XI. INCIDENTAL FOREST PRODUCTS. It has been the custom of the Treasury Department, since the organization of the Government, to include among forest products Ginseng, the Furs of Wild Animals, and Pot and Pearl Ashes. The statistics of exportation of these articles should, therefore, be given in a general series of statistics relating to this class of products, as well for the purpose of showing the amount of these accidental products as for affording the amount that should be deducted from the general aggregate of forest products in comparing those of which the material was wood alone. 1. Ginseng: General note. (a.) Exportation of Ginseng annually from 1789-'90 to 1878-79, by Quantities and Values, with average value per pound. (b.) Exportation of Ginseng annually, by Districts, since 1837-'68; pounds. 2. Furs and Skins: General note. (a.) Exportation of Furs and Skins annually since 1789 by Values. (b.) Exportation of Furs and Skins annually, by Districts, since 1867-'68. 3. Potash and Pearlash: General note. (a.) Exportation annually from 1789-'90 to 1819-20; Quantities stated separately, with total Values, and deduction of average value per ton. (b.) Exportation from 1820-21 to 1864-'65; Quantities stated together (tons), with total Values. (c.) Exportation from 1865–66 to 1878-79; Quantities stated together (pounds), with total Values. (d.) Exportation of Potash and Pearlash, by Districts, from 1855-'56 to 1878-79, Pounds and total Values. 1. GINSENG. General Note. Ginseng is the root of a small herbaceous plant, the Aralia quinquefolia, which grows wild in the woods of the Northern States and Canada, and has been in demand since colonial times, as an article finding a ready market in China, where it is highly prized as a medicine. Its real medicinal virtues are very slight, and although it holds a place in the pharmacopoeias, it is seldom or never prescribed by physicians in America. By far the greater part of the ginseng is now exported from San Francisco directly to Hong-Kong and various ports of China. It was formerly chiefly shipped from New York, and at present a part of it finds its way from that port to England, and from thence to China. 2. FURS AND FUR SKINS. The trade in furs is coeval with European settlements in America, and in the earlier colonial period these formed one of the principal exports of the country. Although classed with forest products, a large part of the increase shown in late years by the following table is due to the fur-seal business of Alaska, and in general summaries this should be classed with sea-products. (a). Exportation of Furs and Skins since 1802. 1827-28. (b.) Exportation of Furs and Fur Skins, by Districts, since 1867–68. Boston and 1867-'68. 1868-'69. $255, 185 1869-'70. 2,686 409 3, 174 275 1870-'71. 403 1,246 230 20, 775 $72 1871-'72. 7,785 1872-'73. 433 1,323 17, 042 1873-'74. 100, 328 1874-'75 1875-'76. 1876-'77. 20, 900 1,075 1877-'78. 8,377 1878-'79. 76, 167 9,290 5,000 Brazos de Santiago, Tex., $54 in 1870-'71. Chicago, Ill., $4,322 in 1867-'68. Duluth, Minn, $16 in 1876-'77; $800 in 1877-'78. Genesee, N. Y., $90 in 1872-73; $10 in 1877-78. Huron, Ontario, $30 in 1867-68; $600 in 1876-77; $150 in 1877-78. New Orleans, La., $120 in 1868-'69. Puget Sound, Wash., $5,410 in 1875-'76; $16,707 in 1876-'77; $2,050 in 1877-'78; $1,297 in 1878-79. San Francisco, Cal., $42,201 in 1875-76; $29,337 in 1876-77; $3,200 in 1877-78: $482 in 1878-79. Vermont, Vt., $1,745 in 1875-76; $21 in 1876-77; $15 in 1877-'78; $52 in 1878-79. Willamette, Oreg., $8,050 in 1875-'76; $10 in 1876–77; $100 in 1878-79. Oswegatchie. Passamaquod dy. Philadelphia. Portland. 3. POTASII AND PEARLASH. These articles are produced from wood ashes by lixiviation and evaporation. When the alkaline liquor is reduced to dryness, the potash is made by melting at a red heat, and pearlash by exposure to flame in a reverberatory oven. The manufacture of these articles is chiefly an incident of new settlements in a wooded country, and the product is all that is realized where land is cleared by cutting and burning. The receipts from the ashes, or their products, formed quite an item with the carly settlers, and often assisted largely towards payment for their lands. Woods differ considerably in the amount of alkali that can be obtained from their ashes, but seven pounds of potash to a bushel may be taken as a general average. The discovery of potash and soda salts in minerals, and in mineral waters, has of late years afforded a source of supply altogether independent of ashes, and in quantities quite sufficient for the wants of commerce. (a.) Exportation of Potash and Pearlash from 1789–290 to 1819–’20—Quantities stated separately, with total values, and deduction of average value per ton. (b.) Exportation from 1820-21 to 1864-'65—Quantities stated together (tons), with total |