CAPSICUMS 367 



bright and clean, always meets with a ready sale. I have tried 

 other varieties, but there is a very small demand and uncertain 

 market for any kind except bird's-eye. 



In the Malay peninsula the Chinese vegetable 

 gardeners usually cultivate capsicums for the market 

 with their other vegetables. The soil on which they 

 grow the plants is usually stiff clay well dug over. The 

 seeds are first planted in a tub of soil, and planted out 

 three weeks later when they are about 6 in. tall. The 

 beds are made as low ridges, 3 ft. across. In these the 

 little plants are put in a double row, each pair being 10 

 to 12 in. or more apart, sometimes as much as 2 ft 

 apart, and during their growth they are mulched with a 

 liquid manure, composed of one part of urine and three 

 parts of rice water (water in which rice has been 

 boiled). Burnt earth is also used, both before and 

 during the cultivation. The plants take three months 

 before they commence fruiting, and continue to bear for 

 seven months. The crop suffers much from rain, when 

 the fall is excessive or more than usual through the 

 year. 



The rain is said to spoil the flowers and fruits ; the 

 fungus which attacks the leaves and fruits being more 

 abundant and destructive in wet weather is probably the 

 cause of this theory. 



The large-sized Capsicum annuum is the chief one 

 cultivated by the Chinese, as it is best in demand. The 

 bird's-eye chili is more rarely cultivated on a large 

 scale, as there are plants in all village gardens and 

 compounds enough to supply the demand. 



The following directions for planting capsicums were 

 given me by a Chinese planter some years ago, as the 

 method in use in Singapore : Get some fresh chilies, 

 cut them open and take out the seeds. Put the seeds 

 in a bowl of salt-fish water (i.e. water in which salt fish 

 has been soaked), and allow them to soak for at least 

 six or seven days. The ground selected is low-lying and 

 always slightly damp. It must be turned over and 

 well broken up, and then sprinkled over with burnt 



