COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF GINGER. 
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be unnecessary to describe it. Two sorts are now in com- 
merce. 
1. Jamaica Preserved Ginger. — This is the finest im- 
ported. It comes over in jars (seldom in barrels) of various 
sizes. Its value is 3s. per lb. duty paid. 
2. Barbadoes Preserved Ginger. — This is not so fine as 
the preceding, and is seldom imported, say perhaps only 
once in two years. It comes packed in jars. Its value is 
from 2s. to 2s. 3d. per lb. 
3. China Preserved Ginger is large but stringy. It is 
generally imported in jars of about 6 lbs. each, seldom in 
barrels. Its value is Is. 6d. per lb. 
4. China dry Preserved Ginger has been sliced before 
preserving. When preserved it is packed and imported in 
boxes. It is not often brought into the London market. 
3. Dried Ginger. 
General Description. — The dried rhizome, called in 
commerce ginger-root [radix zingiberis,) occurs in flattish, 
jointed or branched, lobed palmate pieces, called hands or 
races. The largest rarely exceed four inches in length. 
The larger, bolder, and plumper the races, the more they 
are esteemed in commerce. 
Some of the commercial sorts have not been deprived of 
their epidermis, which is dried on them, and give the races 
a shrivelled character. Other sorts have been carefully 
scraped and peeled while in the green state. The first are 
said to be coated or unscraped ; the second, uncoated, or 
decorticated, or scraped. Considered with respect to the 
presence or absence of the coat, the commercial sorts of gin- 
ger may be thus arranged : — 
Uncoated or Scraped. Coated or Unscraped. 
Jamaica Ginger. Barbadoes Ginger. 
New Malabar « Old Malabar " 
New Bengal " Old Bengal " 
African " 
