150 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[October 



land with these groves is the advice of sci eu- 

 tists aud experts as to the kind of trees suita- 

 ble for different soils, the rapidity of their 

 growth and the relative value of their wood. 

 This information should be collected and 

 scattered by a judicial commissioner of woods 

 aud forests in each State, just as tlie.ish com- 

 missioners now give information about fishes. 

 To plant or sow millions of trees is just as ne- 

 cessary as to hatch and distribute millions of 

 food fishes. 



The Dominion. 

 With respect to the Domhiion of Canada 

 there is great need for tree planting in the 

 fertile valley of the St. Lawrance for a con- 

 siderable distance around Montreal, and still 

 more need in the prairies of the northwest. In 

 the latter region of vast capabilities, to which 

 much attention is now turned, a system of 

 granting land on condition of planting trees 

 might be most advantageously infroduced 

 now, as every year will render such an ar- 

 rangement more difficult. The other provin- 

 ces of the Dominion are still well supplied 

 with timber, and the system of selling "tim- 

 ber limits " to lumbermen is conservative of 

 the forests, but there is need for great pre- 

 caution against forest fires or wasteful usse of 

 valuable timber. A capable commissioner of 

 woods and forests for the Dominion would 

 therefore prove a valuable functionary, if he 

 were not only an expert, but an enthusiast in 

 forestry, as otherwise his appointment would 

 merely add another salary to the expenses of 

 Government. 



CULTIVATION OF PEPPERS. 



Black and white pepper grow on the same 

 vine; and green pepper-berries, just before 

 maturity, after gathering, turn black and 

 make "black pepper," while " white pepper " 

 is obtained by gathering the berries — fire-red 

 in color — when fully ripe, and, through long 

 soaking in water aud subsequent stirring and 

 shaking, relieve the berries of the outer skin ; 

 whe«eafter the latter, on being dry, become 

 "white." 



In what country the pepper-vine originated 

 I am unable to say ; but Eastern history 

 shows that the northern half of Sumatra, the 

 once mighty old sultanate of Acheen (pro- 

 nounced Atjeh, V)y the Malays), when the 

 Portuguese, Dutch, and British (in rotation) 

 came to that country, •was far-famed for that 

 spice, which drew, at Acheen Busar in North 

 Sumatra (near the entrance of the Straits of 

 Malacca), the native traders from many East- 

 ern countries and islands, who there ex- 

 changed the products ot their countries or 

 purchased for cash. And during the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth and her successor. King 

 James, a British naval squadrou visited 

 Acheen and met with a hearty reception from 

 the Sultan ; succeeded in making a treaty of 

 peace and commerce with him, and, as a re- 

 sult, in establishing factories for and of the 

 Ijriti.sh East India Company. 



After the British East India Company, dur- 

 ing the last century, acquired the island of 

 Penang from the Kajah of Quedah, a Siamese 

 sozerain (mucli interesting history is aitaclied 

 to tills acquisition,) so favorably situated for 

 commercial purjioses, and made it a very im- 

 portant factory and place of residence for a 



subgovernor (the famous Sir Stanford Raffles 

 resided there for a long time) the great 

 Acheen trade gradually drifted to Pulo- 

 Pcnang (Prince of "Wales Island,) and with it 

 the pepper trade, principally. At that time 

 Singapore had not been acquired by the Brit- 

 ish, and not before 1S19, when the island was 

 covered with a dense trackless jungle. 



After the acquisition of Penang the na- 

 tives on the peninsula of Malacca, especially 

 in the Province of Frang, a Siamese sozerain 

 province, commenced to plant pepper, aud 

 with excellent success; aud now it is exten- 

 sively planted by Malays and Chinese 

 In many places on the peninsula of Malac- 

 ca, also in siam. Cochin China, and in Sara- 

 wak, Borneo. That grown in the southern 

 part of the peninsula and on the island of 

 Singapore, known in the market as "Singa- 

 pore pepper," is by far the best, commanding 

 a higher price than Acheen pepper. 



Penang maintained the Acheen pepper 

 trade until the Dutch commenced their war 

 of conquest in Acheen in 1873, blockading the 

 coast and preventing the exports of all Ache- 

 nese products. At that time, owing to the 

 spread of wild rumors about the destruction 

 of the pepper gardens in Acheen, etc., pepper 

 reached the figure of $14 for a short time. It 

 was feared the supplies from Acheen being 

 cut off', that the spice would become scarce, 

 and as a consequeuce many Chinese planters 

 increased its cultivation ; in fact, to such ex- 

 tent that the Acheen war was no longer look- 

 ed upon as the cause of influence in prices. 

 Later some of the chiefs of certain Acheenese 

 provinces, having submitted to Dutch rule, 

 were allowed to send pepper to Penang on 

 vessels having a permit from the Dutch consul 

 in Penang to supply them with rice and other 

 needed goods. Tlien it happened that some 

 of the rajahs who had submitted to the Dutch, 

 after having been pretty well supplied with 

 the necessaries of life, turned truant again, 

 aud, as a consequence, their coasts were again 

 blockaded, or it was discovered that some of 

 them had received contraband of war, and 

 were, therefore, put under close restrictions. 

 At any rate, the "old Acheen trade at Penang 

 has become seriously crippled since that war 

 commenced, but contractors in Penang profit- 

 ed heavily by sujiplying the Dutch array in 

 Acheen, owing to the proximity, with beef 

 and many other necessaries of life. 



The Dutch are now making efforts to make 

 "Ole-Seh," the old port of Acheen Busar, in 

 fact well protected by a fort and man-of-war, 

 a trading port, and to export "Acheen pepper 

 from Aclieen" themselves; at least . so the 

 .lava and Singapore papers inform, and I pre- 

 sume they will. As I shall in a future report 

 write about Sumatra and her provinces again, 

 I will not now enter upon any further details 

 about "Atjeh." 



As to the pepper vine, it presents a very 

 hanusome appearance; a pepper garden at a 

 distance looks like a "hop-yard. Some plant- 

 ers, however, trellis the vine, and I think 

 myself that it is the best plan. It grows every- 

 where round about here very easily and luxu- 

 riantly on fair upland soil, and, like tlie grape- 

 vine, needs occasional pruning, weeding and 

 fertilizing. Willi a little care and attention 

 it yields abundantly and proves a good source 

 of income. The quantity of pepper exported 



annually from the Malay peninsula and ports 

 in Dutch India is simply imuiense, and is al- 

 most exclusively planted, gathered and 

 brought to market by natives, Malays aud 

 Chinamen chiefly. 



HOW TO BOTTLE WINE. 



Every wine-owner, wishing to bottle his 

 wine, should analyze it to ascertain what 

 proportion of alcohol, sugar and neutral con- 

 stituents it contains, for the production of 

 effervescence, which is a very important ope- 

 ration ; and the breakage wliich might arise 

 from an excess of saccharine matter would 

 lead to very serious losses. 



To help the formation of effervescence, if 

 the wine has not euough sugar in it, more is 

 given to it by means of a preparation called 

 "liqueur," or sirup, which is nothing but 

 pure wine containing candied sugar in solu- 

 tion, and is composed of 100 kilos of candied 

 sugar to 100 liters of wine. The analysis of 

 the wine having been made beforehand, it is 

 ea.sy to calculate the amount of sirup to be 

 inserted. An almost exact measure can be 

 taken with the help of a vinometer. 



At this time much care must be taken in 

 the choice of bottles, to the regularity of 

 shape, to their color, and especially to their 

 superior strength. It is worse than useless to 

 use poor bottles. The bottles are thoroughly 

 rinsed, perfectly dried, and before being filled 

 are carefully inspected, both inside and out- 

 side. 



When the wine and bottles are ready the 

 workmen proceed to drawing or bottling, an 

 operation which is effected by means of taps 

 with six, eight, or ten spouts. 



The bottles when filled pass into the hands 

 of the corker. The methods of corking most 

 in use are done with a mallet. 



When the bottle is corked the cork must be 

 secured. This third operation is the "wiring," 

 to effect which short dieces of wire are looped 

 in the middle and fitted under the ring at the 

 top of the neck of the bottle, and for which 

 a wiring machine is used. 



The bottles are then stored in the wine- 

 vaults, or left in the cellars, as the case may 

 be, where they are stacked with rods and 

 laths. In hot years fermenation sets in 

 sooner ; the sugar is decomposed by the acids 

 in the wine ; carbonic acid is set free : alcohol 

 is produced, and a deposit ; effervescence 

 takes place, and the weaker bottles break. 

 They are then removed as soon as possible to 

 the vaults, after being marked on the upper 

 sides, so that they may be placed in the same 

 position as before, the marking being made 

 with white chalk. These are piled in the 

 vaults in stacks, as in tlie cellars. 



Often when this effervescence occurs the 

 deposit mentioned is of more or less tenacious 

 character. As a rule it presents dark traces, 

 and on the side a thin, white substance, which 

 ajipears to adhere to the bottle, and which 

 sometimes cannot be removed by shaking the 

 bottle. 



In the month of July, when the bottling is 

 over, the workmen find employment in hoop- 

 ing, removing the defective hoops, replacing 

 tfaem by new ones, &c. These are the opera- 

 tions included in the word "hooping," and 

 they, with the vintage, lead us to the time of 

 early frost. 



