Ginger is extensively diffused throughout the Indian isles, it being especially indigenous to the East, and of pretty general use among the natives, who neglect the finer spices.  The great and smaller varieties are cultivated, and the sub-varieties distinguished by their brown or white colors.  There is no production which has a greater diversity of names.  This diversity proves, as usual, the wide diffusion of the plant in its wild state.  The ginger of the Indian Archipelago is however inferior in quality to that of Malabar or Bengal.  In the cultivation of ginger great improvement may be adopted and expense saved.  The garden plough and small harrow should be used.

The present mode of preparing the land for this crop in the West Indies, is by first carefully hoeing off all bush and weeds from the piece you intend to plant; the workmen are then placed in a line, and dig forward the land to the full depth of the hoe, cutting the furrow not more than from five to six inches thick.  The land is then allowed to pulverise for a short time; you then prepare it for receiving the plants by opening drills with the hoe, from ten to twelve inches apart, and the same in depth, chopping or breaking up any clods that may be in the land.  Two or three women follow and drop the plants in the drills, say from nine to ten inches apart.  The plants or sets are the small knots or fingers broken off the original root, as not worth the scraping.  The plants are then covered in with a portion of the earth-bank formed in drilling.  It requires great care and attention in keeping them clean from weeds until they attain sufficient age.  It throws out a pedicle or foot stalk in the course of the second or third week, the leaves of which are of similar shape to that of the Guinea grass.

Ginger is a delicate plant, and very liable to rot, particularly if planted in too rich a soil, or where it may be subject to heavy rains.  The general average of yield is from 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. per acre in plants, although I have known as much as 3,000 lbs. of ginger cured from an acre of land.  The planting season generally commences in Jamaica in February and March, and the crop is got in in December and January, when the stalks begin to wither.  The ginger is taken from the ground by means of the hoe, each laborer filling a good-sized basket, at the same time breaking off the small knots or knobs for future planting.

A good scraper of ginger will give you from 30 to 40 lbs. of ginger per day.  It is then laid on barbacues (generally made of boards) to dry.  It takes from six to ten days to be properly cured.  The average yield in weight is about one-third of what is scraped.  When intended for preserving, the roots must be taken up at the end of three or four months, while the fibres are tender and full of sap.