Am.  Jour.  Pharm.l 
February,  1898.  J 
In  the  Land  of  Ginger. 
73 
gathered  in  February,  1897,  were  somewhat  affected  by  a  drought 
in  the  previous  November.  Upon  a  limited  area  of  worn-out  land, 
which  in  a  check  experiment  gave  no  return,  they  secured  a  crop 
which  would  be  equivalent  to  over  2,500  pounds  of  cured  per  acre, 
and  the  product  was  of  extraordinary  size  and  quality.  The 
fertilizer  aiding  in  bringing  this  result  was  a  mixture  of  marl  with  a 
compound  fertilizer  made  up  of  about  10  per  cent,  each  of  soluble 
phosphates,  ammonia  and  potash  salts.  These  results  were  very 
encouraging  and  the  society  have  extended  them  by  securing  larger 
plots,  giving  aid  to  planters  in  the  way  of  furnishing  fertilizer,  etc., 
returns  from  which  will  be  gathered  in  the  spring  of  1898. 
The  solution  of  the  problem  of  reclaiming  land  exhausted  by  the 
ginger  and  other  crops,  and  the  prevention  of  the  further  wasteful 
destruction  of  valuable  soil,  is  in  Ginger  Land  one  of  great  moment. 
There  is  in  this  fair  Island  thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres  ot 
abandoned  land,  lying  within  easy  reach  of  roads  and  ports ;  much 
of  it  has  been  abandoned  because  the  soil  has  been  exhausted  by 
ginger  or  coffee.  If  by  suitable  tillage  and  manures  it  can  be 
reclaimed,  great  benefits  to  the  inhabitants  will  follow. 
Ginger,  as  we  know  it,  is  the  root-stalk  of  the  plant.  The  root 
proper  or  root  fibres  are  about  mcn  l°ng>  n°t  very  numerous, 
dying  off  as  the  rhizome  advances  and  leaving  a  slight  scar.  As 
regularly-shaped  hands,  with  more  or  less  straight  fingers,  command 
the  higher  price  in  markets,  experiments  were  made  to  secure  a 
regular-shaped  growth.  Owing  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  native 
planter,  instructions  were  not  closely  followed  and  the  results  were 
unsuccessful.  The  fact  was  developed  that  a  sprout  starts  from 
the  parent  eye,  and  from  this  stem,  in  turn,  lateral  shoots  or  branches 
develop  in  pairs.  These  side  branches  again  develop  in  pairs,  these 
pairs  generally  alternating  to  opposite  sides.  It  was  found  that  if  the 
soil  was  well  worked  and  pulverized  before  planting,  the  growth 
was  straighter  than  when  planted  in  hard  soil.  Some  difference  was 
noted  also  in  the  condition  of  the  parent  plant ;  if  this  was  well 
developed  and  vigorous,  the  resultant  root-stalk  was  of  a  better  type 
than  where  the  parent  was  small,  knarly  and  crooked.  The  Botani- 
cal Department  is  now  experimenting  with  selected  plants. 
