218 SPICES 



CHAP. 



most likely to appear in overcrowded plantations, where 

 during the rainy season the air can never get dry, and 

 the too dense bushes remain permanently wet. It may 

 be taken as a sign that the plants are too close and 

 require thinning. 



The fungus is apt to spread through an estate, but 

 irregularly, and frequently disappears as soon as the 

 weather is dry. All twigs or shoots attacked by it 

 should be cut off below the fungus and burnt, and 

 should it appear to be abundant, spraying with copper 

 sulphate solution, or Bordeaux mixture, will destroy it. 



CUTTING 



The cutting and peeling season is supposed to 

 commence in May and November, but often later, 

 according to the rains. The flush follows the first rains 

 of the season, and continues a longer or shorter time, 

 according to the quantity that falls. As the flush or 

 young red leaf assumes the normal dark green, the sap 

 begins to circulate between the wood and the bark, and 

 while this circulation continues the sticks peel freely, 

 and these are the periods for cropping. It is best if 

 the crop can be got out at one cutting, but this does 

 not often happen. If the season is not a good one the 

 bushes may have to be cut over two or three times. After 

 every cutting one or more young shoots spring from 

 every stump, and as there are two cuttings a year there 

 is a succession of young wood of different ages in the 

 stocks. The bulk of the crop is the wood of two years' 

 growth, but if the whole two years' growth is not cut, 

 in consequence of a bad season or insufficient labour, the 

 sticks that promise to peel at next cutting are left, but 

 in pruning every stick older than two years is cut out, 

 whether it will peel or not. It takes about two hours 

 for 150 men to cut over a 10-acre block. 



The shoots selected are usually from 3 to 4 ft. long 

 and ^ to f in. thick. To see if they are fit for cutting 

 the peeler makes a small cut obliquely into the bark 



