SPICES OF THE TROPICS 275 



continue productive for very many years. Trees over seventy 

 years old in Peradeniya Gardens bear heavy crops annually, 

 and appear to be still in their prime. Propagation is usually from 

 seed, which take about three months to germinate. Sow in 

 pots or boxes under cover, or in a well- prepared bed in a shady 

 corner ; cover with an inch of fine soil, and water daily in dry 

 weather. When the seedlings are old enough to handle, transfer 

 them to baskets or bamboo-pots, and plant out in permanent places 

 when 8 or 10 inches high, at distances of about 26 feet apart. 

 Owing to the uncertainty of the proportion of male to female 

 plants when raised from seed, propagation by budding or inarch- 

 ing has been advocated, but its success on commercial lines seems 

 as yet doubtful. The export of nutmegs from Ceylon during 1912 

 was 131 cwt. valued at Rs. 3,697, say 300. 



Calabash Nutmeg, also called " Jamaica Nutmeg." (Monodora 

 Myrislica. Anonacea^). A small tree of Western tropical Africa, 

 with large oval leaves and sweet-scented flowers, introduced to 

 Peradeniya, Ceylon, in 1897. The large globular fruits contain a 

 number of aromatic seeds, whose odour and flavour are considered 

 to resemble those of the nutmeg proper. The tree is suited to the 

 moist low-country, and thrives in moderately good soil. It has not 

 as yet fruited at Peradeniya. 



There are other so called nutmegs, which are of little or no 

 importance as spices, such as the " Brazil Nutmeg" (Cryptocarya 

 moschata, Lauraceae) ; "Clove Nutmeg" (See "Madagascar Clove,") 

 the Papua Nutmeg (Myristica argentea}, and the "Wild Nutmeg" 

 of India and Ceylon (Myristica lauri folia). 



Pepper ; " G a m m i r i s " S ; " Molavu" T. ( Piper iiigruni. 

 Piperaceae). A creeping perennial vine, indigenous to the moist 

 low-country forests of Ceylon and South India. Both " black" and 

 "white" peppers are obtained from the same plant. The berries 

 <pepper-corns) when of a reddish colour are picked and spread in 

 the sun, when they become black and shrivelled. These, when 

 ground with the outer covering left on, form "black pepper;" 

 deprived of the black covering (first by soaking in water for 7 or 

 -8 days, then rubbed or macerated with the feet or otherwise), "white 

 pepper" is obtained. A decorticating machine has been invented 

 by which the dried black corns can be converted into white 

 pepper. The pepper vine requires a moist heat with shade, and 

 thrives up to 1,500 feet above sea level. Artificial or natural 

 supports, in the form of posts or trees, are necessary, the latter 



