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at quite low elevations in Java, and quite widely through India near 

 towns : but it will be admitted that the drier north and north-west 

 of that country is better for them than the south. However, I would 

 remind you that an onion industry has spread downwards into 

 the West Indies from the north, by the choice of races appropriate 

 to the climate. 



Garlic is more suited to the climate of the Malay Peninsula 

 than the onion : and considering how large are our importations, 

 experiment with it is desirable. 



Chillies can and should be grown extensively through the 

 Peninsula. They can be raised easily and fruit from the age of four 

 months forward. Rain may cause some injury to the fruits by 

 encouraging the growth of a fungus and perhaps also by encouraging 

 the attack of the little fruit fly. Chillie drying is never to my 

 knowledge resorted to in the Peninsula. 



Ginger cultivation is, I am glad to say, extending in Malacca, 

 where the climate is particularly suitable to it. The cultivators are 

 Chinese, who sell their produce green for distribution through the 

 country round. They grow it in ridges, in the accepted way : and 

 it is on the ground 8-9 months. What their yield is, I do not know, 

 but it should be 4,000 lbs. per acre. The Javanese grow ginger for 

 the supply of that island. 



Cardamoms can equally well be grown : not the greater 

 cardamom — Amomum suhulatum — but the lesser cardamom — 

 Elettaria cardamormim. It was grown in the Botanic Gardens, 

 Singapore, in 1875, with the idea of turning it into a crop and it is 

 known to have fruited. It is cultivated in two varieties in Java. 

 It requires rich soil and the proper place for it would be stream 

 banks at the foot of hills. Twenty years ago the planters of Ceylon 

 took up its cultivation for export and soon flooded the limited 

 market. It is not for export that I suggest it, but to cancel our 

 import. 



The Curcumas, C. longa. Turmeric, and C. Zeodaria, Zeodary, 

 ean be grown in the Peninsula without difficulty to the complete 

 meeting of the local demand. The first requires a little care, but 

 the second is absolutely at home. They require similar treatment 

 to ginger. 



The tamarind fruits most unsatisfactorily in the south of the 

 Peninsula ; and as to the north I have no data. But in Java it 

 fruits ; and a supply is available for export. As it is quite a good 

 roadside tree, it might be so planted with the chance of it being also 

 remunerative by fruiting. 



Vegetables. 

 Vegetables may be divided roughly into greens and roots, with 

 this important diiference that greens will not travel as a rule 

 and roots will. In consequence of the ability of roots to travel 



