XIII 



GINGER 397 



of the wet season ; where, as in the Straits Settlements, 

 there is no great distinction of seasons, there is no 

 special time for planting. 



In Bombay, as the stock-rhizomes have to be kept 

 for a month or two after digging, till the time for 

 planting has arrived in March and April, the rhizomes 

 when taken up are allowed to wither, then washed and 

 dried in the shade, and piled in a heap on dry sugar- 

 canes and ginger leaves. More leaves are thrown over 

 the pile, and the whole is covered with an air-tight 

 covering of clay. They are thus preserved till the time 

 for planting is at hand, when they have begun to sprout. 



Beds. In the Straits Settlements the Chinese grow 

 the ginger in the ridge-and-furrow system that we are 

 accustomed to see in use in the cultivation of potatoes. 

 The earth is thrown up in ridges about 1 ft. or so wide, 

 and running to whatever length may be convenient. 

 The intervening furrows act as drains to prevent 

 accumulation of water in the ridges. In Jamaica, 

 according to Mr. J. B. Kilmer, the planting process 

 consists of burying the cuttings in trenches or holes a 

 few inches below the surface and about 1 ft. apart. 

 The small grower simply digs a hole in a convenient 

 spot. The thrifty planter first burns over his plot to 

 destroy weeds and insects, ploughs it over, and lays it 

 out in beds and trenches. 



In Madras the beds are made 10 to 12 ft. long, and 

 3 or 4 ft. wide, and in these small holes are dug f to 

 1 ft. across, and filled in with manure. The sets are 

 then buried in the holes, and the beds are covered with 

 a thick layer of leaves. 



In Bombay the land is ploughed into furrows 13^ 

 ft. long and ^ ft. broad, 3 in. deep and 9 in. apart. 

 The sets are then laid in the furrows at intervals of 

 9 in. and the earth between the furrows thrown into 

 them, and the whole is levelled. 



N. Mukerji (Handbook of Indian Agriculture) 

 recommends the planting of ginger and turmeric under 

 the shade of orchard trees, as benefiting the trees by 



