in the vicinity of rivers, water-courses and springs.  In this respect it differs from ginger, which requires a rather dry soil for its culture.  I am not aware that this plant possesses the property of impoverishing the soil like the ginger.  From the general habits of the plant in its natural state, we may gather the following rules for our guidance in its culture.  The plants should be laid down in rows of five or six inches distant from each other, in a soil moderately damp, of an aluminous or clayey nature, and free to a great extent of the more soluble alkalies, potash and soda, as these, by absorption, may destroy the coloring matter of the plant, and so diminish its value as a dye-stuff.  Finally, in preparing the roots for exportation, they should be cleansed from all earthy particles, exposed for drying in the shade, and without any further preparation bagged for shipment.

The coloring matter of turmeric is of an orange yellow color exceedingly delicate and capable of change, either from the action of light or of alkalies, which turn it to a dark brown color.  It is slightly soluble in water, and readily soluble in an alkaline solution, becoming dark brown.  Alcohol extracts the coloring matter.  The uses to which turmeric is applied are two:  as an ingredient in the curry powder and paste, and as a dye for silk.  It was some time ago used as a medicine; but though retained in the “Pharmacopoeias” of the present day, it is entirely discarded by the practitioner as a curative agent.  The best Bengal and Malabar turmeric fetches a price nearly as high as that of ginger, and I see no reason why the West India planter could not send it into the British market quite as cheap as the East India trader.  According to Dallas, 397 bags of turmeric were exported from Jamaica in 1797.

Turmeric is grown about the city of Patna and Behar.  It is much cultivated about Calcutta and all parts of Bengal.  One acre yields about 2,000 lbs. of the fresh root.  It is also grown on the central table land of Afghanistan.  The exports from Calcutta in 1841 were 11,000 Indian maunds, and 28,137 in 1842.  The value of that exported from Madras in 1839 was 40,000 rupees, or L4,000; in 1840, L4,200.  The quantity shipped from that Presidency in 1850 was 6,877 bags.

In the neighbourhood of Dacca about 200 lbs. of seed is sown to the beegah, measuring 80 cubits by 80, and the yield is from 640 to 800 lbs.

140 tons were imported into Liverpool in 1849, for dyeing and for curries; 414 tons in 1850; 11,554 bags and packages in 1851; and only 3,595 ditto in 1852.  The price in January 1853 was, for Bengal, 10s. to 12s.; China, 12s. to 14s., and Malabar 9s. to 12s. the cwt.  The imports into London were 18 tons in 1848, 191 in 1849, and 980 in 1850.  The deliveries for consumption, 192 tons in 1848, 270 in 1849, and 870 tons in 1850.

In China turmeric is used with Prussian blue in coloring and facing tea.