They are politely turned down.

The cause of the fuss? Harris digs up a plant under a stand of sugar maples and rubs the dirt away to reveal a blanched, wrinkly root about the size of a pinkie.

It's ginseng, a little plant that can fetch big prices because of its purported ability to relieve stress, boost stamina and improve memory.

Ginseng growers like Harris will be digging a lot this month, the time when ginseng leaves turn yellow and the roots are ready for harvest. Harris will laboriously gather thousands by hand. His reward will be roots that can potentially bring $300 or more a pound.

If this sounds like a get-rich-quick root, be warned: ginseng can take years to grow and it can take hundreds of roots to make a pound. While money is a draw, some growers stick with it more out of affection for a plant with an almost mystical cachet.

In traditional Oriental medicine, the root was seen as an invigorating agent. Native American tribes saw it variously as a digestive aid, nosebleed cure and an aid to attract women. The root's popularity has grown in this country with the rise of holistic medicine and it is available in teas, powders and capsules.

Harris calls ginseng "a great, but subtle herb." But he laughingly admits being inspired by an old Mother Earth News article with the come-on: "Ginseng, the $30,000 a half-acre crop."

"I thought "I'm going to be rich one of these days,' " he said. "Well, that still hasn't happened."

The remote hillside near Cooperstown, N.Y., owned by Harris and his wife is dappled with American Ginseng. The plant, no taller than knee-high, is a close relative of the Asian variety. Asian ginseng is considered more of a stimulant than American ginseng.

A Jesuit priest near Montreal discovered the North American plant in 1716. A healthy export market to Asia blossomed before long. Lured by the promise of big money, backwoods entrepreneurs scoured forests for wild ginseng. No less an American icon than Daniel Boone got ginseng fever. In 1787, Boone lost a barge loaded with 12 tons of roots in the Ohio River when it overturned.

Wild ginseng became almost depleted over time because of the demand. Many states, like New York, now set strict limits under what conditions the plant may be uprooted on public land.

The lion's share of ginseng grown in the United States for export today is cultivated on raised beds under man-made shading like wood lathing or sheets of polypropylene. Only about 8,000 acres are cultivated in North America. Wisconsin is the largest producer in this country.

Rarer are growers like Harris, who plant ginseng on shady hillsides to simulate the plant's wild growing conditions.

This is a less efficient growing method, but it produces a root that looks like the wild variety. Cultivated ginseng roots can resemble a fat carrot. So-called wild simulated roots are gnarly and twisty. Harris shows off a series of roots that look like a chili pepper, a lobster claw and a jester hat.

Wild and wild simulated roots are believed by many connoisseurs to be more potent than cultivated stock. Prices bear this out - one New York City trader paid $23 a pound for 5-year-old cultivated roots last season compared to over $300 for wild simulated.

While the money is good, growing wild simulated ginseng is demanding. Growers need suitable land, preferably a north-facing hillside shaded by sugar maples or tulip poplars. Roots aren't ready for the export market for at least six years. An estimate published by the National Agroforestry Center projects a net profit of $16,310 for a wild simulated grower after nine years.

Not surprisingly, most wild simulated growers keep their day jobs. The Empire State Ginseng Growers Association has about 140 members, mostly smaller growers.

Ginseng growers are scattered around the eastern United States and Canada, although exact numbers are hard to come by because many growers keep a low profile to guard against poachers. For instance, Harris runs his business out of a Cooperstown post office box, but grows his ginseng in a nearby town.

"If you're growing wild ginseng, you're never going to tell anybody you're growing it," Bob Beyfuss, Cornell Ginseng Specialist said.

Harris, 49, is a rare grower who relies on ginseng as his main source of income. Scott started the business in 1993, when his wife was recovering from a severe auto accident. He quit his job with a lumber company to spend more time at home.

His mail- and Internet-order business, Sylvan Botanicals, offers seeds and roots to other growers, ginseng starter kits and other herbal products. He does site consultations for would-be growers. Seven-day work weeks and around-the-clock hours are not uncommon for Scott, especially this time of year.

"We won't get a break now until there's a solid snow on the ground," Harris said.

Even then, his wife recalled taking one large order in November that required raking back snow and thawing out roots near their wood stove.

Ginseng is pretty much the plant that runs Harris' life. Besides being a ginseng grower, dealer and consultant, he is president of the Empire State Ginseng Growers Association, a ginseng researcher, a ginseng historian and collector of ginseng historical items.

A single shelf in his office holds ginseng extract, ginseng tea, ginseng cigarettes, a ginseng pipe, ginseng cologne and a bottle of a drink called "Ginseng-Up."

Sylvan Botanicals

http://www.catskillginseng.com

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