Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 638: Third Grade Leaf Ginseng

Judging from the unclear cut marks on it, this was a ginseng gang consisting of 9 people at the time, who dug out a 5th-grade ginseng leaf.

Ginseng with fifth grade leaves is already a rare commodity!
Normally speaking, the location near the "old omen" is the approximate area where large ginseng was once produced.

So after reading the information left on this "old omen", Wang An surrounded the big red pine and began to search carefully.

However, at this time, the plants in the mountains are just beginning to sprout green buds, which is a typical "sprouting grass market".

However, Wang An had no experience in finding and digging ginseng, or to be more precise, he didn't know how to do it. So when Wang An was bending over and searching carefully, the knife in his hand never stopped. Whenever he felt something suspicious, Wang An would use the tip of the knife to scratch it.

I have to say that today, the luck of the two brothers Wang An and Wang Li was simply amazing.

Just when Wang An finally felt something strange coming from the tip of the knife, Wang Li also shouted not far away:

"Fourth brother, fourth brother, this is another sign."

But at this moment, Wang An no longer cared about the omens. Digging ginseng was the most important thing.

So Wang An shouted without even raising his head:

"Well, leave it there. I think I found a mallet here."

As soon as Wang An finished his words, Wang Li ran over and shouted:
"Where is it? Fourth brother, let me have a look."

As he spoke, Wang Li ran to Wang An.

Then, under Wang Li's gaze, Wang An used a razor knife to dig up the unusual place bit by bit.

Lifting the mallet, which is the job of digging ginseng, is a very delicate job. Although Wang An has never dug it, Han Shuisheng described it in great detail at the time.

So Wang An didn't dare to use much force and just used the knife to dig the soil bit by bit.

When a small piece of reed head, which is the ginseng rhizome, was revealed, Wang An was sure that this was indeed the legendary ginseng.

Because the appearance of this thing in front of him was very similar to the two dried ginsengs that Wang An had stolen, and the two ginsengs with broken beards that his uncle Liu Deyuan gave to Wang An.

Looking at the ginseng with a small part of its reed exposed, Wang An smiled happily and said:

"Hahaha, this is really a fool, hahaha. Lao Wu, we are going to make a small fortune again, hahaha."

The reason why it is called "small fortune" is that compared with the gains from Wang An and others' gold panning, even the sixth-grade leaf ginseng can only be considered small fortune.

What's more, according to the method of identifying ginseng mentioned by Han Shuisheng, the ginseng in front of him should be just a "lamp stand", which is the standard of third-grade leaf ginseng.

According to the purchase price of the supply and marketing cooperative, the third-grade leaf ginseng can be sold for about three to four hundred yuan.

But although three or four hundred yuan is not a small amount, it is almost a year's salary for a formal employee, but for Wang An and others, it is really not much at all.

Of course, this price is just a rough figure. The exact price needs to be appraised by the appraiser of the supply and marketing cooperative.

You should know that the growth of wild ginseng is extremely slow, so the so-called "leaf tasting" of wild ginseng is just a rough criterion for judgment.

Because when there are branches and leaves, you can tell what kind of leaves it is. But when there are no branches and leaves, and it is just the rhizome of ginseng, you definitely can't tell what kind of leaves it is.

As we all know, the older ginseng is, the more valuable it is. The way to identify the age is not difficult. You can determine the year by looking at the number of reed bowls on the reed head. The "reed bowl" is the top of the reed head where the ginseng branches and leaves are connected. Every year, the branches and leaves wither and leave a scar, and this scar is called a "reed bowl".

Of course, these are only for reference.

Because wild ginseng does not necessarily leave a reed bowl as long as it grows branches and leaves. In many cases, the branches and leaves grow and then wither, and no reed bowl will be left.

Moreover, the growth environment of this thing is relatively harsh. It is normal for it to be bitten by insects, stepped on by livestock, or even hit by fallen branches or fallen trees.

This results in such ginseng having only a few reed bowls left, or no so-called reed bowls at all. If one wants to judge the age based on the reed bowls, it is naturally wrong.

Therefore, the age should also be judged based on the mound marks on the reed head, that is, the area and number of the horizontal lines, and the number of reed nodes on it.

However, these methods can only be used as a reference and can only roughly determine the years.

Because many times, the top of the ginseng rhizome breaks off, leaving only the lower part, that is, the rhizome bowl is gone, the rhizome nodes are gone, and there are only a few mound marks, but the ginseng only has two branches and leaves.

Such ginseng is worthless even if it is very old.

Therefore, the value of a ginseng can be judged mainly based on the age of the ginseng, the overall integrity of the main rhizome of the ginseng, and the integrity of the whiskers.

It has to be said that the price difference of ginseng leaves is quite large due to the different grades.

As the saying goes, "Seven ounces is ginseng, eight ounces is treasure", which describes the huge price difference of ginseng.

Of course, this refers to the old scale, which is the standard of hexadecimal scale.

Nowadays, ginseng weighing more than half a pound or more than 250 grams is considered a treasure, and the price will double or even several times higher.

It's just that this kind of ginseng is a treasure that countless mountain herders dream of. It may take decades to see a single piece, so few people talk about it.

Ginseng that weighs less than 250 grams is considered normal, but the price difference is also quite huge.

Referring to the purchase price of the supply and marketing cooperative this year, the price of 6-grade ginseng leaves is more than 5000 yuan, the price of 5-grade ginseng leaves is more than 3000 yuan, the price of 4-grade ginseng leaves is more than 1000 yuan, the price of 3-grade ginseng leaves is more than 300 yuan, and the price of 2-grade ginseng leaves is more than 50 yuan.

But you must know that even the supply and marketing cooperatives may not be able to receive a single grade 6 leaf ginseng in a year or even for several consecutive years.

Even if it is a fifth-grade leaf, it is rare. It is good enough to get one or two a year.

There are only 4th grade leaves, and although the quantity is not large, I can still get about ten to twenty leaves a year.

The most numerous ones are the three-grade leaf lamp stands and the two-grade leaf lamp stands.

The reason for this can be understood with just a simple thought. Grade 5 leaves need to grow for more than 80 years, and grade 6 leaves need to grow for more than 100 years.

But from ancient times to the present, century-old ginseng has been a rare treasure. How could there be so many of this thing?

Wang Li looked at the ginseng roots in the small pit and asked Wang An with a curious look on his face:

"Fourth brother, how about this mallet? Is it top quality?"

Wang An heard this and nodded:
"Yes, it's of high quality. It should be a third-grade leaf."

(End of this chapter)