338 SPICES 



CHA1'. 



tannic acid, and Mollison suggests that this may be 

 poisonous or deterrent to insects. 



Several writers have recommended an artificial 

 germination of the seed in a closed tin case, the lid of 

 which is kept close to exclude light and air as much as 

 possible. The seeds are placed on a piece of flannel or 

 cloth, and kept moist by a layer of saturated soil below. 

 The seeds, when they have germinated, should be shaken 

 off the cloth on to the surface of the nursery bed, and 

 covered with fine soil (Watt's Dictionary}. 



Seed if sown on a nursery bed take a month to 

 germinate according to Moller, but the Director of Land 

 Records for Bombay states that they take in Kanara 

 three months. Owen, in dealing with them in Ceylon, 

 says that the time depends on the temperature, that is 

 the elevation, entirely. In the low country the seed 

 will be above ground in three weeks, whereas at an 

 elevation of 4,000 ft. it takes as many months or even 

 longer. It is therefore, says he, advisable to make the 

 nursery at as low an elevation as possible if for Malabar 

 seed, indeed a successful nursery at high elevation is 

 very improbable, the plant being very slow of growth 

 and damping off in a very disheartening way. Mysore 

 cardamoms are on the contrary comparatively easily 

 grown from seed. The seeds are sown in Madura and 

 Kanara from July to October, apparently usually in 

 the latter month, which is the usual time for ripening. 



The seedlings are very delicate, and very liable to 

 damp off when young, and as, furthermore, a large 

 proportion of the seeds do not germinate, a considerable 

 excess of seeds is required for the nursery beds. 



Owen gives the following calculations : 1 Ib. of 

 fresh fruit will be found to contain on an average 776 

 capsules, each containing on an average 16 to 17 seeds. 

 Thus 1 Ib. of fresh fruit contains 12,804 seeds. 10 Ibs. 

 of fresh fruit produces 2^ Ibs. of seed, and 1 Ib. of seed 

 contains about 50,000 seeds, of which, however, only a 

 small proportion germinates. 



Shading. There seems to be a consensus of opinion 



