1 . THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [.Tcly 1, 1898. 
is the "ginf^er season. " Ginger is l<nown to be ready 
for liarveat when the stalk withers. This begins 
shortly after thf! bloom fleparts. The rhizomes are 
twisted oufof the groniul with a fork. In thi.s oper- 
ation, every bruise or injury to the hands is deteri- 
mental to the market value. There is quite a knack 
in doing this, and it takes long practice to bpconie 
expert. The hands are thrown in heaps, the fibrous 
roots are broken off, and the soil and adherent 
matter removed. This must be done quickly after 
removal from the earth, for, should the ginger be 
dried with the soil and roots still adhering, the 
produnt would not be white, and, if it lies in heaps 
before dryijig, it will mould. The custom is to 
throw it immediately into a dish ol water ; it is then 
ready for the unooating or peeling operation ; this 
is done by hand. A planter who has any quantity 
of it on hand, will make a " peeling match " by 
gathereing his own numerous family, and whatever 
help his neighbors can afford. The ginger season thus 
becomes a time cf merry making. 
I'fcJiiifj Gbuier. 
Ginger-peeling is an art, atnl there are many ex- 
pert peelers in Jamaica. The ginger knife is simply 
a narrow-edged blade riveted to a handle. In large 
operations an export peels between the fiugeis of 
the hands, less experienced hands peeling the other 
p rtions. Examiuiition of a transverse section of 
ginger will show the importance of the operation. 
There is an outer striated skin under which there 
are numerous oil cells, the oil cells being most nu- 
merous at the bud points. The oil contained in 
these cells, in specimens fresh from the ground, is 
almost colorless, very pungent, and exceedingly 
aromatic. It becomes yellow very quickly on exposure 
to the air, and, even upon drying without removing 
the epidermis, its delicate aroma is found to be 
fleeting. On drying the ginger the contents of these 
cells appear as a yellow, pitchy mas-. (It has been 
stated that this coloring matter is identic:)! with 
that of Curcuma.) As this cork layer iv ihe seat 
of the greatest amount of oil and resin cells, it 
will readily be seen that tlio deeper the peeling so 
much the more of these substances will be carried 
away with the epidermic, and more cells opened 
from whii.'h these piiuciples may exude.* 
As fast as peeled, the roots ave thrown into water 
and washed. The purer the water and the more 
freely it is used, the whiter will be the product. 
Generally a very little water washes a great deal 
of ginger. The hands are peeled during the day, 
and allowed to remain m the water over night. 
This water acquires a slimy feeling and if con- 
centrated, becomes mucilaginous and acquires a 
warm and aromatic taste. 'I'be natives claim that 
this process a,ks out the " fire and poison " from 
very hot ginger. I placed some pieces in a stream 
of running water for twelve hours, and succeeded in 
making them several shades lighter in color. This 
sample proved to be less pungent to the taste, and 
it is quite possible the force of the water carried 
away som(! portion of the aromatic principles. A 
few planters use lime juice in the wash water. This 
gives a whiter root, h iving some solvent action on 
the coliiring maticr, but, as the lime juice contains 
saccharine and pectose matter, it prevents d-.-yinc, 
and mildew follows, In another experiment I sup- 
plied the natives with citric acid, vinegar and a.;ctic 
acid. They all worked fairly well, citric acid being 
tlie best whitening agent, but it was reported that 
the process was expensive and ti-oublesome. It is 
generally stated that ginger is deprived of its coat 
by being plunged into boiling water before being 
scraped. This practice is not used to any ext.'nt in 
Jamaica. Its effect is to swell the stari.-h and b issorin- 
like gums. I found that after keeping the freshly 
* The J-imaica Agricultural Society h^s advertised 
in the United States and England the desirability 
of a machine or apparatus to bo used in removing 
the coating from ginger; experiments along the line 
are now being made. 
peeled root-stalks in boiling water for aa hour they 
were considerably swollen and thu stream wai* filled 
with the aroma of the ginger. Under this treatment 
the co tting conies off easily ; but, if the action of 
the boiling water is prolonged, the starch and fibre 
arc acted upon, the product dries hard and the color 
is darkened. In fact, what is kaowii as '-black- 
ginger" of the market is the result of thia process. 
Ginger is found in the mark<-t coated with calcerous 
matter, such as carbonate of lime, etc., this is said 
to bo to fill a demand for "wiiite gingfr." Such a 
proceeding is apparently unknown i^moog the planters. 
Well-cured ginger has a decided white coating and 
that is all they know about it. 
It has been stited that it is a common practice 
to bleach ginger with the fumes of chljrine or sul- 
phurous acid. It may be done in the other parts 
of the world, but no instance of it is known iu 
Jamaica.* I tried chlorine gaa as a bleaching agent, 
but at best the product was of a dirty yellow 
color. By U3in» the fumes of burning sulphur, the 
whole being partially enclosed in glasi, the heat of 
the gun aiding in the experiment, the ginger was 
whitened and mildew prevente.l. I found on trial 
that it might be of service to place the ginger in 
a weak solution of chloride of lime before drying; 
this would aid in bleaching and prevent mould. 
Cunny Giui/er. 
After washing, the process of drying follows : The 
tropical sun is the drying agent in all cases. Large 
operators have what is called a '■ Barbecue." This 
is a piece of ground several feet fquare, leveled off 
and laid with stone and the whole coated with cement. 
It is placed so as to receive the greatest amount 
of sunshine. The small planter uses what is called 
a " Mat," consisting of slicks driven into the ground, 
sawbuck fashion, and across these sticks are laid 
boards, palm, banana or other large leaves ; ofteoer 
than otherwise, the place for drying is a few palm 
leaves spiead upon the ground. 
Careful handlers put their ginger out as the sun 
rises, and turn it "Ver at mid day, taking it in at 
sundown. Kainy or cloudy weather invites mildew. 
It requires (i to 8 da)s for the root to become 
throughly dry. I made several testa to ascertain the 
loss in weight by drying in the sun, and found the 
average to be nearly 70 per cent. 
Ginger dried In the sun for the market examinei 
for moisture gave the following results: Six samples 
well dried specimens, showed a further loss when 
dried at 100° C. as follows: 7-2, 8 5, 8-9, 9-5, 10, 11, 
12 per cent. Several poorly-dried specimens, some 
of which were damp and mouldy, gave from 15 to 
2,') per cent, moisture when drie I at 100° C. During 
the progress of my attention to this subject, several 
attempts were made to utilize artificial heat i;i 
drying ginger. Such a course would, in some res- 
pects, be a very desirable one. 
In a portion of the island given almost entirely 
to the cultivation of this product, a few years ago 
a wet season prevailed. It was impossible to dry 
the crop in the sun ; as a consequence there was 
a loss of the crop, followed by a cou3ider*ble dis- 
tress among the planters. 
During my ob.?ervations an attempt was first made 
to dry without removal of the .-kin coat. This, if 
successful, would have meant the saving of con- 
siderable labor. The product was quite dark, the 
flavor not as good as that of the sun-dried. By 
removing a part of the coat the drying was has- 
tened. Dr. A. G, AlcCatty, a practicing physician 
and owner of a plantation, at my suggestion, placed 
in operation an American fruit evaporator. It was 
necessary to use wood as a so.irce of heat, and, partly 
owing to the high teniperature and partly from the 
ignorance of the operator, the product so far ha? 
been rather poor iu quality, the color many shades 
darker, much of the aroma wa' lost, and a smoky, 
burned flavor acquired. Other planters are trying 
the process on this year's crop. 
* Bleaching by chemicals and coating with pow- 
ders are market processes unknown to the planters. 
