160 



[August, 1912. 



and bearing violet purple streaks radiate 

 from the centre. The fruits which ripen 

 successively, are also shown. They are 

 three celled, each cell containing several 

 aromatic seeds. They open by three 

 valves when ripe. The seeds are irregu- 

 larly angular and transversely wrinkled. 

 The fully grown plants frequently 

 attain a height of 15 ft. or more. 



Figure 2 (not reporduced— Ed.) shows 

 the more slender native wild cardamom 

 of Ceylon (Elettarir Cardamomum, var. 

 B major) in a fruiting condition. Com* 

 pare the size and number of fruits 

 with fig. 1. Cardamom plants growing 

 in the Peradeniya Gardens, Ceylon, are 

 shown in fig. 3. 



Cultivation. 

 In India the home of cardamoms is the 

 western slopes of the mountains of the 

 Malabar coast, where there is a mean 

 rainfall of 121 in. and a mean temper- 

 ature of 72° F. The plant, which revels 

 in moist localities, is commonly met 

 growing wild in the wet shady mountain- 

 forests of Canara, Cochin, and Travan- 

 core, being indigenous between the alti- 

 tude of 2,500 to 5,000 ft. The wild plant 

 bear9 but short inflorescences, which 

 become only sparsely fruited. In the 

 States of Cochin and Travancore freer 

 development is allowed by cutting and 

 burning the brushwood of the jungle, 

 while in the Coorg forests the natives 

 practise a more systematic kind of 

 cultivation as given below. The cultiv- 

 ation of the plant in the forests of the 

 Anamalais, the Pulneys, and theWynaad 

 facing the Malabar coast is also in the 

 hands of natives and of an indifferent 

 character. The cardamom plant is best 

 suited to rich loamy soil, which is 

 kept moist (but not wet) at all seasons, 

 and is protected from strong winds. 

 These conditions are met with in the 

 betel-nut plantations or pepper-gardens 

 of Mysore and of Canara, as also in the 

 cultivated cardmom valleys of Ceylon. 

 The plant will grow luxuriantly on stiff 

 clayey soil, but it produces but little or 

 no fruit under these conditions. At the 

 best the plant is capricious in regard 

 to fruiting. 



In Coorg the Forest Department leases 

 plots for fourteen to twenty-one years, 

 and here the simplest of the effective 

 modes of cultivation is followed. In 

 February or March the cultivators set out 

 for the shady evergreen forests and moun- 

 tain sides, and begin to make small clear- 

 ings of about a square chain in extent, 

 there being about four to an acre. A 

 space of some 20 to 30 yds. of jungle is left 

 between each garden. Half the party cut 

 down the small trees and brushwood — 

 the remainder felling the large trees. 

 Selection of a suitable [sitej is aided by 

 the presence of seedling growths ; of 

 cardamoms, but tradition and super- 

 stition also play 4 |a pait. For instance, 

 the presence of such plants as ebony, 

 nutmeg, or'pepper is held to be highly 

 favourable. Felling of trees for shak- 

 ing the ground must be done on certain 

 days of the week, and be completed 

 before noon. A party of ten men can, 

 on an average, make five gardens a day, 

 and generallyj^somej fifty or hundred 

 gardens are made annually until the 

 whole jungle is under cultivation. Too 

 many gardens lead to an injurious 

 decrease in the amount of available 

 moisture. Following the early rains !of 

 the monsoon, the dormant seeds germi- 

 nate, and young plants shoot up on all 

 sides of the clearing, especially near the 

 roots and stem of the fallen tree. The 

 native is not.sure how [the plant makes 

 its sudden appearance, but he ha9 

 general belief that the seed is spread by 

 monkeys, rats, and snakes. By the end 

 of a year the plants are 2 ft. high. ; 

 and weeding is then begun, a space of 

 6 feet being cleared around each plant, 

 and weaklings pulled up. Considerable 

 care is exercised in deciding which plants 

 are superfluous. Little weeding is needed 

 in subsequent years, as nothing will 

 grow in the shade of the plant. By Sep- 

 tember or October of the third year a 

 light crop is produced which is the 

 "Devakottu " (God s fruit) of the Coorgs, 

 a portion being ceremoniously offered to 

 the deity. Each rhizome will then have 

 about eight stems, but the full-grown 

 plant often has twenty aerial shoots. A 



partial harvest is obtained the fourth 



