VIII 



PEPPERS 243 



Barber's description of the fertilisation, as observed 

 in India, is as follows : 



Each new leaf is followed by a spike in the pepper at the 

 flowering time, the spike arising at the same joint as the leaf, 

 but on the opposite side. In the course of a few weeks the 

 spike is seen to be elongated, and to be covered with the little, 

 white, starlike stigmas. These are very delicate, and in the 

 continued showers become covered with the wandering pollen 

 from more advanced spikes. A further lengthening will then 

 show the stigmas faded and the small pollen-sacs peeping out 

 on each side of the ovaries, ready to burst and scatter their 

 pollen to other later flowers. 



[^According to this view of the fertilisation of the 

 pepper flowers, a long hot spell after the monsoon's 

 commencement would cause the stigmas to dry up before 

 fertilisation could be effected, and many spikes would 

 drop off, for any unfertilised flower is quickly thrown 

 off by plants. The life of the male element is short. 

 On the other hand, a succession of short spells of rain 

 and sunshine would be beneficial, since sunshine is 

 necessary for the growth of the leaves and especially 

 for the maturing of the fruits. 



It is probable too, that very heavy rainfalls, 

 especially on plants not sufficiently densely grown, 

 would be injurious by washing away the pollen."] 



VARIETIES OF PEPPER 



The pepper cultivated in the Malay Peninsula is, so 

 far as I have seen, of one variety only. It is the variety 

 from which the above description of the pepper plant is 

 taken. It possesses deep green leaves with strongly 

 marked veins and straight edges. The leaves are not 

 as large as in the big forms of Southern India, and the 

 spikes are not very large, but the plants are always 

 hermaphrodite with plenty of stamens, so that they are 

 heavy fruiters, and in good strong plants the spikes 

 contain a fruit for every flower. The peppercorns 

 when dried are not as big as in some other varieties, 



