ARECA 



CATECHU 



Betel-nut 



Arab Authors. 



Bengal. 



Mandar and 

 Betel Groves. 



Planting Shade- 

 trees. 



Seasons of 



Sowing. 



Transplanting 

 Season. 



Cultivation in 



THE BETEL-NUT PALM 



people," he wrote, " have the habit of keeping in the mouth a certain leaf called 

 tembul." Subsequently Vasco da Gama (in 1498), Varthema (in 1510) r 

 Barbosa (in 1516), Garcia de Orta (in 1563), Acosta (1578, 94), Abul Fazl (in 

 1590), Linschoten (in 1598), Francois Pyrard (1601), Roe (in 1615), Jacobus 

 Bontius(1629), Bernier (1656-C8), Boym (1656), Vincenzo Maria (1672), Taver- 

 nier (1676), and Catchpoole (1703) [c/. Yule, Diary of William Hedges, ii. r 

 331], all give similar accounts. Adams in his translation of Paulus JEgineta 

 refers to the betel-nut as introduced to Materia Medica by the Arabs. He quotes 

 amongst others the passages referring to it from Avicenna, Haly- Abbas, Ebn 

 Baithar, Elmasudi, Serapion and others. Ebn Baithar says that it is the fruit 

 of a palm, and observes that it is a gentle purgative, makes the breath fragrant, 

 is a cordial and strengthens the gums and teeth. Linschoten remarks that 

 " The Indians goe continually in the streets and waies with Bettele or Bettre and 

 other mixtures in their hand's, chawing, especially when they go to speake with 

 any man, or come before a great lord." Abul Fazl apparently never saw 

 the palm growing, since he likens it to a cypress tree that in the wind sways 

 till it touches the ground. This circumstance may be accepted as showing that 

 from very ancient times, as at the present day, the nut has been carried to regions 

 remote from the areas of its production. Numerous publications have appeared 

 within the past century that deal with the betel-nut, as met with in India. 

 The following selection in amplification of the references in the Dictionary, may 

 be mentioned by way of concluding this very brief historic sketch : Valentia, 

 Voy. and Travels Ind., 1802-6, i., 101 ; Buchanan-Hamilton, Journ, through 

 Mysore and Coorg, etc., 1807 ; also Stat. Ace. Dinaj., 1809, 150 ; As. Journ., 

 1819; Roxburgh, Fl. Ind., 1832 ; Taylor, Topog. Stat. Dacca, 1840 ; Honigberger, 

 Thirty-five Years in the East, 1852 ; Elliot, Fl. Andh., 1859 ; Mason, Burma 

 and Its People, 1860 ; Baden Powell, Pb. Prod., 1868 ; Jackson, Notes on the 

 Areca Palm, Pharm. Journ., 1874, 3rd ser., iv., 689 ; De Candolle, Orig. Cult. 

 Plants, 1884, 427; Pharmacog. Ind., 1893, iii., 522-32; Cameron. For. Trees 

 Mysore and Coorg, 1894 ; Duovuri Balakrishna Murti, Lecture Cult. Areca-nut in 

 Qodavari Dist., Ind. Agri., Feb. 1899 ; Collins, Cult. Betel-nut in Toungoo 

 Dist., Burma, 1900; Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1901; Joret, Les PI. dans 

 L'Antiq., 1904, ii., 298; Cunningham, Plagues and Pleasures of Life, Beng., 1907, 

 335-51 ; etc., etc. 



CULTIVATION. Propagation in Bengal. In my report on A 

 Plague in the Betel-nut Palms of Bengal (Agri. Ledg., I.e.) much useful 

 information will be found on these subjects. In the districts of Backer - 

 ganj and Noakhali the Areca palms are planted in groves of mandar 

 (Erythrina indica)- These enrich the soil, afford shade from the intense 

 heat and protection from sudden wind storms. Branches of the mandar , 

 some 6 feet in length, are planted in rows, 12 to 15 feet apart each 

 way. The planting is done in February to April, and from 2 to 6 years 

 later these plantations are ready for the seedling palms. The betel- 

 nuts are sown in October or November, the seeds being deposited 4 to 5 

 inches apart, and the nurseries are either close to the homesteads in shady 

 places, or, if conveniently situated, they are made in the mandar groves 

 themselves. The transplanting is usually done after 2 years, sometimes 

 3 or 4 years. For high lands the seedlings are transplanted in July, for 

 low lands in February or April. In the first transplanting the betel-nuts 

 are placed equi-distant from the mandar trees and thus 12 to 15 feet apart. 

 But a second regular transplanting takes place when the first have come 

 into bearing. Before this is done the mandar trees are cut down or only 

 a fringe left around the circumference of the grove. The betel-nuts in a 

 fully planted grove are thus about 6 to 7 feet apart each way. A certain 

 amount of irregular planting takes place, however, as vacancies occur, 

 and in selfishly conducted plantations the trees may be found here and 

 there not more than 2 or 3 feet apart. It is probable that there is a certain 

 amount of self-sowing, as it is not usual to find two or three trees growing 

 in a clump so close to each other that they could not be healthy. In most 



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