18 



fore it has attained maturity and almost invariably mildews for want of the constant sunshine which di-p 

 vails only later m the gmger season." 



Aubrey G. Facey, 



^. . „ T , , , , , Internal Revenue Office, Black River. 



_ The mformation I have been able to gather ie this :— The Ginger is scraped and peeled with 

 knives by the growers. The knives are specially imported and known as (iinger Knives. 'I he ginaer is 

 then washed once or twice and turned out to dry on mats, care being taken to provide against mildew 



" 1 ^ave never heard of ginger being boiled for pui-poses of curing, T should imagine that such a 

 process would deteriorate its strength, and impair its value to an appreciable extent. 



" The difference in price is due to the quality of the ginger as well as competition. A very superior 

 description is grown at «eafort Town in Westmoreland on the borders of St. James, and owing to a very 

 keen ginger trade done in Montego Bay, where most of this commodity is taken, the Westmoreland 

 traders if desirous to compete, must be prepared to outbid the traders from Montego Bay. 



" In the Pisgah Districts of this Tarish a good quality of ginger is cultivated, which has been known 

 to fetch 54/ to 58/ in Black River, but the bulk of the ginger brought down to Black River is of an 

 ordinary description, where there is little or no competition, which accounts for the difference in prices 

 between St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland." 



S. E. Payne 



, , . Collectorate, St. James. 



"The process of removing the skin of ginger by means of boiling, is not known in this parish so far 

 as I can gather, aud is regarded as one calculated to reduce the spice of the article, and lessen its value as 

 such. 



" The mode adapted for removing the skin, is by paring with a sharp, thin narrow blade knife 

 (properly called scraping), a protracted and tedious job. It is then dried on a paved ten-ace, boarded 

 platform, or mats made of the stalks of the leaves of the banana or plantain trees, care being taken aU 

 the time while drying that the ginger does not get wet, and, at the same time, it is frequently and care- 

 fully turned over to avoid mildew. 



''I am afi-aid the price obtained between one parish and another is no criterion of quality, so long as 

 the ginger is at all passable ; all depends on the demand of the trade for the article by the exporting 

 merchant during the particular season, to fulfil an obligadon to supply a certain quantity probably, and it 

 therefore must be procured if even at a loss. This principle descends to the smallest shopkeeper, who 

 finds it at times to his advantage to procui-e as much ginger (or coffee as the case may be) to be placed to 

 the credit of his account with larger traders with whom he may be dealing, and who in turn may be 

 equally glad to get such a remittance at a given time even in preference to cash. 



" I have no doubt that produce is thus procured at prices imwarranted by the imling market's value 

 abroad, and the small shopkeeper probably discovers for the first time, when he delivers his purchase, a 

 loss in weight, and likely in monetary value too, from depreciation in quality, and so on with the next 

 man in his turn." 



J. W fS-ntriJEfi 



Collectorate, Manchester. 

 "I have very much pleasure in foi*warding you the information asked for. 



" I had no parsonal knowledge of the subject, and was altogether dependent on the kindness of George 

 Nash Esq., who possesses an intimate acquaintance with the subject, and whose letter I now submit." 



R. C. J. Bacquie. 



Enclosure* 



" Ginger. — There are two descriptions grown here, the yellow and the blue, the yellow being the su- 

 perior quality. To obtain best ginger it must be planted every year on virgin soil ; it is ready for har- 

 vesting from March to December in ratoons, and plant ginger after Christmas up to March and April. The 

 crops grown on the same land after the first year are called ratoons 1st, 2nd, 3rd respectively. The 

 gathering is much after the manner of taking in a potato crop, the pieces or stems (fi'om which the ginger 

 is taken) being left in the ground, and moulded up, are what form the ratoons which year by year become 

 inferior in quality and is abandoned when it cannot bring more than 16s. per lOOlbs. 



" Ginger said to be grown in Manchester, the bulk of it comes from over the border of the Parish 

 Bome miles in Trelawny, St. Ann and Clarendon. It is purchased in centres there up to 40s. to 46s. per 

 lOOlbs. according to the fineness in quality (it takes some years to be a competent ginger buyer), the pur- 

 chaser having to transport same. The best descriptions are brittle, and easily broken, which depreciates 

 its value, considering its bulk and lightness a heavy item for cartage has to be added. A barrel of best 

 quality will be many lbs. lighter than a barrel of inferior ; some finds its way to Montego Bay ; what 

 comes this way is shipped via Kingston, a distance of over 90 miles from where grown. The distance for 

 transport is not so great in Westmoreland, Sav-la-Mar and other places. This may account for the differ- 

 ence in price between this and the Westmorel'Bnd ginger. 



It may be that the Westmoreland buyer pays too high, or that the grower abandons the ratoons 

 and keeps to the growing of new plant-ginger every year, and so maintains a uniform price, or that the 

 soil is better adapted and yields bolder samples, hence better results. The writer inclines to the 

 opinion that the difference in prices arises from the distance in road and rail carriage. It may be noted 

 that some of the ginger shipped from the districts stated "via Manchester," brings the highest price 

 in the English market, which will go far to prove that the quality can hardly be considered inferior. 



