XIII 
GINGER 
405 
chloride, but these did not equal native sun-dried ginger, 
and slicing and drying resulted, as might be expected, 
in a loss of aroma. 
SORTING AND SHIPPING 
The buyers in Jamaica sort the spice, and value it 
according to condition, in the following grades. The 
highest grades are large-sized hands of light and uniform 
colour, free from any trace of mildew. They are brittle 
and crack easily, but broken pieces depreciate the value. 
They should be firm and full, without wrinkles or spots. 
Shrivelled and small hands form another grade, and 
dark varieties another ; the heavy, tough, and flinty 
are another grade. Of these grades the best in texture 
and colour are selected for a second class grade. Ratoon 
ginger usually brings the lowest price, as the hands are 
small and soft and less aromatic. When gathered too 
young the ginger shrivels a good deal, and is less 
aromatic and pungent. 
Mildewed ginger is spotted, and acquires a musty 
flavour, impossible to eradicate. 
The dried ginger is packed for shipment in barrels, 
the common kind in bags. Formerly it was exported 
in casks of a size equivalent to four or five barrels. 
PESTS 
I do not find many pests recorded for this plant, 
nor have I seen any insects or fungi attacking the 
plant myself. The chief danger seems to be from one 
or more fungi, of which the worst is known as Black-rot. 
This disease is described by W. Harris and Mr. 
Howard in the Jamaica Bulletin, 1901, p. 180, and 
1902, p. 42. 
The disease, says Mr. Harris, is well known in 
Jamaica, and affected plants are easily detected. The 
symptoms are sickly yellow foliage, the stem black and 
decaying, and the rhizomes also black and decomposed. 
