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  BIRDS AND ALL NATURE.

  ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY.

  VOL. V. FEBRUARY, 1899. NO. 2




 CONTENTS.


                                                Page
  GINGER.                                         49
  SAP ACTION.                                     54
  EMERSON AND THE WOODPECKER STORY.               56
  THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.                        59
  WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN.                         60
  THE GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE.                          62
  NOSES.                                          65
  THE WHITE IBIS.                                 71
  THE HELPLESS.                                   72
  FEBRUARY.                                       73
  THE IRIS.                                       74
  THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.                        74
  THE PEACOCK.                                    77
  OWLS.                                           78
  THE DUCK MOLE.                                  80
  THE HIBERNATION OF ANIMALS.                     84
  THE CAPE MAY WARBLER.                           86
  SNOWFLAKES.                                     89
  A TIMELY WARNING.                               89
  A WINDOW STUDY.                                 90
  FIVE LITTLE WOODMEN.                            91
  THE COCOA-NUT.                                  95
  THE BLACK WALNUT AND BUTTERNUT.                 96
  THE EDIBLE PINE.                                96




GINGER.

_Zingiber officinale Roscoe._

DR. ALBERT SCHNEIDER, Northwestern University School of Pharmacy.

  "And ginger shall be hot i' the mouth, too."

                                 --_Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, II., 3._


The well-known spice ginger is the underground stem (_rhizome_) of an
herbaceous reed-like plant known as _Zingiber officinale_. The rhizome
is perennial, but the leaf and flower-bearing stems are annual. The
stems are from three to six feet high. The leaves of the upper part
of the stem are sword-shaped; the lower leaves are rudimentary and
sheath-like. The flowers occur in the form of conical spikes borne upon
the apex of stems which bear only sheath-like leaves.

The ginger plant is said to be a native of southern Asia, although it
is now rarely found growing wild. It is very extensively cultivated in
the tropical countries of both hemispheres, particularly in southern
China, India, Africa, and Jamaica. The word ginger is said to have
been derived from the Greek "Zingiber," which again was derived from
the Arabian "Zindschabil," which means the "root from India." It is
further stated that the word was derived from Gingi, a country west of
Pondecheri where the plant is said to grow wild.

True ginger must not be confounded with "wild ginger," which is a small
herbaceous plant (_Asarum canadense_) of the United States. The long,
slender rhizomes of _Asarum_ have a pungent, aromatic taste similar to
ginger. According to popular belief this plant has a peculiar charm.
Friends provided with the leaves are enabled to converse with each
other, though many miles apart and speaking in the faintest whisper.

The early Greeks and Romans made extensive use of ginger as a spice
and as a medicine. During the third century it was apparently a very
costly spice, but during the eleventh century it became cheaper, owing
to extensive cultivation, and was quite generally used in Europe.
Dioscrides and Plinius maintained that this spice was derived chiefly
from Arabia. The noted traveler and historian, Marco Polo (1280-1290)
is said to have been the first European who saw the wild-growing plant
in its home in India. As early as the thirteenth century a considerable
number of varieties of ginger were under cultivation, which received
distinctive names as Beledi, Colombino, Gebeli, Deli, etc., usually
named after the country or locality from which it was obtained.

At the present time Jamaica supplies the United States with nearly all
of the ginger, and this island is, therefore, known as "the land of
ginger." Cochin-China and Africa also yield much ginger. In Jamaica
the process of cultivation is somewhat as follows: During March and
April portions of rhizomes, each bearing an "eye" (bud), are placed
in furrows about one foot apart and covered with a few inches of soil.
The lazy planter leaves portions of the rhizomes in the soil from year
to year so as to avoid the necessity of planting, such ginger being
known as "ratoon ginger" in contradistinction to the "plant ginger."
The planted ginger soon sprouts, sending up shoots which require
much sunlight and rain, both of which are plentiful in Jamaica. The
field should be kept free from weeds which is not generally done for
several reasons. In the first place pulling the weeds is