Ap R it 1, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGrtlCULf URIST . 
7i7 
THE SPICE TEA.DE OF NEW YORK. 
The trade in ginger is very large. The importa- 
tions here last year were 18,855 bags of Calcutta, 
8,880 bags of African, 6,240' bags of white Cochin 
and 3,535 barrels of Jamaica. These figures are 
given in detail because they are not generally known, 
even among importers. The total was 4,280,16(3 
pounds. The ginger plant is a native of India and 
Southern China, but is extensively cultivated in 
tropical America and West Africa, as well as in its 
native soil. Most of the ginger of commerce comes 
from Clacutta, but is also exported considerably 
from Jamaica. There are likewise large exports of 
preserved ginger from China and the East and West 
Indies. This consists of the young roots preserved 
in sugar after being boiled. What is known as 
black ginger is first scalded and then dried ; it is 
scalded to prevent sprouting, since it is only the 
root of the plant which is used as a spice. White 
ginger is the root scraped and washed, and sometimes 
bleached with chloride of lime. White and black 
ginger are merely relative terms ; the white is not 
perfectly so, nor is the black perfectly black. The 
ginger plant either lasts two years or else consider- 
ably longer, according to the particular species. It 
is herbaceous, with creeping and somewhat tuberous 
roots, and is generally three or four feet high, with 
smooth, arrow-shaped leaves, and flowers about the 
size of a man's thumb, of a whitish color, with the 
tip streaked with purple. In a suitable climate it 
is an easy plant to cultivate, anil is seen at an 
altitude of 5,000 feet in moist soil on the Himalaya 
Mountains of India. Ginger is used as a flavoring 
for food and medicines; it has valuable medicinal 
properties. It generally reaches the consumer in a 
powdered state, and said to be considerably adul- 
terated. Various compounds are prepared from it. 
For example, essence of ginger, much used for Ha- 
vering; syrup of ginger used chiefly by druggists; 
ginger tea, and infusion of ginger in boiling water, 
a domestic remedy for flatulence; ginger beer, a 
far-famed beverage, which, like another famous plant 
of Asia, " cheers but not inebriates ;" lastly, there is 
ginger wine, a cheap liquor, to which alcohol is 
oftm added. Ginger comes to New York in bags 
holding from 110 to 120 pounds, and in barrels con- 
taining 130 pounds. Vessels regularly engaged in 
the West India trade bring Jamaica ginger to New 
York. English steamers briug the other kinds. 
Many of the spice vessels stop at Calcutta on the 
way to New York, and tnere they take on what is 
termed in the trade "Calcutta" ginger. It is a 
great city of the East Indies, with a population of 
nearly 900,000. In a single year 658 sailing vessels 
and 301 steamers have arrived in its harbor. Its 
exports are numerous and large, and the city is the 
headquarters of the Governor-General of India. The 
name ia derived from two words, Kali-Ghatta, signi- 
fying the landing-place of the Goddess Kali. It has 
had an eventful history, and is identified with the 
rise of the British Eist India Trading Company and 
the establishment of British supremacy over a wide 
tract of India. It is sometimes called the "City of 
ralaces," because it has so many fiue buildings. The 
Government edifices are especially imposing. The 
dwellings of the English residents are spacious and 
attractive, but most of the large native population 
live in houses built of mud or bamboo. 
Last year, mace was imported to the extent of 
175,890 pouuds, in boxes containing sixty-six pounds 
each. Mace is obtained from the fleshy part which 
envelopes the nutmeg. It is the second coat or aril, 
a thin, yellow substance, of waxlike texture, which 
covers the nutmeg, and is very fragrant and aromatic, 
and has a stroug but agreeable taste. It is raised 
mostly in the Spice Islands, but Penang and Singapore 
are the largest shipping markets. It comes to New 
York on the ships bringing general cargoes of East 
Indian merchandise. Part of our supply of mace 
comes from the Banda Isles, a group in the 
Molucca Archipelago. The Moluccas, or Spice Islands, 
as they are generally called, are of volcanic 
formation and very fertile. They produce cloves, 
nutmegs, mace and other spices, not to mention 
sago, decorative woods and fruits, while the pearl 
aud trepang fisheries have long been well known. 
The Banda Isles were produced by some fearful con- 
vulsion of nature, perhaps ages before man appeared 
on the globe, and are among the loftiest of the 
group. The Island of Goonoug-Apee rises 7,880 feet 
above the sea. The four larger of these fruitful 
volcanic isles are devoted to the production of nut- 
megs and mace. The group is in constant danger 
of earthquakes, and the lofty island already mentioned 
is known as one of the most active volcanoes in 
the archipelago. The islands are little more than an 
open, conservatory bearing odorous spices, with vol- 
canic heat to stimulate the growth of the wonderful 
vegetation. The houses are mostly of wood, roofed 
with leaves, owing to the danger of earthquakes. 
Spices from the Banda Isles often find their way to 
New York by way of London, whence they are shipped 
on the regular steamers. 
Mustard is a popular condiment, and has been 
known for many centuries. California raises a large 
crop. The mustard tree of the Scriptures still abounds 
in the East, and though the seed has no aromatic 
pungency, it is used like ordinary mustard. The 
most important spices known to commerce are black 
mustard and white mustard. The plants are natives 
of all parts of Europe, and are also cultivated in 
gardens. The white and the black seeds are ground 
together. Mustard is not only useful as a condiment, 
but is _ valuable as a medicine. It has stimulating 
properties, known to every household, and it is bene- 
ficial in some cases of indigestion. In England, 
white mustard, in the seed leaf, is sometimes used 
as a small salad, having an agreeable pungency. In 
India, the oil of mustard -seed is much used for 
lamps. In China, a species is cultivated as greens 
for the table, as we use spinach. 
The bran of ordinary European and American 
seed is used in making French mustard, which is 
very popular. The finest mustard-seed is the black, 
or, as the brokers term it, the brown, which is 
received from Trieste. The next in point of quality 
is the English brown, and then comes the Dutch 
seed, though of the two last-named descriptions very 
little is received here. Large quantities of the white, 
or more properly, yellow, California seed, are used 
annually by the spice-mills of New York. It is 
cheap, and it makes itself felt. The Trieste sells 
at 7 to 8 cents a pound at wholesale, and the 
English and Dutch from 5i to 6 cents, but the Cali- 
fornia is obtainable at 4| to 4| cents. When there 
is an especially brisk market, the California seed is 
sent overland by rail to New York, but usually it 
comes in sailing vessels that go around Cape Horn, 
as in the "good old days" before regular mail 
steamers to the Isthmus and the Panama railroad 
were ever dicamc of on the Pacific Coast. It takes 
from 80 to 150 days for these ships to make the 
Cape Horn voyage, according to the wind, and, be- 
sides mustard-seed, they bring wool, raw sugar, wine, 
aud the salmon of the Oregon, which assuredly hears 
something besides its own dashings iu these days of 
feverish activity in trade and commerce. The foreign 
seed is often sent from the Mediterranean to London, 
and then transhipped to New York, though it also 
comes direct from Sicily. Some comes from Bombay. 
The fruit-steamers from Sicily bring considerable 
quantities. 
Curry-powder is a preparation borrowed from India. 
It is composed of turmeric and various spices. In 
India and elsewhere it is largely used as a seasoning 
for a large variety of dishes. It often consists of 
turmeric powder, coriander-seed powder, black pepper, 
fenugreek, ginger, Cayenne pepper and cumin-seed. 
Sometimes the recipes includo scorched mustard, 
mace, cinnamon and cardamoms. This agreeably 
stimulating preparation is largely manufactured by 
the various spice companies of New York. 
Sweet marjoram is extensively used as a seasoning 
in cookery. The plant is a native of Greece and 
the East. Thyme is a half-shrubby plant long known 
