Wildcrafters
1808 - Domestic Event
You probably don’t think of a
hike in the country as a part-time job. But North Carolina’s woods and meadows
provide an important source of income to herb gatherers, or wildcrafters, such as Zelotes Peterson.
He first collected ginseng more than 50 years ago:
“The
first I ever sold in my life—and I didn’t even know it was valuable—it come to
seven dollars. And I never will forget it. I bought me a pair of slippers and a
belt. And two of these little undershirts. For that little bag of ‘seng.’ And I
just started out from there. It was a little money, and I’ve used it for years
to pay taxes with, you know, and then dig other roots. Roots and herbs—that’s
about the only way anybody could make money.”
Since the early 1800s,
wildcrafters have harvested the leaves, flowers, roots, barks and berries of
medicinal plants and sold or traded them to general stores and crude-drug
companies. A great diversity of plant life has made North Carolina an important
source for the nation’s unrefined-drug supply.
Becoming a wildcrafter doesn’t
take a big investment, since only a few tools are needed. Work gloves to
protect hands. A shovel and hoe to loosen soil around roots. Burlap sacks for
gathering plants. And most important, a knife to peel bark, sever branches and
cut up roots.
In the old days, some root and drug
wholesalers were merchants who bought plants from local wildcrafters, paying
for them with groceries and farm supplies. These wholesalers sold their
products to manufacturers, who turned them into refined drugs, tonics and other
herbal preparations. The manufacturers in turn supplied the remedies to
pharmacies and general stores throughout the state and the nation.
The development of synthetic
medicines has reduced the crude-drug trade in the United States, but the demand
for medicinal herbs remains high in Europe. New uses for wild plants—especially
as drug sources and food additives—are constantly being discovered. And so the
market for herbal products continues to grow.
Experienced wildcrafters conserve the plant populations that
they gather. They replant seeds and pass over small patches of herbs, knowing
they’ll find a better crop when they return in a year. But not all collectors
are so careful. As a result, several herbs, including ginseng, goldenseal and
yellow lady’s slipper, have become scarce. North Carolina has passed several
laws governing the collection of endangered plant species. For example,
gathering ginseng, the most sought-after root in the state, now requires a
license and is limited to September through December.
Zelotes Peterson of Mitchell County has been collecting roots and herbs for more than fifty years.
A box of dried ginseng roots delivered for sale to a dealer.