428 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ November 13, 1874. 



time to pot-up Lily of the Valley for forcing if the roots are 

 taken up from the bed. Select the largest and thickest crowns 

 with as much of their own root as possible, place them thickly 

 together in pots, and work some soil among them ; water well, 

 and set them aside in a cool frame for a time, and they will be 

 ready to hear forcing. — T. Eecokd. 



BLACK PEPPER. 



Veby early in the tixteenth century, in consequence of the 

 discovery of the passage to India round the Cape of Good Hope, 

 Pepper became a condiment commonly used in Europe ; and 

 Lyte, writing in 1578, tells, " It is put into sauces to give 

 a good smack and 

 taste unto meates, 

 to provoke appetite, 

 and helpe diges- 

 tion;" and the use 

 of it so rapidly in- 

 creased that about 

 thirty years ago the 

 quantity collected a- 

 mouuted in the East 

 Indies to .50,000,000 

 lbs., of which one- 

 third came to Eu- 

 rope, and the chief 

 part of the remain- 

 der went to China. 

 Since then the 

 growth in India has 

 vastly increased, and 

 so has the importa- 

 tion into England. 

 In 1873 no less than 

 •20,32-1,828 lbs. were 

 brought hither, va- 

 lued at £818,437; 

 but 12,380,409 lbs. 

 were again exported. 

 Yet in the fifteenth 

 century the use of 

 this spice was not 

 uncommon, for in 

 a MS. possessed by 

 the Koyal Society of 

 that date are many 

 recipes in cookery ; 

 and in one entitled 

 " Brns to Potage," 

 being a meat stew, it 

 is directed to season 

 it with ' pouder of 

 pepur and of clowes,' 

 and the ' pouder of 

 pepur ' is an ingre- 

 dient in many other 

 of the recipes, one 

 of which being very 

 brief we publish un- 

 abbreviated. 



" Pejons Stewet. 

 — Take pejons and 

 wassh hom clene, and stoppe bom well with garlek, and parsel 

 email hewen, and do hom in a potte by homself ; and therto 

 gode brothe and sauge, and parsel, ysope and saveray smal 

 hewen, and pouder of pepur and of clowes, and colour hit with 

 saffron, and do therto verjus, and serve hit forthe." 



What we have written refers chiefly to the use of Pepper in 

 the British islands, but it was known to the ancients. Hippo- 

 crates only mentions it as used in medicine, but Pliny speaks 

 of it as a condiment, and was surprised at its use because it 

 has no agreeable flavour. Even as late as the thirteenth cen- 

 tury it was costly, and a few pounds were considered worthy 

 of acceptance by a monarch. 



" What is Black Pepper ?" is asked in a periodical now before 

 U3 ; and although we do not usually reply to extranfious ques- 

 tions, we make an exception to our rule, and reply, It is the 

 fruit of a climbing plant. Piper nigrum ; and we will add that 

 White Pepper is produced from the same plant. An old 

 authority truly states: — " White Pepper is the ripe and perfect 

 berriea of the same species stripped of their outer coats. For 



this purpose the berries are steeped for about a fortnight in 

 water, till, by swelling, their outer coverings burst ; after which 

 they are easily separated, and the Pepper is carefully dried by 

 exposure to the sun ; or the berries are freed from their outer 

 coats by means of a preparation of lime and mustard oil, 

 called ' Chiuam,' appUed before it is dried. Pepper which has 

 fallen to the ground over-ripe loses its outer coat, and is sold 

 as an inferior sort of White Pepper." 



Another authority upon which we cannot improve, relates 

 that in the East Indies it is very extensively cultivated, the 

 plantations stretching from the 9Gth to the 11.5th degree of 

 east longitude, and from the 5th degree of south latitude to 

 the 12th of north latitude, which limits comprise Sumatra, 



Borneo, the Malay 

 Peninsula, and all 

 countries to the east 

 of the Gulf of Siam. 

 The best Pepper 

 comes from Mala- 

 bar, the least es- 

 teemed from Java 

 and Sumatra. The 

 plant is allowed to 

 grow trained to the 

 stem of the Areca 

 Catechu and other 

 trees, especially the 

 Jack (Artocarpus) 

 and Hyperanthera 

 Moringa (or Horse- 

 radish Tree), four 

 years before the fruit 

 can be collected. 

 The berries are ga- 

 thered when yet 

 green, before they 

 are perfectly ripe, 

 and quickly diied on 

 mats, by which they 

 turn black. When 

 plucked too young 

 they speedily fall 

 into a state of pow- 

 der. These are se- 

 parated from the 

 others by sieves and 

 winnowing. In this 

 condition it is term- 

 ed Black Pepper. 

 White Pepper is the 

 same fruit freed 

 from the outer rind : 

 for this purpose the 

 ripe berries are al- 

 lowed to macerate 

 in water and the 

 husk is removed. 

 These are smaller, 

 smooth, of a greyish 

 white colour varying 

 to yellow, with a less 

 powerful odour and 

 taste than the Black. 

 The plant is stated in the " Hortus Kewensis " to have 

 been first introduced into our stoves by Messrs. Lee & Kennedy 

 in 1790. 



Laege Peaks.— Mr. G. Thomas, fruiterer, St. Helier, Jersey, 

 last week exhibited three Pears of the Belle de .Jersey [Uve- 

 dale's St. Germain] , which weighed respectively 3 lbs. 4 ozs., 

 3 lbs. 5 oz^., and 3 lbs. 14 ozs., making a total of 10 lbs. 7 ozs. 

 The Jersey pound being 17J ozs. avoirdupois, this gives the 

 extraordinary weight of II lbs. 6 ozs. English for these three 

 Pears. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



HARDY FRDIT GABDEN. 



The culture of hardy fruit trees is carried out to a much 

 larger extent and more generally understood than heretofore. In 

 a previous number allusion was made to the dwarfing stocks for 

 various trees, and amateurs are indebted to these for the very 

 neatly-traiued pyramid and bush trees that are to be found ijj 



118.— Black tepper (piper nigrum). 



