4 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTrRIST. 
[July l, \m. 
•Pclivery— 
Indian 
Ceylon 
China 
Java, etc. 
1895-6. 
IbB. 
120,743,000 
81,034,000 
41,07r),000 
8,891,000 
1890-7. 
lbs. 
126,165.000 
1)0,677,000 
39,091,000 
3,800,000 
1897-8. 
lbs. 
129,.S99,000 
9(;.303,O00 
32,H0.").0fiO 
3,719,000 
Total 246,743,000 260,333 000 262,31(j,000 
Of which 
Home Oon- 
suraption 213„500,000 227,000,000 228,610,000 
Export(actual 
Weights) 33,250,(00 3.3,300,000 .^3,700,(100 
Stock 1st June — 
Indian 26,751,000 32,235,000 38,213,0(10 
Ceylon 18,557,000 l;t,953,O00 17,231,(J00 
China 19 035,000 12,891,000 li,993,(Xt0 
Java, etc. 988,000 8(35,0(0 827,000 
Total.. 65,931,000 65,941,000 (;8,2C.l,(JO0 
THE EXPORT TRADE OE CHINA. 
To England 
To Russia* 
To America 
To Elsewhere 
1896-97. 
35,200,000 11)3. 
22,000,000 lbs. 
ft2,.500 0(J0 lbs. 
12,000,000 lbs. 
l«97-98. 
31,000,(t00 lbs. 
26,800,000 „ 
41,800,000 „ 
10,6(10 OOO ., 
Total r22,90(),0(.« lbs. 113,200,000 lbs. 
* Overland trade not included. 
THE EXPORT TRADE OF JAPAN. 
1895. 1896. 1897. 
lbs. lbs. lbs. 
To United States 54,000,000 46,500,000 
To Canada 9,700,000 8,500,000 
To Elsewhere 4,300,000 3,000,000 
Total 63,000,000 58,000,000 57,000,000 
SOME INDIAN CROP RESULTS FOR THE 
PAST SEASON:— 
Previous Tables, including most of the Estates 
named above, showed the following results : — 
Returns 
for 
1896-97 
1895-96 
1894 95 
Acreage. 
101,950 
101,7.50 
97,120 
Qiisntity. 
lb. 
46,6liO,0r0 
45,850,000 
45,284,000 
Per Average 
Acre. Price. 
per lb. 
458 9-77 
450 9-55 
435 10-55 
'Nu. Jas. & Hy. THOMPSON Brolers. 
IN THE LAND OF GINGER. -JAMAICA, 
In the Land op Gingeb, JamaicAj" is the title 
of a pamphlet from the pen of Mr. J. B. Kilmei , 
of New Brunswick, N. J., a reprint from the 
''American Journal of Pharmacy." Mr. Kilmer's 
investigations into the methods employed in plan- 
ting and preparing ginger for the market, have been 
personally conducted on the plantations of the small 
settlers in the ginger producing districts of Jamaica, 
and are entertaining and instiuctive. We produce 
e-tracts from the pamphlet for the benefit of those 
O' our renders who are engaged, or who are desirous 
o* engaging in the cultivation of this important 
minor product. 
The books state ijiat "Zingiber ofticinaie. Rosroe 
(Anionimii zir.g ber,) is a n.ative of Asiii. and that 
it has been iniroduced into tiiO'--t trnrjical countries', 
and is now fouini in tlie We^t Indies. South America, 
tropic;.'.! western Afiiei. and (,)!U'eiis)aud in Australia, ' 
But llie vial hand( d ovoi ihe drug.-itore counio', 
even though it may contain a weak decoction cf 
pepper, will invariably be lal e'ed " Jamaica Ginger.'. 
In these notes we shall, therefore, study this plant 
as ae«tt in its popular habitat, thus keeping in 
sympathy with the West India planter, to whom the 
only known spot where ginger grows is in hia kdd- 
lit garden. 
One of the essential requireraente for the growth 
of this plunt is suot^hinc— Old tiol is htie }OUDg, 
bright and active. 
Another requieite for growth — nioieture — ie aUo here 
in plenty. In some portions, 281 inclieH, or 23 feet, 
is rf-cordtrd BB an animal dovsn pour. In the "ginger 
district," 68 inches, or over 7 feet, has been the 
mean annual lainfall for the labt twenty years. 
(In a report made by one of my correppoudeuts in 
this district, October, 1897, 47 inches or nearly 4 
feet, of rainfall were recorded in sixteen days." 
While ginger grows at suitable ilevations all over 
the island, it is mainly produced in the central 
western portion, along the borders of the parisheH 
of M'estmorelaud, St. Elizabeth, Manchet^ter, Claren- 
don, Trelawny, St. James. The underlying soil of 
this district consists of white and yellow limestone, 
with trappean formation : this is covered in some 
of the nooks or valleys with a pulverent monld or 
loam deposit several feet in depth. The plant grown 
luxuriantly in such soil, but apparently will not 
thrive in uiarshy soil, nor where there is present 
more than 10 to 20 per cent, of clay or M per 
cent, of sand. The government returns for the 
whole island give only about 250 acres of land devo- 
ted to ginger. This amount of acreage would not 
yield the crop harvested. But the real cultivation 
IB not in acres, many cultivators having Ixide vary- 
ing from six feet Kinare op to the tize of a build- 
ing lot. A few cultivate from one to six acres. 
Large lots are very rare. For the raost part, it 
is put in the ground in any convenient spot, aloog- 
aide pineapples, yams, cocoa, cassava or other plants, 
often in the midst of a dense growth of bush or weeds. 
In the statistics of this fertile island this article 
does not figure in pounds, shillings and pence as 
largely as do some of its otlier products. JBconomi- 
cally speaking, however, ginger is one of its most 
important articles of commerce. In my judgment, 
from 25,000 to 50,0(^0 of its people are more or less 
dependent upon the ginger crop for such ready 
money as is essential to maintain their existence. 
The ginger planter divides ginger into "blue" and 
" yellow " from the color of the rhizome. These are 
also known as, respectively' " turmeric " and "flint." 
I was unable to see any botanical difference iu the 
plant producing the two different coloured root-stalks, 
and many intelligent planters were unable to dis- 
tinguish the Hnas without first examining the root. 
If anything, it seemed to me that the blue was a 
degeneiate species. The root of the blue is bard and 
fibrous, yields a much less proportion of powder, is 
less pungent, and therefore less valnable commercially.' 
There is also a division into "plant" and " ratoon " 
ginger. Plant ginger is ginger that is planted each 
season; ratoon ginger is really a product of lazinesF. 
It is a return crop, secured by leaving part of the 
" hand " containing a bud in the ground when the 
crop ia harvested Ratoon ginger is much smaller 
in size of hands than the planted, and loses each 
year in flavour, each successive crop being less and 
less in amount. 
Ginger Flantinf] 
Ginger is planted in March and April. The planting 
process consists in burying the divided fingers, each 
division contair icig an ''eye'' or embryo, intrenches 
or holes a few inches below the surface and about 
a foot apart, similar to the process of planting 
potatoes. The small grow^^r simply dig.^ a hole in 
a convenient spot. The thrifty planter first bains 
over liis plot, to destioy weeds and insects, then 
plough.s and lays the plot out into beds and tienches. 
The growing plant needs plenty of sun, and the 
weeds and biisbes must be kept down. This latter 
is a perplexing problem, unless the weeds have 
* I found some shippers in Jamaica ports ■who 
were exporting the undried " blue " ginger to supply 
the demand for gieen ginger as used in pickling and 
preserving. 
