XIV 
TURMERIC 
425 
Sawyer, in the Agricultural Journal of India, iv. 
p. 87, mentions three forms known from Toungoo 
with local names — Sanwingale, the lesser turmeric; 
Sanwingye, greater turmeric (perhaps the tubers and 
rhizomes respectively) ; and Sanwinpyi, white turmeric 
with buff-coloured rhizomes and a scent of mangos 
(perhaps Curcuma amada). It is not used, and is 
considered to be injurious when it appears with the true 
turmeric. The first named is considered the best, the 
second is coarser. The form used in India for dry- 
ing, known generally as Lok-nandi-haladi, seems to 
be a distinct variety with harder rhizomes and richer 
colouring matter. 
CULTIVATION 
The soil selected for turmeric should be rich and 
friable. Loamy soil, even of very inferior quality, 
however, will give good results, and even where the 
ground is sandy it does very well. “ In Toungoo,” says 
Mr. A. M. Sawyer [Agricultural Journal of India, 
1909, iv. p. 87), “the Shans prefer light, free, sandy 
loams, overlying the yellowish and reddish sub-soils 
of the Toungoo district. The turmeric,” he says, “is 
cultivated by the Shans very carefully. The locality 
consists of forest-clad hills and dales intersected by 
winding streams whose waters are clear in the dry 
months. When it rains, the streams carry a good deal 
of silt which fertilises the cultivated land in the low 
valleys.” In the Malay peninsula, the Chinese grow it 
in the same kind of land as they use for ginger, and 
treat it in the same way. The stiffer clays they break 
up with the hoe and render friable, and by adding 
manure obtain good results. The low-lying black soils 
of old rice fields or river alluvia seem to suit it 
equally well. Compared with ginger I find it is a 
stronger plant, and will grow well where the soil is quite 
sandy, which ginger will not. In parts of India it is 
grown as an alternate crop with pulses. In Coimbatore 
it is stated that it is generally grown as a mixed crop 
