30 SIERRA LEONE 



GINGER. Zingiber officinale is not found in a wild 

 state in Africa, but has been widely introduced through- 

 out the tropical portions, although in Sierra Leone, alone 

 among the West African countries, has it reached the 

 important position of an export. 



Owing to the defective methods of agriculture em- 

 ployed in the Colony, where for the most part ginger 

 is cultivated, the roots or rhizomes do not attain a large 

 size, and, in consequence, present great difficulties in 

 decortication. 



The common native method of preparation is to rub 

 the washed and partially dried rhizomes in sand, and 

 then to dry them more or less completely in the sun. 

 The effect of this treatment is to remove a small portion 

 of the outer skin from those prominences which come 

 into contact with the sandy surface more readily, the 

 depressions being left untouched. The native has found 

 that the weight of the prepared ginger is increased by 

 the adhesion of sand, and therefore prefers to employ 

 this method to that of using a knife. The result is a 

 very inferior product. 



During the last few years attempts have been made 

 among the ginger growers to deal directly with the 

 European buyers, and a Farmers' Association was 

 formed with this object in view. Government assistance 

 was obtained on the assurance that better methods of 

 cultivation and preparation would be adopted, and this 

 was done to a certain extent, but greater dependence 

 seems to have been placed upon the supposed advantage 

 to be obtained from shipping ginger of the usual inferior 

 quality, without it passing through the local merchants' 

 hands. The result was, that a small quantity of selected 

 ginger was sold at a good price, and a large quantity of 

 common grade obtained a lower price than previously. 



Recent experiments have shown that good results 

 can be obtained with ginger in Sierra Leone if care be 

 taken to deep- hoe the ground and then plant out the 

 selected eyes from clean rhizomes. The custom of 

 attempting to grow a crop in hard laterite gravel with- 

 out proper cultivation is the chief cause of the malformed 

 and small rhizomes usually obtained in native cultivation. 

 Under improved conditions a crop of five tons per acre 

 of good quality ginger has been procured. 



