74 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIS  1\ 
(Aug.  r,  1896. 
foi’  the  cultivation,  but  it  seems  that  growers  have 
already  got  as  far  as  fourteen  miles  further  inland. 
Although  ginger  is  an  e.xhausting  crop,  and  grower’s 
have  been  advised  not  to  plant  it  on  the  same 
ground  two  consecutive  years,  it  can  be  and  is  growm 
in  many  places  year  after  on  the  sanie  ground, 
but  in  this  case  it  runs  wild — or,  as  it  is  called 
‘■'ratoons.”  The  “plant  ginger”  (the  produce  of 
planting)  is  of  better  quality  than  the  ratoons,  which, 
become  inferior  in  each  succeeding  year.  "When  the 
ground  is  too  poor  to  grow  white  ginger,  then  the 
inferior  blue  variety  can  be  grown. 
As  regards  the  application  of  manure,  there  is  a 
prejudice  against  it  in  the  West  Indies,  some  growers 
maintaining  that  it  breeds  worms,  and  that  there  is 
a difficulty  in  getting  it  in  any  quantity.  It  is  pro- 
bable that  those  who  have  not  succeeded  witli  manure 
have  used  it  impropei’ly  by  applying  it  fresh  or  not 
sufficiently  mixed  with  soil.  As  to  obtaining  it  in 
quantity,  example  should  be  taken  from  the  Chinese 
labourer,  who  preserves  every  particle  of  matter  that 
can  in  any  way  be  utilized  as  manure— not  only 
cattle  manure,  but  decaying  matter  of  any  kind,  night- 
soil,  etc.;  even  soapy  water  left  after  washing  is  very 
useful.  To  imitate  the  formation  of  forest  soil,  a 
pit  might  be  filled  with  alternate  layers  of  bush  and 
manure;  everything  in  the  nature  of  manure  or  de- 
caying matter  should  be  thrown  in,  and  a layer  of 
soil  directly  over  the  manure  would  be  useful.  The 
pit  ought  to  be  lined  with  clay,  to  prevent  the  very 
valuable  part  of  the  liquid  of  the  manure  from  es- 
caping, and  a cover  of  some  kind  should  be  placed 
over  the  pit  to  keep  out  rain.  Such  a compost,  when 
quite  decayed,  would  be  found  very  useful  for  re- 
fertilizing the  soil. 
In  some  part  of  .Tainaica  a soil  of  well-drained 
clayey  loam  is  selected.  The  method  of  planting 
out  is  the  same  as  in  India  (above  described).  The 
small  pieces  of  root  are  set  in  March  or  April.  The 
flowers  appear  in  September.  When  the  stalks  wither 
in  the  following  January  or  February,  it  is  time 
to  dig  up  the  roots.  At  this  period  these  are  fibrous 
and  lit  for  drying;  but  if  required  for  preserving 
in  syrup,  or  candying,  they  should  be  dug  up  before 
the  period,  whilst  they  are  still  succulent.  The 
mature  rhizomes  for  drying  are  separately  picked, 
washed,  and  scraped  ; they  are  then  dried  in  the  sun 
and  the  open  air.  Occasionally,  owing  to  a very  wet 
season,  the  people  cannot  dry  the  ginger  in  the  sun; 
it  then  mildews,  and  the  badly  cured  ginger  some- 
times found  in  the  market  is  more  frequently  the 
result  of  this  cause  than  of  want  of  care  in  curing 
it. 
Dried  ginger  is  called  by  the  dealers  “ races  ” or 
“ hands,  ” It  is  in  flattish,  jointed,  branched  or  lobed, 
palmate  pieces,  which  rarely  exceed  four  inches  in 
length.  The  Barbadoes,  Bengal,  and  African  gingers 
are  covered  by  a dry,  shrivelled  epidermis  commonly 
called  the  “ coat  ” ; hence  these  sorts  arc  usually 
said  to  be  “coated”  or  “unscraped,”  whereas  the 
Jamaica  ginger  and  some  of  the  sorts  brought  from 
Malabar  and  Bengal  have  been  deprived  of  their 
epidermis,  and  are,  therefore,  called  “ uncoated  ” or 
“scrapod.”  The  external  colour  varies  in  different 
sorts  of  pale  or  bright  yellow  to  dark  or  brown; 
the  palest  sort  is  the  line  Jamaica,  and  this  realizes 
the  highest  price.  Cochin  ginger  resembles  it,  but 
is  of  a pale  brownish  tint  externally.  According  to 
some  authorities,  the  chalky-white  appearance  of  the 
so-called  “ bleached  ginger  ” is  produced  by  submitting 
the  root  to  tiie  action  of  the  fumes  of  burning  sulphur 
or  by  washing  it  in  a solution  of  chloride  of  lime  ; 
but  it  is  also  likely  that  this  appearance  results 
sometimes  from  a simple  application  of  chalk  or 
plaster  of  I’aris. 
Tiie  interior  of  the  dried  root  varies  like  the  ex- 
terior in  colour;  the  best  is  tliat  which  cuts  pile 
but  bright.  The  consistence  ot  ginger,  as  ascertained 
by  cutting,  varies  frotn  soft  to  hard,  or,  as  it  is  termed 
in  trade,  “flirty,”  the  soft  being  preferred. 
The  Chinese  ginger  (abovo  referred  to  as  aljiiitia 
(jaUtnfja)  is  cultivated  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Kwang-tung.  '[’he  districts  of  Nan-liai, 
which  belongs  to  the  city  of  Canton,  produces  greater 
quantities  and  a better  quility  tluui  other  neigh- 
bouring districts.  The  iiulcpendont  tribe  of  ti;o 
Misotsu,  in  the  mountains  at  the  north-western  border 
of  the  same  province  are  also  said  to  produce  large 
quantities  of  ginger.  In  the  district  of  Hsiu-hsing, 
about  tnirty  miles  south  of  the  city  of  Chao-chiug. 
on  the  Western  River,  three-tenths  of  the  flat  land 
and  seven-tenths  of  the  cultivated  soil  in  the  hills 
are  planted  with  ginger.  A distinction  is  made  be- 
tw'een  the  flat  land  ginger  (called  in  the  Canton 
dialect  Ten- Keung ) , which  is  generally  soft  and  tender, 
and  mountain  ginger  (Shan-Keunfj),  which  is  brittle 
and  very  pungent.  'This  is  generally  used  for  home 
consumption ; the  Chinese  pickle  it  in  vinegar.  The 
expensive  Ten-Keunrj — syrup  ginger — is  almost  exclu- 
sively consumed  by  foreigners  or  exported. 
The  marked  difference  between  the  Chinese  pre- 
served ginger  and  that  from  the  West  Indies  has 
been  carefully  investigated  at  Kew,  with  the  result 
that  they  are  now  considered  to  be  produced  from 
the  West  Indies  has  been  carefully  investigated  at 
Kew,  with  the  result  that  they  are  now  considered 
to  be  produce  from  distinct  plants,  as  above 
explained. 
'The  plant  furnishing  “ Siamese  ginger  ” is  reared 
in  a desultory  manner  in  almost  very  village,  but 
so  little  care  is  bestowed  upon  the  culture  and 
drying  that  it  markets  at  a very  low  price  in  the 
local  bazaars.  'The  best  quality  is  procurable  from 
the  bazaars  frequented  by  hill  tribes. 
The  yield  of  essential  oil  from  various  dry  gingers 
ranges  from  1’9  to  2;7  per  cent.  'The  oil  is  yellow 
in  colour.  Its  odour  is  intensely  that  of  the  root — 
the  oil  of  Jamaica  root  being  the  most  fragrant — but 
no  variety  yields  an  oil  possessing  the  punget  burning 
taste  of  ginger  ; this  taste  is  due  to  (fiiKjerot,  the  active 
principle  of  the  root,  and  exists  to  the  extent  of 
from  b’6  to  1’4.5  per  cent.  It  can  be  eliminated  in 
the  form  of  a viscid  fluid  of  a pale  straw  colour, 
entirely  devoid  of  odour,  and  of  an  extremely  pungent 
and  slightly  bitter  taste.  It  is  very  soluble  in  alcohol, 
even  when  highly  diluted. 
The  total  imports  of  ginger  into  the  United  Kingdom 
during  1891  were  as  follow: — 
cwt. 
From  India,  the  Straits,  and  Ceylon  ..  57,922 
,,  British  West  Indies  . . . . 6,818 
,,  Hongkong  and  other  British  Possession  ..  1,360 
„ Sierra  Leone  . . . . 14.933 
„Various  foreign  countries  ..  ..  4,401 
85,464 
Poivdered  Q-inger  is  sometimes  adulterated  with 
rice  flour,  but  this  is  readily  detected  by  the 
microscope.  A more  serious  adulterant  has  lately 
come  into  use  namely  the  addition  of  from  10  to 
30  per  cent  of  exhausted  ginger,  which  is  prac- 
tically valueless.  This  can  only  be  detected  by 
a careful  chemical  examination. — Planter's  Gazette. 
BinLTOGRAPFIY  OF  COFFEE. 
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so-called  Coffee-leaf  Disease.  fLinn.  Socy.  I London. 
1878.  8o. 
Ahel.s,  A.  P.  G.  Het  Kunstmatig  Droogen  van 
Koffij  en  Cacao,  Ac.  Batavia.  1866.  8o. 
Abendroth,  W.  F.  De  Coffea.  pp.  42.  Lipsiae. 
1825.  4o. 
Academies — Fuderno.  [See  under  Tea.] 
Acliard,  branz  Carl.  Die  europaische  Zuckerfabri- 
kation  aus  Ruukeliiibeu,  in  Verbindung  mic  der 
Bereitung  des  Brandweins,  Ac.  Leipzig.  1809.  4o. 
Adana,  IT.  It.  De  plantwijzen  van  de  djagoeng- 
en  koffijkultuur.  [Pas  dans  le  commerce.]  ’s  Graveu- 
hage.  1887.  8o. 
ytdenia,  IT.  It.  Nadere  beschouwingen. . . .do  plant- 
wijze  in  de  ruit  en  in  het  vierkant  ten  behoeve  van 
10U  ■ dans  le  commerce.  J Cheribon. 
loiSb.  Ho, 
Adulteration.  Adulteration  of 
report  of  the  proceedings  of  a 
..1851,  Ac.  London,  1851.  8o. 
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Vegetable  substances.  Report. 
Aeuue.  London.  1852.  8o. 
Cofl’ee.  A verbatim 
public  meeting  hold 
ColTee  by  mixture  of 
Board  of  Inland  Ro- 
