I 

 TURMERIC 425 



Sawyer, in the Agricultural Journal of India, iv. 

 p. 87, mentions three forms known from Toungoo 

 with local names Sanwingale, the lesser turmeric; 

 Sanwingye, greater turmeric (perhaps the tubers and 

 rhizomes respectively) ; and Sanwinpyi, white turmeric 

 with buff-coloured rhizomes and a scent of mangos 

 (perhaps Curcuma amada). It is not used, and is 

 considered to be injurious when it appears with the true 

 turmeric. The first named is considered the best, the 

 second is coarser. The form used in India for dry- 

 ing, known generally as Lok-nandi-haladi, seems to 

 be a distinct variety with harder rhizomes and richer 

 colouring matter. 



CULTIVATION 



The soil selected for turmeric should be rich and 

 friable. Loamy soil, even of very inferior quality, 

 however, will give good results, and even where the 

 ground is sandy it does very well. " In Toungoo," says 

 Mr. A. M. Sawyer (Agricultural Journal of India, 

 1909, iv. p. 87), "the Shans prefer light, free, sandy 

 loams, overlying the yellowish and reddish sub -soils 

 of the Toungoo district. The turmeric," he says, " is 

 cultivated by the Shans very carefully. The locality 

 consists of forest-clad hills and dales 'intersected by 

 winding streams whose waters are clear in the dry 

 months. When it rains, the streams carry a good deal 

 of silt which fertilises the cultivated land in the low 

 valleys." In the Malay peninsula, the Chinese grow it 

 in the same kind of land as they use for ginger, and 

 treat it in the same way. The stiffer clays they break 

 up with the hoe and render friable, and by adding 

 manure obtain good results. The low-lying black soils 

 of old rice fields or river alluvia seem to suit it 

 equally well. Compared with ginger I find it is a 

 stronger plant, and will grow well where the soil is quite 

 sandy, which ginger will not. In parts of India it is 

 grown as an alternate crop with pulses. In Coimbatore 

 it is stated that it is generally grown as a mixed crop 



