July 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



PEPPER. 553 



Travancore. Its cultivation is very simple, and is effected by cuttings 

 or suckers put down before the commencement of the rains in June. 

 The soil should be rich, but if too much moisture be allowed to accu- 

 mulate near the roots, the young plants are apt to rot. In three years 

 the vine begins to bear. They are planted chiefly in hilly districts, but 

 thrive well enough in the low country, in the moist climate of Malabar. 

 They are usually planted at the base of trees which have rough or 

 prickly bark, such as the jack, the erythrina, cashew-nut, mango tree, and 

 others of similar description. They will climb about twenty or thirty 

 feet, but are purposely kept lower than that. During their growth it is 

 requisite to remove all suckers, and the vine should be pruned, thinned, 

 and kept clear of weeds. 



The berries must be plucked before they are quite ripe, and if too 

 early they will spoil. The pepper vine is very common in the hilly dis- 

 tricts of Travancore, especially in the Cottayan, Meenachel, and Chen- 

 garacherry districts, where, at an average calculation, about 5,000 candies 

 (of 500 lbs. each) are produced annually. It is one of the Sircar mono- 

 polies. It may not be irrelevant to mention here the P. trioicum, Roxb., 

 which both Ur. Wight and Megnel consider to be the original type of 

 the P. nigrun, and from which it is scarcely distinct as a species. The 

 question will be set at rest by future botanists. The species in question, 

 was first discovered by Dr. Roxburgh growing wild in the hills north of 

 Samulcottah, where it is called in Teloo-goo the " Merial-tiga." 



It was growing plentifully about every valley among the hills, 

 delighting in a moist, rich soil, and well shaded by trees ; the flowers 

 appearing in September and October, and the berries ripening in March, 

 Dr. R. commenced a large plantation, and in 1789 it contained about 

 40,000 or 50,000 pepper vines, occupying about fifty acres of land. The 

 produce was great, about 1,000 vines yielding from 500 to 1,000 lbs. of 

 berries. He discovered that the pepper of the female vines did not 

 ripen properly, but dropped while green, and when dried had not the 

 pui gency of the common pepper, whereas the pepper of those plants 

 which had the hermaphrodite and female flowers mixed in the same 

 amount was exceedingly pungent, and was reckoned by the merchants 

 equal to the best Malabar pepper. 



-Several varieties both of black and white pepper are known in com- 

 merce. Of the black the most valuable conies from Malabar, and is 

 known as Malabar pepper. It is very clean, and free from dust and 

 stalks. Penang and Sumatra pepper are also varieties of black, known 

 in the markets, the former has, perhaps, a larger berry than the Malabar, 

 but, unlike that, is very dusty. Sumatra pepper is the commonest, and 

 consequently the cheapest ; it is very dusty, and has a large proportion 

 of stalks mixed with it. Of the white kinds, Tellicherry pepper is the 

 most valuable, fetching a much higher price than any other of the 

 white varieties : the berries are also larger, and of a purer white. The 

 common white pepper of our shops is imported chiefly from Penang, and 



