Edible Products, 



28 



tJULY,:i912. 



place shortly after the disappearance of 

 the flowers. In Jamaica the plant flowers 

 during September. The rhizomes are 

 twisted out of the ground with a fork or 

 hoe. In performing this operation great 

 care is necessary as any injury inflicted 

 on the rhizome depreciates its market 

 value. Considerable experience is neces- 

 sary in order to lift ginger rhizomes 

 properly. 



The "hands" (complete rhizomes and 

 adherent fibrous roots) are broken off, 

 and the soil and dirt removed immed- 

 iately, as otherwise it is difficult to get 

 the finished ginger white. The rhizomes 

 should not be allowed to lie long in heaps, 

 as they are liable to ferment. The usual 

 plan is as soon as the rootlets and excess 

 of soil have been removed, to throw the 

 ginger into water to be ready for 

 "peeling" or "scraping." This is done 

 in Jamaica by means of a special knife, 

 consisting merely of a narrow straight 

 blade riveted to a wooden handle ; in 

 India the outer skin is scraped off with 

 a shell or piece of broken earthenware. 

 The native method of preparation 

 followed in West Africa is very defective. 

 The washed and partially dried rhizomes 

 are rubbed with sand, which removes the 

 skin from the projecting pieces, but 

 leaves the depressions untouched. Much 

 of the sand adheres to the rhizome, con- 

 siderably reducing its value ; but the 

 weight being thereby increased, the 

 native prefers this method to any other. 

 The operation of peeling, if carried out 

 in a proper manner, is a veiy delicate 

 one, the object being to remove the skin 

 without destroying the cells immediately 

 below it, since these cells contain much 

 of the oil upon which the aroma of the 

 best qualities of ginger depends. As the 

 rhizomes are peeled they are thrown into 

 water and washed, and the more care- 

 fully the washing is done the whiter will 

 be the resulting product. As a rule the 

 peeled " hands " are allowed to remain 

 in water overnight. Some planters in 

 Jamaica add a small portion of lime-juice 

 to the wash water at this stage, at the 

 rate of about half a pint to six or seven 

 gallons of water, in order to produce a 

 whiter roott 



After washing, the peeled rhizomes 

 are placed in a " barbecue," which con- 

 sists merely of a piece of levelled ground 

 covered with cement, on which the gin- 

 ger is placed to dry in the sun. Where 

 a " barbecue " is not availabe, a "mat" 

 consisting of sticks driven into the 

 ground, across which are laid boards of 

 palm or banana leaves, is used, on which 

 the ginger is exposed until it is dry. 

 Uniform drying of the rhizomes is essen- 

 tial for the production of first-class gin- 

 ger and to prevent mildew, and to ensure 

 this they phould be separately turned 

 over by hand at least once on the first- 

 day. Careful planters put their ginger 

 out daily at sunrise, and take it in each 

 night at sundown ; conducted in the 

 latter way the operation of drying us- 

 ually takes from six to eight days. The 

 ginger if not sufficiently white in appear- 

 ance has to be bleached by further wash- 

 ing, and after being re-dried is ready to 

 be packed for export. In some parts 

 of India the peeled rhizomes are blea- 

 ched by soaking in lime-water for a short 

 time and exposing them after drying to 

 the fumes of burning sulphur in a speci- 

 ally constructed bleaching room. 



The finished ginger is graded according 

 to size and colour of the "hands"— the 

 best grades consisting of the large plump 

 "hands" free from traces of mildew, 

 and the poorest the shrivelled, dark- 

 coloured " hands." As a rule the crop is 

 divided into four or five grades. The 

 best "hands" obtained in Jamaica 

 weigh as much as eight ounces, four 

 ounces being an average weight. 



Unpeeled ginger is merely freed from 

 its rootlets and excess of soil, and then 

 thoroughly washed in water or scalded 

 in a boiler of hot water, and finally dried 

 in the sun. Much of the Cochin ginger 

 is placed on the market in an unpeeled 

 condition ; but the best grades are peeled 

 in the same fashion as in Jamaica, and 

 usually fetch higher prices in the United 

 Kingdom. 



Yield. 



The yield of ginger varies considerably 

 With the climate, soil, and methods of 

 cultivation employed. In Jamaica the 



