78 
In  the  Land  of  Ginger. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    February,  1898. 
In  a  portion  of  the  island  given  almost  entirely  to  the  cultivation 
of  this  product,  a  few  years  ago  a  wet  season  prevailed.  It  was 
impossible  to  dry  the  crop  in  the  sun ;  as  a  consequence  there  was  a 
loss  of  the  crop,  followed  by  considerable  distress  among  the 
planters. 
During  my  observations  an  attempt  was  first  made  to  dry  without 
removal  of  the  skin  coat.  This,  if  successful,  would  have  meant  the 
saving  of  considerable  labor.  The  product  was  quite  dark,  the 
flavor  not  as  good  as  that  of  the  sun-dried.  By  removing  a  part  of 
the  coat  the  drying  was  hastened.  Dr.  A.  G.  McCatty,  a  practicing 
physician  and  owner  of  a  plantation,  at  my  suggestion,  placed  in 
operation  an  American  fruit  evaporator.  It  was  necessary  to  use 
wood  as  a  source  of  heat,  and,  partly  owing  to  the  high  tempera- 
ture and  partly  from  the  ignorance  of  the  operator,  the  product  so 
"Mat"  for  Drying  Ginger. 
far  has  been  rather  poor  in  quality,  the  color  many  shades  darker, 
much  of  the  aroma  was  lost,  and  a  smoky,  burned  flavor  acquired. 
Other  planters  are  trying  the  process  on  this  year's  crop. 
A  curious  incident  resulted  during  these  experiments.  The 
natives,  through  prejudice  against  innovations,  boycotted  the  dry- 
ing apparatus,  and  refused  to  furnish  supplies  at  any  price.  Experi- 
ments were  made  with  calcium  chloride  as  a  drying  agent.  The 
result  did  not  equal  samples  produced  by  the  native  method  of 
drying  in  the  sun.  Attempts  made  to  dry  the  ginger  after  first 
slicing,  as  might  be  expected,  resulted  in  great  loss  of  flavor  and 
pungency.  My  conclusions  were  that,  when  well  conducted,  the 
native  method  of  careful  peeling  and  curing  in  the  sun  would  produce 
a  handsomer  and  a  better  product  than  any  process  yet  suggested. 
These  observations  were  not  undertaken  with  a  view  of  making 
