XIII 
GINGER 
407 
pubescence. The larva is like a miniature chafer-grub. 
It tunnels through the ginger, and eventually pupates 
therein. It does not confine itself to ginger, but eats 
all kinds of spices, herbs, drugs, leather, etc. This 
beetle and other such pests are destroyed by enclosing 
the produce attacked in a closely covered tank, and 
putting some carbon bisulphide in the tank, the fumes 
of which in a few hours kill the insects. 
RETURNS OF CROP 
The yield of rhizome varies to a certain extent with 
the nature of the soil, as well as with the amount of 
care taken in its cultivation. The rainfall and sunshine 
also are important factors not only in the growth, but 
also in the value of the crop when gathered. In seasons 
of excessive rain at the time of digging the roots, it 
may be impossible to dry the rhizomes by sun heat, and 
they may suffer much from mildew. 
In Jamaica the average yield is estimated at from 
1,000 to 1,500 lbs. of dried ginger per acre, and in excep- 
tional cases 2,000 lbs. has been obtained (Kilmer). In 
Bengal the yield is given as 40 to 60 maunds (1,000 
to 1,500 lbs.) per bigha (1,600 square yards), and in 
the Punjab a good crop is 32 maunds (700 lbs.) per 
bigha. 
A writer in the Queensland Agricultural Journal^ 
1906, p. 451, gives the returns as 1,000 to 1,500 lbs. 
per acre, and says that 2,000 lbs. are often obtained. 
COST OF CULTIVATION 
The exact cost of producing the crop is not easy to 
give an estimate of, as the expenses of labour, manuring, 
land, etc. vary so much in different parts of the world. 
Some estimates from various sources may be given as 
assisting in forming some idea as to its cost. 
In Jamaica (from Kilmer’s figures), per acre : — 
