210 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB, 



[ September 3, 1874. 



whereby he got his knowledge of the true Ginger, may appeare 

 by his owne words sent vnto me in Latine, which I bane here 

 inserted. His words are these : 



" ' How hard and vncertaine it is to describe in words the 

 trne proportion 

 of plants (haning 

 no other gnide 

 than skilful] , bnt 

 yet deceitfull 

 formes of them, 

 sent from friends 

 or other meanee), 

 they best do know 

 who haue deep- 

 liest waded in this 

 sea of simples. 

 About thirty 

 yeares past or 

 more, an honest 

 and expert Apo- 

 thecarie William 

 Dries, to satis fie 

 my desire, sent 

 me from Ant- 

 werpe to London 

 the picture of 

 Ginger, which he 

 held to be truly 

 and liuely drawn : 

 I my selfe gaue 

 him credit easily, 

 because I was not 

 ignorant, that 

 there had bin 

 of tenGinger roots 

 brought greene, 

 new, and full of 

 juice, from the 

 Indies to Ant- 

 werpe ; and fur- 

 ther, that the 

 same had budded 

 and growne in the 

 said Dries garden. 

 But not many 

 yeares after, I 

 perceiued that the 

 picture which was 

 sent me by my 

 friendwasaconn- 

 terfeit, and before 

 that time had 

 been drawne and 

 Bet forth by an 

 old Dutch Her- 

 barist. Therefore 

 not suffering this 

 error any further 

 to spred abroad, 

 (which I disco- 

 uered not many 

 yeares past at 

 Flushing in Zee- 

 land, in the gar- 

 den of William of 

 Nassau Prince of 

 Orange, of fa- 

 mous memorie, 

 through the 

 menns of a 

 worthy person, if 

 my memorie faile 

 me not, called 

 Vander Mill ; at 

 what time he 



opened, and loosed his first young buds and shoots about the 

 end of Bommer, resembling in leanes, and stalkes of a foot 

 high, the young and tender shoots of the common Keed, called 

 Harundo vallatoria), I thought it conuenient to impart thus 

 much Tnto Master .Tohn Gerard, an expert Herbarist, and 

 Master of happy successe in surgerie, to the end he might let 

 posteritie know thus much, in the painefnll and long laboured 



Fig. 66.— GraGER (ZisarEEB officinale). 



trauels which now he hath in hand, to the great good and 

 benefit of his countrey. The plant it selfe brought me to 

 Middleborrough, and set in my garden, perished through the 

 hardnesse of the winter. Thus much haue I set downe, truly 



translated out of 

 his owne words in 

 Latine; though 

 too fauourably by 

 him done to the 

 commendation of 

 my meane skill. "■ 

 The spice was 

 known, however, 

 more than two 

 centuries before 

 Gerarde's time, 

 for in Rymer's 

 " Fadera " there 

 is a notice of a 

 Genoese ship 

 being wrecked at ■ 

 Dnnster, in Som- 

 ersetshire, some 

 time during 1380, 

 freighted with 

 Green Ginger — 

 that is. Ginger 

 preserved in le- 

 mon juice. 



It was first suc- 

 cessfully culti- 

 vated in this 

 country by Mr. 

 Miller in 1731. 



It may be easily 

 cultivated two 

 ways, either in 

 pots or in a deep 

 pit. If in pots 

 the plants should 

 be procured in 

 February, or even 

 July if you have 

 a stove to keep 

 them in through 

 the winter ; take 

 the plants, shake 

 them out of the 

 pots when at rest 

 in February, di- 

 vide them, and 

 pot each piece 

 into a pot 6 ins. 

 across ; plunge 

 them, as soon as 

 the heat is tem- 

 perate, in a bark 

 pit, or a frame 

 heated with dung 

 like a Cucumber 

 bed, the surface 

 being covered 

 with tan deep 

 enough for the 

 pots. As soon as 

 the plants come 

 up give a email 

 supply of water, 

 gradually increas- 

 ing the quantity 

 as the plants ad- 

 vance in growth. 

 By August they 

 will be fit to take 

 up and preserve. 

 If a large quantity is required a deep pit of two or three lights 

 will be necessary, the bottom to be fiUed with rich soil to the 

 depth of a foot ; plant the roots in this soil and line the pit 

 with hot dung, renewing it as the heat declines. The time for 

 planting in the pit is February or March. Water whilst grow- 

 ing, give air in hot weather, and in September you will have a. 

 large supply of fine Ginger roots, equal to foreign. 



