CAPSICUM 



FIELD AND GARDEN CULTIVATION 



ANNUUM 



Red Pepper 

 C. frutescens, Linn. ; C. fastigiatum, El.; Wight, lllust. Ind. Biipppr. 



Dunal, in DC., Prod., xiii., pt. i., 416; C. minimum, 

 M,H,r. <;<'!. Diet., 1768 (ed. viii.) ; Roxb., Fl. Ind., i., 574; Capo- 

 . Hheede, I.e. 



M.II called "Bird Pepper." According to the Pharmacographia 

 n.. ~>(>3), C. minimum exists as a weed of cultivation in most part* of 

 This I personally have never observed, and hesitate to accept. 

 ti> the large size of the plant it is the gach-marich of most Indian 



Var. baccatum. Linn. . C. minus rubrum, Humph., l.c. 248, t. 88, f. 2; C. Bratili- 



Exot. PL, 340, etc. 



h.-t'tlr ami Rumphius figure and describe forms of C. fruft-srcnn, 

 say remarkably little about the capsicums most prevalently 

 1 at the present day. And a thoughtful perusal of the 

 !-'<! by Roxburgh, in his Flora of India, leaves the impression 

 ,t, even in his day, the cultivation of no capsicum assumed the 

 siitude of a regular field crop, such as may be seen to-day in almost 

 province of India, especially in Bengal, Orissa, Madras and the 

 can. But C. fnifesceHfi, far from having become the most 

 dant form, is usually met with as solitary plants in the grounds 

 around temples and in the flower gardens of the well-to-do classes, but 

 is hardly if ever a regular crop. It is nearly always distinguished as the 

 ifich or il long Tea morich," as it is called by Buchanan-Hamilton 

 Ace. Dinaj., 187-8). In India the most extensively cultivated 

 the following forms of C. fnuutiun : rttr. acinnimtta followed by 

 f/tr. and next r<'r(fsif'onni#. 



Cultivation. It is impossible to furnish any statistics of the areas 

 IK lor these plants since they are most frequently raised as borders to 

 fields, or as lines through fields. In Eastern and Northern Bengal, 

 however, capsicum becomes a regular field crop, thriving best on a 

 li^'ht sandy loam. The form most frequently seen is a long, narrow, 

 pointed, pendulous red fruit. The seed is sown broadcast, and in Bogra, 

 x ample, capsicum assumes the condition of an exceedingly important 

 old-season crop. In the Settlement Report for Nogpur, Central Provinces, 

 some useful particulars are afforded regarding chillies. The seed is 

 sown about June and the seedlings are transplanted about August. In 

 "inber the earth has to be banked up against the stems. Irrigation 

 "cessary during the cold weather, and the crop comes into season 

 from January to March. Its value is from Rs. 120 to Rs. 150 per 

 acre. Dry chillies are only about one quarter the weight when green. 

 Yrry little information exists regarding the red pepper of Assam or of 

 Burma. Of the Kyaukse district of the latter province we read that the 

 lowest estimated yield would be 365 Ib. (=100 viss), valued at Rs. 15 an 

 , the highest about Rs. 350. Of Sagaing it is said the seed is sown 

 August, planted out in September and October and the crop ripens 

 m January to March, the green fruit a month earlier. A long and 

 ighly instructive account will be found in the Settlement Report for Meik- 

 tila (1896-8, 8, 23, 69), which shows the high-class cultivation pursued, 

 the labour entailed, and the risks through failure of rains. The crop 

 usually comes into bearing by the middle of December. The trade is 

 <-iy in the hands of the Chinese, who rule the market and export all 

 an purchase. In Myingyan the sowings are not made till September, 

 and the plants come into season about March. Chillies have been recom- 

 mended as a catch crop among young tea for Assam. 



267 



Kvi l.-n.-.- .,1 



Modem 



' >n.-i:j.-. 



Field Crop. 



Cultiva- 

 tion. 

 Bengal. 



C. Prov. 



Burma. 



