Feb. 1, J8S7.] 



THE TROPrCAt AGEICULTURiSl'. 



549 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTS IN CRETE. 

 In a report on the trade of Crete for the year 

 1885, dated Crete, October, 1886, referrir.g to the 

 Olive crop, it is stated as a rule, that a year of 

 abundant Olives— which is the staple product of the 

 island— alternates with one, very seldom with two, of 

 failure. The value of the Olive oil manufactured 

 therefrom varies in the former case from £600,000 

 to £800,000 ; in the second, from £60,000 to £80,000 ; 

 but there are years when it does not reach to £40,000, 

 and exceptionally bad seasons when it hardly attains 

 half that sum. Allowing for all irregularities, the 

 yearly average may be set down at £450,000. It 

 being reckoned that the 86,000 families forming the 

 population of the islam 1 consume yearly about 100,000 

 cwt., which represent £150,000, there remains a balance 

 of £300,000 for exportation in kind or in manufac- 

 tured soap. The vegetable products o: Crete which 

 find their way to the United Kingdcm are Olive oil. 

 Locust Beans or Carobs (Ceratonia siliqua), Valonia, 

 and a few raisins. The quantity of Olive oil forwarded 

 to Great Britain in 1886 was 800 tons, representing, at 

 £31 10s, per ton, £25,200, agiiust 1,159 tons, at £30 

 per ton- -£34,770— iu 1884. The exp rtation to other 

 countries was 5,192 ton!^, of a value of £150. 817. Only 

 1,000 tons of Oarobf=, of the value ot £3,120, were 

 forwarded to this country ; the only other countries to 

 which Locust. Beans were shipped for much higher 

 values were Italy and Russia, amounting together to 

 £17,000. Valonia is only shipped at Rethymo, which 

 is the central district where it is produced. Raisins 

 have begun to be forwarded to Great Britain within 

 thg last two or three years, and represent as yet an 

 insignificant value, but it is probable that as they 

 become better known in the British markets the trade 

 may attain a considerable importance. They are 

 grown and prepared on an increased t^cale from year to 

 year and represented, iu 1885, 133,000 cwt., of the 

 value of £22,365.— J. R. J.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 



WHAT IS GINGER ? 



As usually seen ginger is in the form of a grayish- 

 yeliow powder, but if you go to a drug-store and ask 

 f or " race " ginger, you will be served with the article 

 unground, and you will see that it is the dried root- 

 stock (often called root) of some plant. Race — as ap- 

 plied to whole ginger in commerce — is from the Spanish 

 rais, " a root. " The botanical name of the ginger plant. 

 Zingiber, is from a very similar old Sanskrit name. It 

 was formerly placed in the same family with the banana, 

 but botanists at present give it a family by itself. 

 The fleshy root-stock throws up reed- like stems three 

 or four feet high ; these bear long and narrow leaves. 

 The flowers are borne upon a separate, leafless stem. 

 This bears a cone-like spike, between the scales of which 

 the flowers appear. The flowers are yellowish-white in 

 colour, with purple markings. Ginger is supposed to 

 be a native of Asia, in the warmer parts of which it is 

 generally cultivated, but it is not known in the wild 

 state. It has been introduced and is now cultivated 

 in nearly every warm country, especially in the West 

 Indies, from which ginger was exported to Europe as 

 early as 1547. 



In cities there is sold, in autumn, at drug and grocery 

 stores, fresh or green ginger root. This is the root- 

 stock, just as it comes from the ground, and is used 

 for flavouring preserves. The pieces have one or more 

 green buds attached to them, and if planted in a pot 

 and kept in a sufliciently warm place, will grow. But 

 a very small share of the crop is sold in this state ; 

 the ginger, after it is dug, is washed and then exposed 

 to the sun until perfectly dry. This is the orttiuary 

 *' race ginger " of commerce, a'ld is the kind ground 

 for use. What is called Jamaica ginger is prepared 

 by scraping the rhizome when fresh to remove the outer 

 portion ; these are then bleached by placing them m a 

 solution of chloride of lime. Considerable lime adheres 

 to the surface, and the pieces look as if they had 

 been whitewashed. On account of its nicer appearance 

 Jamaica ginger is preferred for medicinal uses, and is 

 used by «ome families, There is still another form in 



which ginger is imported — preserved ginger — which 



comes from China iu porcelain jars. The young and 



tender " roots " are preserved in sugar. — Ame can 



Aqricul urist. 

 ^ ^ 



VARIATION IN PLANTS. 



In spite of the assertion, by De Oandolle and other 

 authors, that " a cultivated t^pecies varies chiefly iu 

 those parts for which it is cultivated," we find ^reat 

 degrees of variation affecting different organs, and 

 often extending to other parts of the plant structure. 

 This statement applies both to plants in a wild state 

 and to those under the care of man, when in the 

 latter case the conditions may be considered more or 

 less artificial. The reasons for this similarity of vari- 

 ation, both in a wild and cultivated state, will be obvious 

 when we consider that a plant must originally vary 

 spontaneously, before man can in any way affect it, 

 at least by selection. This is especially the case where 

 we have obtained by selection in the course of many 

 generations a number of distinct races, des-ci ndants 

 of one species, as in the Apple, Pear, Chrysanthemum, 

 and others. It simply comes to this, that man 

 canuot so far alter the conditions, as to ciune plants 

 to abandon their natural tendencies, nor to vary ex- 

 cept in accordance with natural laws. Therefore iu 

 spite of the fact that man de-'ires to select seedlings 

 presenting the requisite variation in one organ or set 

 of organs only, it very frequently happens that there 

 is a correlation between the homologous parts of plants 

 causing them all to vary more or less evidently in 

 a similar manner. Cases of albinism will serve to 

 illustrate this point. 



Plants producing red, pink, purple, yellow, or even 

 blue flowers normally, often both in a wild or culti- 

 vated state, give birth to seedlings with pure white 

 flowers. Some authors would describe this as a case 

 of revei-sion. The converse more rarely happens, but 

 Lychnis vespertina, sometimes producing red flowers, 

 and Primulas belonging to different species, are cases 

 in point, both in a state of Nature and under cul- 

 tivation. In connection with albinos amongst plants, 

 not only are the flowers white, but the fohage and 

 the whole aspect of the plant bears an unmistakably 

 pallid hue, and such plants can often be recognised 

 in the absence of flowers. This paleness in the 

 colour of the foliage does not owe its existence to man's 

 selections, but is more often an undesirable feature 

 than otherwise. This correlation of homologous parts 

 is exemplified in white-flowered varieties of Lychnis 

 chalcedonica, L. diurna, Silene armeria, Linaria cym- 

 balaria. Campanula rotundifolia, Thymus Serpyllum 

 and Dianthus deltoides. The same may be said of 

 Impatiens flaccida, which has dark foliage and stems 

 more or less striped with purple, but in the white- 

 flowered variety has pale foliage and pale green un- 

 striped stems. White-flowered varieties of Primula 

 sinensis have pale foliage and dark-flowered forms are 

 characterised by foliage of a similar tint, more especi- 

 ally evident in the petioles, the midrib, principal 

 nerves, and the underside of the leaf generally. 

 There is also a correlation between the colours of the 

 underside of the leaf and that of the flowers iu 

 Senecio cruentus and other species. 



The tuberous roots of the Dahlia afford another 

 striking instance of the variability of plants even in 

 the parts that are not specially selected either for the 

 benefit or pleasure of man. Some have large, or even 

 short, thick and very succulent tubers, while iu other 

 cases the individual tubers are elongated and spindle- 

 shaped, or long, slender, gradually tapering to a point, 

 and radiating or projecting iu all directions- Nor is 

 this variation confined to form, but in a collection of 

 any extent, considerable variety of colouring is found 

 to prevail, such as yellow, white and purple, or violet. 

 This is frequently unnoticed because of no interest 

 to the general cultivator, nor presenting anything 

 valuable either for economical or ornamental purposes. 

 There is also a more or less evident correlation bet- 

 ween these colours uud that of the flowers. Uncared 



or and generally uuimportant though frequent and 



onsiclerable variation extends to the foliage stem? 



ud flower* of different iudividu»l«, 



