XIII 



GINGER 391 



Jamaica. In India, it appears that only one variety is 

 cultivated, but the quality of the product varies with 

 different localities, and such names as Malabar, or 

 Cochin, Kumaon, or Bengal are names of the product 

 as exported from those localities. ->A 



Canton ginger, the preserved or green ginger, seems 

 to be a more distinct variety. The rhizome is thicker 

 and more succulent, hence it is used for the sweetmeat, 

 and it is said that it is not possible in Canton to dry it. 

 It is probable that this, to some extent, is due to the 

 absence of sufficient sun-heat in the season when the 

 ginger is dug, but the rhizome is certainly more juicy. 



There was formerly a little confusion as to the plant 

 which was the source of the Canton ginger. In 1891, 

 plants of what was supposed to be the Canton ginger 

 were sent to Kew Gardens, and eventually turned out 

 to be those of the greater Galangal, Alpinia galanga. 

 Further investigation showed that by an error the 

 wrong plant had been sent to Kew, and it was shown 

 by Professor P. Groom, Mr. Ford, and others, both from 

 the structure of the rhizomes and by the cultivation of 

 the plant, that Canton ginger was Zingiber qfficinale. 

 Mr. Ford showed, too, that there was a form of the same 

 plant grown in the mountain districts of China, which 

 had a smaller and dryer rhizome, and was prepared dry 

 by the Chinese, who, however, valued it more as a spice. 



NAMES 



Ginger. French, Gingembre; German, Ingwer; 

 Hindu, plant, Adrah, dried rhizome, South ; Tamil, 

 fresh root, Inji, dried, Shukku ; Arabic, Zanjabil ; 

 Malay, Haliya. 



HISTORY 



" 1 



Ginger seems to have been one of the earliest of the 



Oriental spices known to Europeans, and was certainly 

 known to the Greeks and Komans. The name Zingiber 

 (whence the word ginger) seems to be derived from the / 



