Februarv I, 1883.1 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



673 



high, it bears both foliage and flowers within a foot 

 of the ground ; but, in the fonnsr c;iae, the lower 

 part of the stem is entirely devoid of these. 



'' lu order to give to the pe^iper-vines the sopport they 

 req-iiro, it is usual to plint snme oth»^r trees vvitii them 

 for that purpose. The Jaoca tree — (Artocarpus integri' 

 folia) — is selected in Malabar thus to lend its support, 

 since the same soil is equally W"-ll adapt>'d to the 

 growth of both plants. In Sumatra a thorny tree, 

 called by the natives chingUariang (eiythrina corullo- 

 dendron) is employed. In Borneo the vmes are sup- 

 ported, like hops, by poles ; but there is a great dis- 

 advantage attendant on this method, as the pols thus 

 exposed decay at the end of two or three years, while 

 the plants last many years, and they are much in- 

 jured in the removal of the old poles, and the placing 

 of new ones. Besides this, the use of poles h«s 

 another disadvantage in the abience of foliiigi-, which, 

 during the dry season, is of service iu sheltering the 

 vines from the too ardent rays of the sun. 



" When a piece of ground is to be converted into a 

 pepper plantation, it is markfd out by means of a 

 line into regular squares, having their sides about six 

 feet, the intervals at which the plants are intended 

 to be placed from each other. The points of inter- 

 section are noted by slight stakes, and at etch of 

 these points a tree intended for the prop is planted ; 

 for this purpose cuttings of about t»o feet long are 

 put into the ground a spf^u deep ; sometimes cuttings 

 six feet lon.^ are used, but these often fail, are not 

 so vigorous as shorter ones, and generally grow crooked. 



" When the shoots of chinkariang are twelve or 

 fifteen feet high, a heiglit they usually attain during 

 the second year of their growth, th.-y are topped, 

 and not allowed to grow much beyond this altitude. 

 The branches are lopped annually at the commeuce- 

 raeut of the rainy ^ea8on in Novemoer, leaving little 

 more than the stem, or otherwise the droppings from 

 the leaves might njure the vines. 



" The usual mode of propagating the pepper-plant, 

 is by cuttiii){S of a foot or two in length taken from 

 the horizontal shoots, which spring forth from the 

 foot of the old vines One or two of these cuttings 

 are planted close to the youni; chinkariang tree, some- 

 times as soon as the latter has taken root but of- 

 tener after a lapse of six months from its first being 

 planted — a few cultivators allow an interval of twelve 

 moaths, fearful lest the growing vine should over- 

 piwer its support; but iu general, if this be a healthy 

 and vigorous shoot, so long a period of priority is unne- 

 cessary for its thriving, as it advances in strength 

 aud growth in proportion as the vine requires its 

 sustaining power. The vine rises about two feet in 

 the first year, and four or five more in the second ; 

 at this time, or between the second and third year 

 of its growth, it first begins to put forth blossoms. 

 In the rainy season which succeeds the fir.-)t promise 

 of fruit, the entwining; stem is uncoiled from its sup- 

 port, and placed in a spiral form into a hole dug in 

 the ground for the piirpode, close to its root, leav- 

 ing only the top of the plant above ground ; it soon 

 re a«oen.'ls the chiukariang-tree with renewed vigour, 

 and in the ensuing season the plant, then eight or 

 ten feet high, u.^nally bears a full crop of fruit. If 

 this operation be pertormed too soon, the vines will 

 not be forwarded than tho-e newly planted, and 

 will not b-ar fruit uuiil the third year. On the other 

 hand, if delayed lieyond the proper time for the sake 

 of saving the first fruit, the produce is ultimat<-ly 

 retaided, although the desire of a pre-ent good, iu 

 preference to a future greater advantage, someiimes in- 

 cites the cultivator to adopt this plan, and to omit 

 turning his plants d"wn until he has gathered in a 

 premature harvest. During three or four years after 

 the first crop, the produce annually increases ; a 

 plantation of about seven or eight years' growth is 



then in its prime ; it continues in this flourishing 

 state from one to four years longer, aecordmg to the 

 fitness of the soil, aud then gradually declmes for 

 about the same period, till it. 13 no longer worth the 

 labour of keeping it in order. Fruit has bten gathered 

 from some plmta of twenty years' growth, but that 

 is a very uncommon circumstance. As soon as chere 

 is any appearance of decline iu the crop, the planta- 

 tion should be renewed, or rather another garden should 

 have been planted to succeed it, so that it may 

 come into full bearing at the time required. The 

 vines sometimes grow bushy at the top, when they mu.st 

 be pruned or thinned by baud ; the flexile stems gener- 

 ally entwine to the top of their support, and then 

 bend downwards, having their extremeties, as wel 

 as their branches, loaded with fruit. In the early 

 growth of the plant it is immaterial how many stalks 

 grow to one root ; but when it begins bi-ariuj fruit, 

 then only one or two stems should be s uttered to rise 

 and cling to the prop ; more " ould weaken the root, 

 and cause it not to bear so abundantly. All suckers 

 and side-shoots must bd carefully removed. Some 

 which are healthy aud of vigorous growth are usefully 

 employed : trenches are cut to the neighbouring props 

 where the vines have failed, through these super- 

 fluous shoots, are conducted, and thence soon ascend 

 round the adjacent tree ; otherwise they are at once 

 separated from the parent root, and transplanted to 

 other spots ; by which means the plantation is of 

 uniform growth, though many original vines may not 

 have succeeded. These shoots m ly likewise go to the 

 formation of new gardens. 



" The ground is always kept well weeded. During 

 June, July and August, the finer kind of grass is 

 permitted to remain on the ground as a protection 

 against the rays of the sun, aud as the mciins of pre- 

 serving and attracting the dews, which are then heavy. 

 As the vines iucrease in size, less care is necessary 

 in clearing the ground, since the shade prevents the 

 weeds from growing. 



" Plantations are divided into gardens containing from 

 five hundred to one thousand plants. Industrious or 

 opnleut cultivators have sometimes gardens containing 

 as roanv as two or three thousand vmes. These gardens 

 are commonly separated from each other by hedges 

 of shrubs, and have an open border of twelve feet 

 wide round every garden, the gardens are kept with 

 scrupulous neatness : ' no rubbish, not so much as a 

 stick or a straw, is to be found on the ground.' 

 Their symmetry aud neatness give to them an ap- 

 pearance of beauty, although this very symmetry de- 

 prives them of the picturesque appearance admired by 

 lovers of nature. Should the season liajipen to be dry, 

 the cultivators are indefatigable iu giving to their 

 plants the necessary moisture ; nearly their whole sub- 

 sistence depending on the success of their crop. In 

 very dry weather the blossoms are liable to fall un- 

 timely, or to be shaken off by liigh winds, iu which 

 cases the crop fails. To guard against this latter 

 accident, the gardens are usually placed in a sheltered 

 situation. Long-continued drought arrests tbe pro- 

 gress of vegetation, but does not destroy it. We 

 learn iu Marsden s History of Sumatra that iu 1775 

 there were eight mouths of continued drought ; no 

 foliage appeared on the pepper plant.s, ai.d thcu general 

 destruc'nm was expected ; but when the rain at length 

 came, the blossoms appeared in a profusion unknown 

 before. Old gardens, which had been unproliHe for 

 one or two ye.irs, then put forth fljwers and b tre 

 fruit, so that the crop of 1776 7 was unusually 

 abundant. 



" The customary time for gathering the principal 

 crop is iu .September aud October, i.notlier email crop 

 is obtained in Much and April. .Sometimes the gather- 

 ing continues at intervals the yvhole year round • 

 sometimes only oue crop is taken, the growth being 



