GINGER. 



417 



ing them clean from weeds until they attain sufficient age. It 

 throws out a pedicle or foot stalk in the course of the second or 

 third week, the leares of which are of similar shape to that of 

 the Guinea grass. 



Gringer is a delicate plant, and very liable to rot, particularly 

 if planted in too rich a soil, or where it may be subject to heavy 

 rains. The general average of yield is from 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. 

 per acre in plants, although I have known as much as 3,000 lbs. of 

 ginger cured from an acre of land. The planting season generally 

 commences in Jamaica in February and March, and the crop is 

 got in in December and January, when the stalks begin to wither. 

 The ginger is taken from the ground by means of the hoe, each 

 laborer filling a good-sized basket, at the same time breaking off 

 the small knots or knobs for future planting. 



A good scraper of ginger will give you from 30 to 40 lbs. of 

 ginger per day. It is then laid on barbacues (generally made of 

 boards) to dry. It takes from six to ten days to be properly 

 cured. The average yield in weight is about one-third of what 

 is scraped. "When intended for preserving, the roots must be taken 

 up at the end of three or four months, while the fibres are tender 

 and full of sap. 



The ginger grown in the West Indies is considered superior in 

 quality to that of the East, doubtless because more care is paid to 

 the culture and drying of the root, but it is of less importance to 

 commerce. The quantities imported from these two quarters is 

 however becoming more equal, and Africa is coming into the field 

 as a producer, 1,545 casks and packages having arrived from the 

 western coast in 1846. The annual average export of ginger from 

 Barbados between the years 1740 and 1788, was 4,667 bags ; 

 between 1784 and 1786, 6,320 bags ; in 1788, 5,562 cwt. were 

 shipped ; in 1792, 3,046 bags and barrels. In 1738, so widely 

 was the culture of this root diff"used in Jamaica, that 20,933 bags, 

 of one cwt. each, and 8,864 lbs. in casks were shipped. The ex- 

 ports may now be taken on an average at 4,000 cwt. ; but, like 

 all the other staple products of the island, this has fallen off one- 

 half since the emancipation of the negro population. 



In the three years which preceded the abolition of slavery, 

 5,719,000 lbs. of ginger were shipped from Jamaica. In the 

 three years ending with 1848, the quantity shipped had decreased 

 2,612,180 lbs., as wiU be seen by the following returns: — 



GINGBR SHIPPED. 



lbs. lbs. 



1830 1,748,800 1846 1,462,000 



1831 1,614,640 1847 1,324,480 



1832 2,355,560 1848 320,340 



5,719,000 I 3,106,820 



In 1843 there were shipped from Jamaica 3,719 casks and bags; 

 in 1844, 3,692 casks and 1730 bags ; in 1845, 3,506 casks, valued 

 at £4 10s. each, and 1,129 bags, valued at £2 each, equal in all 



2 E 



