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of commerce. In my judgment, from 25,000 to 50,000 of its peoples- 

 are more or less dependent upon the ginger crop for such ready money 

 as is essential to maintain their existence. 



To the price or crop prospects, improvements in cultivation, difference 

 in quality, the ginger planter gives little thought or care. He divides 

 ginger into "blue" and "yellow" from the colour of the rhizomes. 

 These are also known as, respectively, turmeric" and " iSint." I was • 

 unable to see any botanical difference in the plant producing the two 

 different coloured root- stocks, and many intelligent planters were un- 

 able to distinguish the kinds without first examining the root. If any- 

 thing, it seems to me that the blue was a degenerate species. The root 

 of the blue is hard and fibrous, yields a much less proportion of powder, 

 is less pungent, and therefore less valuable commercially. 



There is also a division into " plant" and " ratoon" ginger. Plant 

 ginger is ginger that is planted each season ; "ratoon" ginger, is really 

 a product of l&ziness. It is a return crop, secured by leaving a part of 

 the "hand" containing a bud in the ground when the crop is harvested. 

 Eatoon ginger is much smaller in size of hands than the planted, and 

 loses each year in flavour, each successive crop being less and less in 

 amount. 



e 



GiKGER Planting. 



Ginger is pl&nted in March and April. The planting process consists 

 in burying the divided fingers, each division containing an " eye" or 

 embryo, in trenches or holes a few inches below the surface and about 

 a foot apart, similar to the process of planting potatoes. The small 

 grower simply digs a bole in a convenient spot. The thrifty planter 

 first burns over his plot, to destroy weeds and insects, then ploughs and 

 lays the plot out into beds and trenches. 



The growing plant needs plenty of sun, and the weeds and bushes 

 must be kept down. 



Ihis latter is a perplexing problem, unless the weeds have been 

 destroyed before the ginger has been planted. If the weeds are pulled 

 or the ground disturbed while the plant is growing, water is apt to 

 settle around the roots, and this rots them. 



The reed-like ginger plant, with its leafy stems, grows sometimes to 

 a height of 5 feet ; its cone- topped flowering stems reach from 6 to 12 

 inches, and in a well-cleaned field, make a pretty show when in their 

 September bloom. 



On wet soil and during very rainy seasons the root is subject to what 

 is termed " black- rotten." This is a rotting induced by warm, soggy 

 soil. The root swells in spots, fills with water, turns black, and emits 

 an offensive odour. In this condition it is attacked by insects and 

 worms which has given rise to the belief among the planters that the 

 rotting is caused by a so-called ginger worm. (It is possibly a fungus 

 disease). 



Growing ginger must be well watered. Irrigation is practised to a 

 limited extent, but in most of the parishes this is unnecessary, as the 

 rainfall is abundant. Fertilisation, though highly important, is rarely 

 attempted, partly owing to the small profit, but largely owing to the 



