AmNov.?i89ifrm"}  Trade  in  Ginger  and  its  Economic  Uses.  529 
in  1889.  The  quantity  retained  for  consumption  is  ascertained  by 
deducting  the  re-exports,  but  of  course  there  is  always  some  stock 
in  hand. 
Ginger  is  extensively  diffused  throughout  the  islands  of  the 
Indian  Archipelago,  being  indigenous  to  the  East,  and  of  pretty 
general  use  among  the  natives.  It  is,  however,  inferior  in  quality 
to  that  of  Malabar  or  Bengal.  Ginger  is  a  good  deal  grown  in 
China,  and  largely  used  in  its  fresh  state  as  a  condiment  and  also 
in  medicine.  Some  small  quantity  is  exported  dried,  but  it  is  black 
-and  hard,  and  not  much  appreciated  in  commerce.  In  the  young 
state  the  rhizomes  are  fleshy  and  slightly  aromatic,  and  they  are 
then  used  as  preserves,  or  prepared  in  syrup.  In  a  more  advanced 
stage  the  aroma  is  fully  developed,  the  texture  is  more  woody,  and 
they  become  fit  for  ordinary  commercial  ginger.  The  inferior  sorts, 
when  dried  after  immersion  in  hot  water,  form  black  ginger.  The 
best  roots  are  scraped,  washed,  and,  after  being  dried  in  the  sun, 
receive  the  name  of  white  ginger.  The  East  Indian  and  African 
are  coated  or  limed  gingers.  The  West  Indian  ginger  is  superior 
in  quality  to  that  of  the  East  because  more  care  is  paid  to  the  cul- 
ture and  drying ;  but  the  production  is  much  smaller,  and  hence 
the  trade  is  of  less  importance  to  commerce.  Ginger  is  imported 
in  bags  and  barrels  weighing  a  little  over  1  cwt.  each. 
At  the  close  of  the  last  century  Barbadoes,  Hayti  and  other  West 
Indian  Islands,  cultivated  ginger  largely.  Barbadoes  then  exported 
21,000  cwts.  But  Jamaica^  alone  now  gives  any  attention  to  the 
culture,  and  even  there  the  production  has  fallen,  off  about  one-half, 
and  the  common  East  Indian  is  flooding  the  market.  In  183 1  the 
bulk  of  what  was  received  was  from  the  West  Indies,  as  India  sent 
less  than  1,000  cwts.  then.  In  1 84 1,  however,  the  East  had  sur- 
passed the  West  by  1 ,000  cwts.  Last  year  of  63,500  cwts.  imported, 
India  sent  53,500  cwts.,  Jamaica  5,900  cwts.,  and  West  Africa,  2,600 
cwts.  Still  the  production  for  export  is  falling  off  in  India,  judging 
by  the  exports,  in  the  last  few  years. 
The  ginger  plant  is  extensively  cultivated  in  British  India,  from 
the  Himalayas  to  Cape  Comorin.  In  the  Himalayas  it  is  success- 
fully reared  at  elevations  of  4,000  or  5,003  ft.,  requiring,  however, 
a  moist  soil.  The  Malabar  ginger,  exported  from  Calicut,  is  the 
produce  of  the  district  of  Shernaad,  situated  to  the  south  of  Calicut. 
In  the  Dacca  district  the  natives  cleanse  the  roots  in  boiling  lime 
