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ing, for if such weeding be performed while the plant is 

 growing, water may come in contact with the rhizomes and 

 cause them to rot. After planting, the soil is covered with 

 banana fibre and farmyard manure. In dry situations irrigation 

 must be resorted to, to ensure the requisite amount of moisture ; 

 in damp situations the soil must be carefully drained, for 

 stagnant water is fatal to successful culture, the ginger under 

 such circumstances being attacked by black rot, and the 

 rhizomes acquire a bad colour and flavour. Commercial ginger 

 consists solely of the rhizome, which must not be confused with 

 the true root. The most esteemed ginger is that which has 

 these rhizomes in the form of straight " fingers " regularly 

 developed. This well-formed growth can only be obtained in 

 soil which has previously been well worked. The harvest takes 

 place as soon as the stems of the plant turn white. If left after 

 this period the rhizomes throw up asrial stems, and become 

 tough and fibrous. The rhizomes must be lifted by a single 

 thrust of a fork, so as to dig up the entire piece, all breaking 

 and bruising being carefully avoided ; this alone requires much 

 practice to effect with precision. All adherent soil is at once 

 carefully removed, together with the fibrous roots ; if these be 

 allowed to dry on the pieces of ginger they cannot afterwards 

 be obtained white, and are liable to become mouldy. They are 

 then at once thrown into water and peeled. This peeling must 

 be carefully conducted, only the epidermis being removed, 

 since the cells immediately beneath it are richest in essential 

 oil and resin. This operation is generally conducted with a 

 narrow blade sharp-pointed knife, but some expert peelers use 

 only the fingers. As soon as they are peeled the rhizomes are 

 thrown into water, which should be frequently removed if the 

 ginger is to be of the best colour. The pieces peeled during the 

 day are left in the water during the following night. Some 

 planters add lime juice to this maceration water, in order to 

 obtain a whiter ginger, but the project thus treated is more 

 subject to attacks of mould than that treated with water alone. 

 Citric acid or vinegar, might with advantage be substituted 

 for lime juice. Another method is to throw the unpeeled 

 ginger into boiling water ; but the result is not so satisfactory 

 as that obtained by cold maceration ; although subsequent peel- 

 ing is easier, this method is not enployed in Jamaica. If boiling 

 be prolonged the ginger becomes dark in colour, and when 

 dried forms the so-called black ginger. When the ginger, after 

 drying, is not perfectly white, it is sometimes coated with 

 chalk ; sulphurous acid or bleaching powder are also sometimes 

 used to bleach the product, but such chemical treatment is not 

 to be recommended. After washing, the ginger is dried in the 

 sun. On the large scale this is done in a " barbacue," a paved 

 and cemented surface slightly convex, situated so as to obtain 



