286 SPICES 



CHAP. 



palms, allowing the plant to climb up 20 ft., naturally 

 gives a larger return than the ordinary Chinese method 

 of growing it on 10 or 12 ft. stakes. 



In the Straits Settlements, under Chinese cultivation, 

 it used to be reckoned that in very good soil a vine would 

 yield ^ Ib. of dry pepper in the end of the first year, -J- Ib. 

 in the second year, 1 Ib. in the third, 3 to 3 Ibs. in the 

 fourth, and from 8 to 10 Ibs. in the fifth, after which it 

 should give about 10 Ibs. till the fifteenth or twentieth 

 year. In Sumatra, a single vine is considered to give 

 1^ Ib. each year. In Borneo, under Chinese cultivation, 

 the first crop at two and a quarter or two and a half 

 years of age gives from 1 to 1^ catty (1 J to about 2 Ibs.) 

 of white pepper, or from 5^ to 8 Ibs. of green pepper. 

 At three and a half years of age, when it is supposed to 

 be full grown, it would give 3 catties, or about 4 Ibs. of 

 dry pepper. T. S. Dobree, in the Ceylon Observer, says 

 that he saw 30 Ibs. of green pepper (which is equivalent 

 to about 6 Ibs. of dry pepper) taken from a vine said to 

 be thirty years old, in Singapore. Taking the number 

 of vines to the acre as 889, this gives 26*670 Ibs. of green 

 pepper for the autumn crop of an acre, and the Chinese 

 owner said the spring crop was as large ; that is to 

 say, the plantation gave 53*340 Ibs. of green pepper or 

 10*668 Ibs. dry pepper per year. This is probably very 

 exceptional, and such a return could not be expected. 

 In Bombay, where the vines are grown on betel-nut 

 palms to a height of 15 or 20 ft., with two or three 

 vines on each palm, it is reckoned that the vines on a 

 single palm should give 1,000 spikes of fruit, equivalent 

 to 7 seers (49 Ibs.) of dry pepper. In Assam, the usual 

 return is 7 Ibs. of dry pepper from each vine, in a year, 

 and the largest amount that can be got from a single 

 vine is 21 Ibs. 



In Madras, according to J. Murray (Dictionary of 

 Economic Plants of India), three forms of vines are 

 recognised which are distinguished according to their 

 yield. Of these the form known as " Kari Malisaric " 

 gives the highest return, namely 3 Ibs. of pepper a year, 



