360 VKGKTAUL2 SUBSTANCES. 



pepper of commerce. The leaves somewhat resemble 

 those of the ivy, but they are larger, and of rather 

 a lighter colour; they partake strongly of the peculiar 

 smell and pungent taste of the berry. 



The plant is propagated by shoots, which do not 

 produce fruit the first three years; the fourth year 

 they come into bearing, and yield an increase of pro- 

 duce annually until the eighth year of their growth; 

 they then gradually decline, and rarely bear for more 

 than two or three years longer. When in full vigour, 

 the pepper-plant is very prolific; each bunch usually 

 contains from twenty to thirty berries, and some- 

 times as much as six or seven pounds of pepper are 

 obtained from one tree. The time of the pepper har- 

 vest on the western coast of Sumatra is usually about 

 September and October, and sometimes another 

 smaller crop is gathered in March and April. The 

 pepper plantations on this island are described as 

 being most carefully cultivated; not a weed is to be 

 seen, every species of litter is removed, and if the 

 season be dry, the plants are watered with unre- 

 mitting assiduity. 



The black and white sorts of pepper are both the 

 produce of the same plant; the best white peppers 

 are supposed to be the finest berries which drop 

 from the tree, and lying under it become somewhat 

 blanched by exposure to weather these the poor 

 people pick up and bring to the merchants; they are, 

 however, obtained in very small quantities, and are 

 on that account, as well as for their superior quality, 

 sold much dearer than the gathered pepper. The 

 greater part of the white pepper used as a condi- 

 ment, is, however, the black merely steeped in water 

 and decorticated, by which means the pungency and 

 real value of the pepper are diminished; but in this 

 state it can be more readily reduced to powder, and, 



