Miscellaneous Products. 



246 



[September, 1908. 



For the following information relating 

 to the methods employed by Chinese 

 agriculturists in Upper Sarawak, I am 

 indebted to Mr. Gerald Dal ton of Busan, 

 who for several years has resided in the 

 midst of the pepper growing area. 



Position. — The best position for a 

 garden is a plain gently sloping towards 

 the east and sheltered on either side. 



Preparation of the Ground. — It usu- 

 ally happens that the land he has chosen 

 is covered with jungle, and this has to be 

 felled and burned. The destruction of 

 the jungle trees is complete, even the 

 stumps and roots being unearthed after 

 the general conflagration is over ; these 

 stumps are collected into heaps and used 

 in making the burnt earth hereafter 

 described. The ground is lined out and 

 sticks are placed afc proper intervals. 6 ft. 

 by 6 ft. apart to mark the position of 

 the future vines, drains being allowed for 

 where necessary. The giound is now 

 left for a month or two to dry, mean- 

 while being kept free from weeds; 

 during this time good drains are made 

 all round. After this the ground in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the sticks 

 is well hoed to the depth of a foot, and is 

 then piled up to form small mounds 

 around the sticks to a height of about 

 18 ins. ; to these mounds is carried the 

 burnt earth obtained from the burning 

 of the stumps. The garden is now ready 

 for planting. 



Planting — The pepper vine is invari- 

 ably propagated by cuttings obtained 

 from the terminal shoots of young vines 

 which are only about 5 or 6 feet 

 high and from 1£ to 2\ years old. The 

 cuttings are from 1§ to 2 ft. long and are 

 planted straight out, nurseries being un- 

 necessary. Usually they are arranged 

 in the soil at an angle of about 45° and 

 are pointed to the East ; some five or six 

 internodes should be covered by soil, the 

 lowest one being about six inches deep; 

 the top of the cuttings leans against the 

 stick. Above, protection from the sun's 

 rays is afforded by a covering of fern 

 leaves or grass, one to each cutting, and 

 this protection is continued for several 

 months, until in fact the young plant 

 has attained a fair hold. Planting is 

 usually performed in January daring the 

 wet monsoon. 



Treatment o/ Vines. —Within a week or 

 so of being planted, each vine receives a 

 first application of burnt earth, a few 

 handfuls, and afterwards this is applied 

 regularly every four months. 



Whenever it becomes necessary, the 

 young shoots are tied to the stick with 

 soft bark or twine. After six months or 

 more these temporary supports are re- 



placed by the permanent posts, which 

 are of the hardest wood obtainable and 

 of the dimensions 12 feet long by 4 in. 

 or more square. This post is fixed verti- 

 cally two feet deep in the centre of each 

 mound, and the vine is transferred to 

 the post. 



Three main shoots only are allowed to 

 climb up the post, and these are tied to 

 their support at every internode. For- 

 merly it was customary to pull down 

 the main shoot and to coil it spirally 

 round the post so as to obtain a more 

 bushy vine ; nowadays this is no longer 

 practised. 



About this time the flower spikes may 

 appear, in which case they should be 

 at once picked off. It is the custom 

 of the pepper gardeners to prevent 

 sporadic fruiting, which is liable to 

 occur almost any time in the life of the 

 vine, and thus to concentrate on the 

 proper annual crop. When the vines are 

 about a year old, all those from which 

 cuttings are to be taken are pruned so 

 as to leave one main shoot only. This 

 is allowed to grow for six months or 

 more and is then cut off ; this is the cut- 

 ting which is ordinarily employed in 

 planting. After this, around the roots 

 of each vine a quantity (half a catty) of 

 prawn refuse is spread ; the valuable 

 manure is applied in preparation for 

 the first fruiting. In the ordinary 

 course of events fruiting occurs during 

 the succeeding year, and now the gar- 

 deners are particularly busy with weed- 

 ing, draining, the regular application of 

 burnt earth, and with spraying oper- 

 ations. Judicious pruning is also neces- 

 sary for producing bushy vines; by the 

 time it has reached the top of its post 

 a vine has been pruned at least three 

 times. When the vine is from 2| to 2| 

 years old the first crop is over, the 

 yield being estimated at from 1 to 1£ 

 catties of white pepper per vine (four 

 to six catties of green pepper). By the 

 end of another year, the vine being 3£ 

 years old, the plant has reached the top 

 its 10 ft. post and is , considered to be 

 full grown ; the crop of that year is 

 estimated at three catties per vine. In 

 each year the fruiting period extends 

 over some months, the main crop being 

 produced between August and Decem- 

 ber. Each season, Avhen fruiting is 

 nearly over, a catty of prawn refuse is 

 supplied to the roots of each vine ; this 

 is the manure for the next season crop. 

 The average life of a vine is from 10 to 

 12 years, but this depends very much 

 on the care bestowed on its cultivations. 



Crop.— In a well-conducted garden 

 the fruiting vines are covered with 

 fruit spikes, and each spike is thick with 



