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acre is used according to their size. After manuring and culti- 

 vation the seed is broad-casted. A hand-weeding, accom- 

 panied by thinning follows, after the plants are about 6 inches 

 high. No further notice is taken of the plants until harvest 

 time, when the plants are cut, and when thoroughly dry, the 

 seed is separated out by beating and winnowing. 51015 

 maunds of seed are obtained per acre, the latter figure apply- 

 ing to coriander and anise which are heavier yielders than 

 juan (Carum copticum) and rdndhuni. Sulpa (Fumaria 

 parviflora) is a semi-wild spice which is eaten also as a pot- 

 herb. Like the other garden herbs mentioned, this also is 

 occasionally sown, but it is oftener found coming up sponta- 

 neously along with the other spices, the seeds of which usual- 

 ly contain a mixture of sulpa seed. 



Eldchi. There are two kinds of eldchis or cardamoms in 

 common use as spice, the Bara-eldchi or the greater cardam- 

 om (Amomum Subulatum) which is grown in the lower valleys 

 of Bhotan and Sikkim, and the Chhota-eldchi^ or the lesser 

 cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), which is grown in moist 

 soils in Western and Southern India. The plants are not 

 unlike ginger plants, and they are perennial. The rhizorr.es 

 go on growing from year to year, and new plants come up 

 from them, the older the rhizome is, the larger the number 

 of flowering and fruiting stems sent out. The fruit of the 

 lesser cardamom is bleached with soap nut (rithd) water and 

 then starched. 



679. Propagation may take place either by means of bits 

 of rhizomes, or from seed. Highly manured seed-bed and 

 fields are needed. Protection from sun is needed by the 

 plants, and from sun and rain by the seed and seedlings. 

 The soil of the cardamom field should be moist all the year 

 round but not water-logged. In the valleys of Sikkim and 

 Bhotan beds or fields are made alongside mountain streams, 

 whence water is taken along narrow channels alongside of 

 which the cardamom plants are grown on ridges. This 



