268 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
Zingiber officinale. GINGER. GENGIBRE. 
Ginger consists of the fleshy rootstocks of a plant with somewhat erass-like 
leaves but related to turmeric, arrowroot, and cardamon. Ginger is one of the 
comparatively few tropical export crops from which returns can be expected 
within a single year. The question of quality is, as elsewhere, one of great 
importance, as shown by the fact that Jamaica ginger is quoted in the American 
wholesale market at 19 to 20 cents, while African and Calcutta command only 
74 to 9 and Cochin China 9 to 15. Under favorable conditions ordinary ginger 
can be produced as low as 2 cents a pound, and if marketed at 3 or 4 cents is a 
profitable crop unless the expense of transportation is too great. The high price 
of Jamaica ginger does not represent a proportional profit on account of the loss 
in weight and because of the additional labor of peeling and scraping the root- 
stocks, a process which permits better curing and more rapid drying. Some of 
the inferior grades of ginger are marketed just as dug from the ground, although 
a more or less thorough process of washing is general. 
In Jamaica, however, each piece is carefully peeled, an operation requiring con- 
siderable experience and dexterity for rapid work between the ** fingers” or 
branches of the rootstock. After peeling, the ginger is washed in water, in which 
it is usually allowed to remain overnight. The peeling and soaking in water 
remove a part of the oils and resins which give the pungent and aromatic quality, 
the ranker elements of which are said to be located in the skin. Artificial bleach- 
ing by means of sulphur or other chemicals is seldom practiced by the planters, 
but importers may resort to it for the improvement of the appearance of low- 
grade ginger, though said to injure the flavor. 
The peeled ginger dries in a week or ten days, while the unpeeled requires three 
weeks or more, and experiments in Jamaica showed that the color is darker and 
the flavor distinctly inferior. 
The superiority of Jamaica ginger is also probably due in part to the cultivation 
of a special variety, though this is a matter not yet well understood. In the gin- 
ger cultivated in Liberia and probably in Sierra Leone a height of 2 feet is seldom 
exceeded, and blossoming rarely, if ever, occurs; but the Jamaica ginger is described 
as reaching 5 feet and is said to flower regularly in September. There are two 
varieties, the white, yellow, or flint, and the blue or turmeric ginger, the latter 
being distinctly inferior both in texture and flavor. In one the fresh rootstock is 
yellow, in the other bluish; but the leaves and other features are quite the same. 
Most of the ginger of Jamaica is grown at altitudes above 2,000 feet, in districts 
where a heavy rainfall is the rule, the general average for the ginger districts for 
several years being over 7 feet, though in one place a maximum of 281 inches, 
over 23 feet, is said to have been recorded. Limestone soil with a generous admix- 
ture of humus is considered best, though other conditions may give good results. 
Stiff clay or light sand is not favorable, and there must be adequate drainage or 
the ginger will rot in the ground. Semler advocates the planting of ginger on 
ridges thrown up between furrows made with a shovel plow. That this would be 
an advantage on moist, level ground is evident, but in other situations it may not 
be equally desirable. 
Nearly all of the ginger of Jamaica is grown by small cultivators, and it is esti- 
mated that from 25,000 to 50,000 people are dependent upon this industry. Little 
attempt is made at maintaining the fertility of the soil, and as ginger is an 
exhausting crop the ginger grower frequently changes his ginger bed toa new 
clearing in the forest. Very small ginger farms are the rule, much of the total 
crop being assembled from little patches of a few square feet or rods, while five 
or six acres is considered a maximum effort. The possibility of profitable culture 
on a large scale has been considered by many cultivators, but the opinion is prey- 
alent that organized effort can not compete with the desultory methods of the 

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