Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
April,  1920.) 
New  Source  of  Ginger. 
255 
lower  hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  range.  He  thinks,  therefore,  that 
the  theory  that  ginger  was  originally  a  native  of  tropical  South- 
East  Asia  must  be  abandoned  and  Columbia  be  considered  its  original 
habitat.  This,  however,  would  be  open  to  question,  for  it  is  quite 
certain  that  ginger  was  introduced  by  the  Portuguese  into  Brazil 
as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  ginger  now  found  growing  wild  in  Colombia  is  really  only 
the  descendant  of  plants  escaped  from  cultivation  which  have  be- 
come thoroughly  naturalized.  Mr.  Dawe  goes  on  to  remark  that 
this  discovery  is  of  commercial  importance,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
there  are  extensive  wild  sources  of  a  valuable  product  which  can  be 
immediately  exploited  and  a  new  local  industry  established  in  the 
collection  and  preparation  of  the  roots.  Apart  from  the  question 
of  the  exploitation  of  the  wild  product,  there  raises  the  possibility 
of  its  cultivation  and  the  initiation  of  a  new  plantation  industry 
for  that  part  of  Colombia.  Ginger  is  well  known  to  be  fastidious 
as  to  its  soil  requirements,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  found  growing 
wild  is  a  proof  that  not  only  the  climate  but  the  soil  is  suitable  to 
it.  The  rhizomes  of  the  wild  plant,  however,  are  not  nearly  so  large 
as  those  of  the  cultivated  ginger.  Mr.  Dawe  adds  a  word  of  warning 
to  intending  exporters  of  ginger,  whether  wild  or  cultivated,  to  the 
effect  that  whatever  method  of  curing  and  drying  be  employed,  the 
rhizomes  must  be  thoroughly  dried  and  bleached  before  shipment. 
The  cultivation  of  ginger  in  the  Kandy  district  of  Ceylon  is  also  the 
subject  of  a  note  in  the  Tropical  Agriculturist,  in  the  course  of  which 
it .  is  stated  that  the  area  under  ginger  is  extending  in  the  island. 
In  the  Kandy  district  during  191 7-1 8  eighty  acres,  yielding  480,000 
lbs.  of  green  ginger,  equal  to  about  850  cwt.  dry  ginger,  was  obtained, 
and  particulars  are  given  as  to  how  this  was  raised,  the  seed  being 
obtained  from  India.  Ceylon  could  easily  produce  a  large  quantity 
of  ginger,  but  the  chief  obstacle  is  that  the  villagers  are  ignorant  of 
the  method  of  curing  it  for  the  market.  Locally  there  is  always 
quite  a  good  demand  for  green  ginger,  which  sells  at  12  to  15  cents, 
and  even  20  cents  to  25  cents  per  lb.,  so  that  there  are  no  exports. 
It  would  be  worth  consideration  whether  a  profitable  business  could 
not  be  started  in  curing  ginger  for  the  market,  as  a  well-cultivated, 
good  crop  may  yield  up  to  15,000  lbs.  to  the  acre.  At  the  present 
time  most  of  the  ginger  imported  into  London  is  produced  within  the 
British  Empire,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  Ceylon  should  not  make 
it  a  paying  minor  product. 
