It is a perennial, reed-like plant, similar in appearance to our iris or flag root, two aerial stems being thrown up from each of the underground roots (Fig. 1), which soon rise above ground to the height of three or four feet. The first of the shoots thrown up bears the leaves, and the second or shorter stem, the flowers, which blossom in August (rhodon) or September. At this time the ground will be covered by the spread of the leaves which wither and fade at the close of the year, when the root is in a ripe state and is ready for harvesting. The leaves are alternate, bright-green, smooth, and tapering or lanceolate at both ends, with very short petioles which gradually diverge from the stem until they are nearly horizontal, seven or eight inches in length. The flowers are borne on the shorter separate stem (Fig. 2), averaging from six to twelve inches high at the apex of the stems. They appear in dense, ovate, oblong, cane-like spikes from two to three inches long, composed of obtuse, strongly imbricated bracts or scales with membranous margins between each bract, enclosing a single small yellowish-white sessile flower with purple or blue marking, and have an agreeable fragrance. The ginger planting takes place in March and April when the rainy season begins. The cleared lands are made into beds with a little raised edge which forms trenches between the beds (see illustration), with openings between to allow the water to run off, for, if allowed to stand on the beds, it will cause the tubers to rot, and sometimes the beds are raised between the rows to eighteen-inch squares, two rows being planted on each ridge, the sides being perpendicular. Propagation is effected by divisions of the protuberances of the roots which are broken in small pieces, one or two inches in length, care being taken to leave at least one short bud on each cutting; they are then planted in well-broken beds four inches deep, in the manured holes in the trenches made in the beds which are nine to twelve inches apart and are shaded with bushes, which are replaced in ten days by twigs. The land must be kept well weeded during May, June, and July. It is well to cover the land half an inch deep with a mold of dead leaves, and when it rains the water will be impregnated with manure which filters readily through the leaves to the roots, and they must be kept watered in dry times. The rhizome sometimes grows to a great size; often a single root will weigh one pound. It is a great impovisher of land and the same ground should not be used more than two consecutive years, and it is better to use it but one year. The yield is 4,000 pounds and upwards to an acre, each plant producing about eight tubers, and eight to ten times more in weight than the amount planted. [Illustration: MAKING A GINGER GARDEN] [Illustration: HOEING GINGER]