August, 1909.] 



127 



Edible Products. 



it was unwieldy, and hard to pluck. 

 That point having arrived, the usual 

 decision was to cut the bush back, some- 

 times as much as two feet, and then 

 begin the process again. A more simple 

 process could not very well be imagined, 

 and since it required nob very much in- 

 telligence and no great amount of expe- 

 rience, it had its advantages in its day. 

 But the tea bush is grown as a commercial 

 enterprise after all, and there can be 

 very little doubt that the old system of 

 pruning could not possibly prove for long 

 a success. A point was reached sooner 

 or later when it was imposible to cut the 

 bush back a,?ain, as no clean wood was 

 left to cut back upon, and when the cut 

 was made in the centre of a mass of 

 knotty wood and a temporary return to 

 vigour was established the bush became, 

 as it was bound to do, more and more 

 impoverished, with the inevitable result 

 that deterioration set in and the vield 

 gradually decreased. With the bush at 

 that stage of its existence — a gnarled 

 and twisted mass of re-grown wood from 

 collar to tip — some more than usually 

 smart planter, with some glimmering of 

 horticultural science, cut his bushes 

 across at the collar where no knife had 

 ever entered before, and behold, a new 

 bush with clean straight wood and the 

 world before it again. No sooner was 

 this system of collai pruning instituted, 

 than it was hailed as a panacea for all 

 deteriorated tea, and hundreds and 

 hundreds of acres were treated to this 

 severe knifing process throughout Assam 

 and other Tea Districts. The result of 

 collar pruning was successful more or 

 less, but its success depended to such an 

 extent on climatic conditions, soil and the 

 treatment of the bush after the oper- 

 ation, that at last it became evident 

 that the process was as often a failure 

 as a success. At this point the Scientific 

 Department stepped in, and, after a 

 thorough examination of tea-planting 

 methods, it practically condemned the 

 whole system of pruning in vogue, not 

 necessarily as a system but more in its 

 method of application. It was averred 

 by the Scientific Department that 

 systems of pruning and plucking were 

 rapidly reducing all tea bushes in yield 

 year by year, and while it was seen 

 that pruning was a process which had 

 to be preserved in, suggestions were 

 made for its modification along scientific 

 lines, which it was hoped would lead to 

 the same, if not better, results as regards 

 yield, while at the same time it would 

 ensure the permanent life and vigour 

 of the plant. It was also recognised 

 that whereas collar pruning practically 

 rejuvenated a plant that had been badly 

 treated for many years, the invigoration 

 of such a plant depended so enormously 



upon the quality of the soil, the climate, 

 and its subsequent treatment that collar 

 pruning could by no means be recom- 

 mended as a cure for deterioration. 



The Scientific Department has gone 

 into the whole question very fully, and 

 there is no ueed to labour the question 

 any further in this article. It is suffi- 

 cient to say that a bush is now pruned 

 upon scientific laws to induce it to give 

 the maximum amount of leaves without 

 detracting from its eventual well-being. 



SIRDAR, 



MEMORANDUM ON THE CULTIVA- 

 TION AND PREPARATION 

 OP GINGER. 



(Prom the Imperial Institute.) 



Ginger is the underground stem (rhi- 

 zome) of the plant known botanically as 

 Zingiber officinale, indigenous to the East 

 Indies, but now cultivated in many tropi- 

 cal countries, such as the West and East 

 Indies, West Africa and Queensland. 



Cultivation.— Two methods of culti- 

 vation are adopted. That by which the 

 best ginger is obtained consists in plant- 

 ing in March or April (in Jamica) por- 

 tions of secleeted rhizomes from the pre- 

 vious year's crop, care being taken that 

 each portron of rhizome planted contains 

 an "eye" (embryo stem). These por- 

 tions of rhizome are placed a few inches 

 below the surface of the prepared soil 

 and about one foot apart, the process 

 being much the same as that observed 

 in planting potatoes. It is advisable to 

 thoroughly clear the land of weeds before 

 the sowing of the rhizomes is done, as 

 otherwise the removal of weeds becomes 

 difficult later on when the ginger plants 

 have developed. Unless the rainfall is 

 good, it is necessary to resort to irrigation 

 as the plants require a good supply of 

 water. The ginger produced in the fore- 

 gomg way is known as "plant ginger." 



" Ratoon ginger" is obtained by leav- 

 ing in the soil from year to year a por- 

 tion of a "hand," i,e., roots aud a portion 

 ot a rhizome contianiug an "eye." This 

 "eye" develops in the normal way, 

 giving rise to a supply of rhizome in the 

 succeeding season. " Ratoon ginger " is 

 smaller and contains more fibre than 

 " plant ginger," and the product obtain- 

 ed by this means is said to deteriorate 

 steadily from year to year. 



The foregoing relates mainly to the 

 cultrvation of ginger as followed in Ja- 

 mica. The plan adopted in Cochin (India) 

 differs from it but little. In the latter 



