483 



HISlXiRY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



account of the plantation at Bencoolen in 1820 : 

 " Out of the number of one hundred thousand 

 nutmeg trees," he writes, " one-fourth are in full 

 bearing, and although their culture may be more 

 expensive, their luxuriance and produce are con- 

 sidered fully equal to those of the Moluccas." 

 An attempt has been made at Trinidad to natu- 

 ralize there the clove and the nutmeg; and very 

 recently samples of these spices produced in that 

 island have been transmitted to England for the 

 inspection and approval of the Society for the 

 Encouragement of Arts, &c. The opinions of 

 the best judges have been taken with respect 

 to their quality as compared with the Oriental 

 produce, and, in consequence of a most favour- 

 able report, the gold medal of the society has 

 been awarded to the western cultivator of these 

 spices ; while sanguine hopes are entertained 

 that the clove and the nutmeg will one day be 

 perfectly acclimatized in the tropical regions of 

 the western hemisphere. The nutmeg tree, as 

 well as the clove, was introduced into this coun- 

 try by Sir Joseph Banks, as an ornamental hot- 

 house plant. 



Black Pepper (piper nigrum). Natural 

 family,/)!per acetsy diandria, trigpiea, of Linnaeus. 



Black Pepper. 



There are a number of species in the family 

 piperacea, all possessing more or less of the warm 

 aromatic qualities for which the common kinds 

 are distinguished. The black pepper is a peren- 

 nial plant, found native upon the slopes of moun- 

 tains in the southern parts of both the Indian 

 peninsulas, especially on the coast of Malabar. 

 It is likewise cultivated to a great extent in 

 Sumatra, Java, and the adjacent places. Pepper 

 at one time formed the jirincipal export from 

 Java ; it was chiefly cultivated in Bantam, and 

 likewise in the dependencies of that province in 

 the southern part of Sumatra ; these districts 

 producing the greater part of the supply exclu- 

 sively furnished by the Dutch to the European 

 market. It is, however, a satisfaction to find, 

 that the greedy spirit which would appropriate 

 all to self, may sometimes, in its unjust efforts 

 to secure this end, defeat its own purpose. We 

 learn from Sir T. S. Raffles, that " the system by 



which pepper was procured, was too oppres- 

 sive and unprincipled in its nature, and too impo- 

 litic in its provisions, to admit of long duration. 

 It was calculated to destroy the energies of the 

 country, and with therti the source whence the 

 fruits of the monopoly proceeded. In the year 

 1811, accordingly, neither Bantam nor its depen- 

 dencies furnished the European government with 

 a single pound of this article." 



The system of raising pepper in Java is now, 

 however, completely changed ; there is no longer 

 a monopoly, and the cultivation of pepper has 

 for the last few years been declared free. 



This plant was introduced some time back at 

 Cayenne, by General Bernard, who has with 

 unceasing perseverance attended to its cultiva- 

 tion in that settlement, in the hope of making 

 the French independent of foreign supplj' for its 

 produce. It is said that he has already formed 

 a plantation of more than thirty thousand pepper 

 trees on his estate. 



The pepper-plant, or pepper-vine, as it is 

 sometimes called, is a creeping or climbing plant, 

 with a dark coloured stem, which requires sup- 

 port ; and it is usual to plant a thorny tree by 

 the side of this plant, to which it may cling. In 

 Malabar, the chief pepper country of India, the 

 jacca tree (artocarpus integrifolia) is made thus 

 to yield its support, because the same soil is 

 well adapted to the growth of both plants. 



The stem of the pepper plant entwines round 

 its support to a considerable height ; the flexile 

 branches then droop downwards, bearing at their 

 extremities, as well as at other parts, spikes of 

 green flowers, which are followed by the pungent 

 berries ; these hang in large bunches resembling 

 in shape those of grapes, but the fi'uit grows dis- 

 tinct on little stalks like currants. Each berry 

 contains a single seed, which is of a globular 

 form and brownish colour, but changes to nearly 

 a black when dried ; this is the pepper of com- 

 merce. The leaves somewhat resemble those of 

 the ivy, but they are larger, and of rather a 

 lighter colour ; they partake strongly of the 

 peculiar smell and pungent taste of the berry. 



The plant is propagated by shoots, which do 

 not produce fruit the first three years ; the fourth 

 year they come into bearing, and yield an in- 

 crease of produce annually until the eight year 

 of their growth ; they then gradually decline, 

 and rarely bear for more than two or three years 

 longer. When in full vigour, the pepper plant 

 is very prolific ; each bunch usually contains 

 from twenty to thirty berries, and sometimes as 

 much as six or seven pounds of pepper are ob- 

 tained from one tree. The time of the pepper 

 harvest on the western coast of Sumatra is usu- 

 ally about September and October, and some- 

 times another smaller crop is gathered in March 

 and April. The pepper plantations on this 

 island are described as being most carefully cul- 



