CARDAMOMS 337 



and after being steeped in water for a short time can be 

 sown in the nursery beds. 



Some persons recommend mixing them with ashes 

 before sowing, as they are so small, and this enables 

 them to be more evenly distributed over the seed beds. 



Nursery Beds. The beds for the seed require careful 

 preparation. The soil must be well tilled until it is loose 

 and friable, and should be well manured. The manure 

 should be old and well decayed, so that it can be readily 

 crumbled into a fine powder. Mollison recommends 

 leaf manure as the best, and it is indeed the most 

 natural manure for a plant whose habitat is the leaf-soil 

 of the forest, but cow-dung, if finely mixed with the soil, 

 is also a very suitable manure. The nursery beds are 

 about 8 ft. long by 4 ft. wide, and about 2 tolas of seed 

 are required for a bed of this size. The seed is 

 sprinkled loosely over the bed and a small quantity of 

 soil thrown over them. 



The beds then require protection from sun and rain. 

 Fronds of ferns stuck in the ground may be used to 

 shade them, and have been found to form an effective 

 shade in Ceylon, but it is better to shelter them by a 

 water-tight roof about 3 or 4 ft. high, composed of 

 thatch or Kadjangs or attaps, a roofing made locally of 

 the leaves of screw pines (Pandani) or palms. In 

 Kanara a platform is made over the beds and covered 

 with branches, or the branches are simply laid over the 

 nursery beds, and this is the only protection given if 

 the seed bed is otherwise well protected from rain and 

 wind. This, however, I would not recommend, as it 

 often occurs in cases where the branches are laid directly 

 on the bed that they form hiding-places for snails 

 and other vermin. It is better to raise them on the 

 platform. 



In Kanara, Mollison says that the branches of the 

 tree Phyllanthus emblica are considered the best for 

 laying over the beds. The cultivators allege that the 

 leaves and branches of this and certain other trees 

 prevent insect attack. The trees preferred are all rich in 



z 



