CARDAMOMS 333 



bering the young shoots and interfering with their 

 growth. 



Mr. D. T. Evers writes an interesting article on the 

 subject of cardamom cultivation in the number of the 

 Indian Forester for 1908, which is quoted in the Agri- 

 cultural Journal of India, vol. iv., 1909, p. 103. The 

 plant is said to grow well in moist places in the Forest 

 Ghauts of the Mansarabad and Belar Taluka of the Hessan 

 district, but does not thrive on the Southern and Western 

 exposures. It comes up spontaneously in the ghaut 

 forests when light is admitted by the felling of some 

 large trees. It is a general belief that the seed which 

 induces such growth is disseminated by monkeys and 

 rats. The cultivation by some planters is considerable ; 

 nearly all coffee estates have fair-sized areas under this 

 crop on partially cleared forest land. 



There are two methods of cultivation : (a) the Brook- 

 Mockett and Middleton system, recommended by these 

 two planters, and (b) the Coorg system. In the former 

 the forest is thinned out to admit sufficient light, and 

 nursery-raised seedlings used to plant out the cleared area. 

 The crop begins to yield in the third or fourth years and 

 is in full bearing in the fifth or sixth. Irrigation if avail- 

 able is useful at some seasons and weeding is required. 



The Coorg system has been already mentioned, but 

 I repeat Mr. Evers' remarks, as there are some slight 

 differences and additional ideas : " Small detached areas 

 in which the plant has come up naturally are carefully 

 selected. In February to March small trees 2 or 3 ft. 

 in girth and brushwood are cleared away. The leafy 

 canopy should not be too dense, and it may be necessary 

 to fell one or two large trees across each plot. The 

 seedlings make their appearance at the first burst of the 

 monsoon, and by its close are 3 or 4 in. high. At the 

 beginning of the following monsoon they are thinned out 

 where overcrowded and vacant spaces are stocked. 

 The plant yields in the fourth and fifth year according to 

 the richness of the soil. They continue to produce good 

 crops till the fourteenth year, when they begin to decline 



