XIV 



TURMERIC 433 



yellow above, sprinkled all over with black spots and 

 short black streaks. The body is long and slender, and 

 the legs and antennae long and delicate. The under- 

 side of the upper wings and a bar across the thorax 

 are sooty in colour. , 



This insect does not seem particular as to what 

 ginger plants it attacks, so long as the stems are not 

 too thick. Stems attacked by it should be cut off and 

 destroyed. It is not, however, easy to see it till it has 

 thoroughly bored through the stem and practically 

 killed it. 



PREPARATION OF RHIZOMES 



For local use in curry, turmeric is generally used 

 fresh without any preparation except washing, and 

 quantities are sold for this purpose in the native 

 markets of Singapore and elsewhere in the East. 



In Bengal, it is said that after the roots are dug out 

 of the ground they are freed from the fibrous roots and 

 cleaned. They are then put into earthen pots, the 

 mouths of -which are carefully closed with earthenware 

 covers and cow- dung. The pots are very gradually 

 heated. The turmeric is made to boil in its own juice, 

 which process gets rid of the raw smell of turmeric. 

 It is then dried in the sun for a week or nearly as long, 

 during which it requires to be covered in the night to 

 protect it from dew. In some places it is boiled in 

 water in which a little cow-dung is mixed (Report of 

 the Agricultural Department, p. 55). 



Sir E. C. Buck says in the north-west provinces the 

 roots are boiled and dried in the sun, and in this form 

 they are the turmeric sold in the Indian bazaars. For 

 making the yellow dye the roots are boiled again, and 

 powdered while wet and made into a paste. In the 

 Kumaon district the roots are soaked in lime-juice and 

 borax before being powdered instead of being boiled. 

 In the Punjab, Baden -Powell says the rhizomes are 

 taken up in November, and dried partly by the heat of 

 the sun and partly by fire. In Coimbatore, it is said 



2 F 



