451 



including Chilis, are an absolute necessity for the health of rice-eating 

 peoples, who require large quantities of them, and it is a question 

 worthy of study by those who are interested in the health of the 

 population as to whether the failure of the vegetable supply does not 

 produce an insanitary condition which is of considerable importance 

 and possibly- even greater than the risk from using night-soil on such 

 vegelables, at least as brinjals, pumpkins, beans and Chilis. The 

 Chilis cultivated are chiefly the Capsicum frutescens, or Capsicum 

 annuum, the long cylindrical red fruit commonly known as capsicums 

 of the long Cayenne variety. 



There are a considerable number of varieties of this plant, many 

 of which are rather fancy kinds, which are cultivated more as curiosi- 

 ties, or from fancy, such as the black or yellow fruited varieties, but 

 for trade purposes the important one is the long Cayenne. 



The bird's eye Chili, Capsicum Minimum, is much used by 

 natives also, but sufficient is cultivated usually in their gardens or in 

 waste ground and it does not seem to form a vegetable garden crop as 

 the long capsicum does, though it would be easy enough to cultivate 

 it so. It is not popular among the Indian races, and is chiefly used 

 by Javanese and Malays. It is, as is well knowqi, much more pungent 

 than the long Cayenne and is commonly used as a pickle or for 

 making a very hot sauce. 



For market-purposes the long pepper is the one in demand, both 

 fresh and dry, and for making Cayenne pepper. 



The Capsicum is usually grown as an annual and replanted each 

 year, but it can be continuously cultivated for two or three years, the 

 stems and branches being cut back each year. They, however, are 

 useless after the second or at least the third year and require replant- 

 ing from seed. They cannot be grown continuously on the same soil, 

 as they deteriorate, and consequently require rotating with other 

 crops, such as brinjals, beans, or some other annual crop. This is the 

 way the Chinese usually grow them. 



In Singapore the soil in which they are cultivated is usually stiff 

 clay, well worked up. If procurable, manure, such as cow-dung, 

 should be worked into it, and burnt earth is added. 



The seeds taken from fresh-pods are soaked in salt fish water, 

 that is water in which salt fish has been soaked. In this liquid they 

 remain for a week. They are then taken out and dried well and 

 mixed with soft earth. The object of these proceedings is to separate 

 the seeds and free them of pulp, so as to be able to sow them at a 

 distance from each other in the seed bed, otherwise they would cling 

 together and be planted in a lump. 



They are sown in a nursery bed and after fifty days pricked ofl' 

 into the permanent plot. The beds in the plot are fifty feet in length 

 and three feet in width, and a foot apart, so that the planter can walk 

 between the plants and weed them. A five foot-way runs between 

 each block of beds. 



