416 



SPICES AKD EEAGRAIST WOODS. 



and the whole of the beds are then covered with a good thick 

 layer of green leaves, which, whilst they serve as manure, also 

 contribute to keep the beds from unnecessary dampness,' which 

 might otherwise be occasioned by the heavy falls of rain during 

 the months of June and July. Eain is essentially requisite for 

 the growth of the ginger ; it is also however necessary, that the 

 beds be constantly kept from, inundation, which, if not carefully at- 

 tended to, the crop is entirely ruiued ; great precaution is there- 

 fore taken in forming drains between the beds, and letting water 

 out, thus preventing a superfluity. On account of the great 

 tendency some kinds of leaves have to breed worms and in- 

 sects, strict care is observed in the choosing of them, and none 

 but the particular kinds used in manuring ginger are taken in, 

 lest the wrong ones might fetch in worms, which, if once in the 

 beds, no remedy can be resorted to successfully to destroy them ; 

 thus they in a very short time ruin the crop. Worms bred from 

 the leaves laid on the soil, though highly destructive, are not so 

 pernicious to ginger cultivation as those which proceed from 

 the effect of the soil. The former kind, whilst they destroy the 

 beds in which they once appear, do not spread themselves 

 to the other beds, be they ever so close, but the latter kind 

 must of course be found in almost all the beds, as they do not 

 proceed from accidental causes, but from the nature of the soil. 

 In cases like these, the whole crop is oftentimes ruined, and the 

 cultivators are thereby subjected to heavy losses. 



Gringer is extensively diffused throughout the Indian isles, it 

 being especially indigenous to the East, and of pretty general 

 use among the natives, who neglect the finer spices. The great 

 and smaller varieties are cultivated, and the sub-varieties dis- 

 tinguished by their brown or white colors. There is no production 

 which has a greater diversity of names. This diversity proves, 

 as usual, the wide diffusion of the plant in its wild state. The 

 ginger of the Indian Archipelago is however inferior in quality to 

 that of Malabar or Bengal. In the cultivation of ginger great in - 

 provement may be adopted and expense saved. The garden plough 

 and small harrow should be used. 



The present mode of preparing the land for this crop in the West 

 Indies, is by first carefully hoeing off all bush and weeds from 

 the piece you intend to plant ; the workmen are then placed in a 

 line, and dig forward the land to the full depth of the hoe, cutting 

 the furrow not more than from five to six inches thick. The land 

 is then allowed to pulverise for a short time ; you then prepare it 

 for receiving the plants by opening drills with the hoe, from ten 

 to twelve inches apart, and the same in depth, chopping or 

 breaking up any clods that may be in the land. Two or three 

 women follow and drop the plants in the drills, say from nine to 

 ten inches apart. The plants or sets are the small knots or 

 fingers broken off the original root, as not worth the scraping. 

 The plants are then covered in with a portion of the earth-bank 

 formed in drilling. It requires great care and attention in keep- 



