I tried looking for it on my property but didn't find any," said Karen Lowe, a nearby farmer. "Even if I did find them, I wouldn't tell anybody."
Dealers, who buy the roots from landowners, then sell them to brokers for export, also are reluctant to discuss their trade.
"They don't like others to find out, so I don't ask landowners where it's from," said Howard E. Arehart, a ginseng dealer in Timberville.
But Loudoun County's wild ginseng is no secret in Asia, especially in China, which imports more than 90 percent of the wild and cultivated ginseng harvested in the United States.
Short Hill Mountain has become a part of a quiet industry that began more than 200 years ago.
Virginia's ginseng rush begins with the start of digging season Aug. 15. The season runs through the end of the year, but the harvest usually stops when the first frost causes the plant's leaves to fall off.
The harvest of the plant, which Virginia officials say is approaching endangered status, is regulated by the state. The state issues licenses to dealers.
Although they oversee the harvest and sale of wild ginseng, Virginia inspectors say they haven't been able to keep an accurate record of where the plant is grown or harvested.
"Dealers guard their suppliers pretty jealously," said John Tate, a ginseng specialist with the Virginia Office of Plant Protection.
Ginseng sales often take place along rural back roads as sellers haggle with dealers to get the best price. Wild ginseng is preferred over cultivated ginseng, which fetches only $15 to $30 a pound.
Wild ginseng roots are darker in color and gnarled; cultivated ones are smooth and fat.
Because overharvesting has made wild ginseng increasingly rare, its price has risen steadily in recent years.
Virginia inspectors certified more than 14,500 pounds for export to Asia last year, up 42 percent from 1989.
Penalties for illegal digging of wild ginseng range from small fines for first-time offenders to jail time for repeat offenders. But poachers rarely are caught by law-enforcement authorities. They face a larger obstacle in protective landowners, who are more likely to "shoot first and then ask questions later," said John Wolfe, who cultivates ginseng on his farm near Orange.
by CNB