July, 1909.] 



29 



Edible Products. 



quick sale at H to 2 centavos apiece, 

 giving a net return of P14 to P19 lor the 

 tree instead of P10. 



The orchard value of these fruits, " as 

 they run " in seasons of great abundance, 

 is seldom under P5 per 1,000, and more 

 generally is P8 to P10, rising to double 

 these figures in time of scarcity. The 

 grower need scarcely consider the ques- 

 tion of a surplus and consequent glut. 

 The Chinese are exceedingly fond of these 

 oranges and there is a ready export 

 market to Hongkong for many million 

 fruits, whenever the price falls low 

 enough to permit of shipment and 

 still leave a handsome margin for the 

 producer. 



CARDAMOM CULTIVATION IN 

 SOUTH MYSORE, 



By D. J. Evers, 

 Forest Ranger, Manzaiabad Range. 



(Prom the Indian Forester, Vol. 

 XXXIV, No. 11, November, 1908.) 



In the Manzarabad and Belur taluks 

 of the Hassan districts, Mysore State, 

 and more especially in the Ghat forests 

 of these taluks, the cardamom plant is 

 cultivated extensively. Messrs. Middle- 

 ton and Brooke-Mockett, said to be the 

 two largest cardamom planters in Si uth 

 India, have several hundreds of acres 

 under cultivation, while there is scarcely 

 a coffee estate which cannot boast of 

 its"hanal" or "kool," however modest 

 in extent. The word "hanal" and 

 "kool "mean a valley or watercourse. 

 The cardamom plant and the leech 

 revel in moist localities (of which there 

 are enough in the Ghat forests), but the 

 plant, it is said, will not thrive on 

 southern and western aspects. In the 

 Ghat forests the plant comes up spon- 

 taneously, wherever a little light has 

 been admitted by the felling of a few 

 large trees, and superstition attaches 

 much virtue to the Balagi (Poeciloneuron 

 indicum), the Dupa ( Valeria indica), the 

 Halmaddi {CanaHum strictum), and the 

 Naga Sampige {Messua ferrea). The ryot 

 does not seem to be quite sure as to how 

 the plant suddenly makes its appearance, 

 but the general belief is that the seed is 

 disseminated by monkeys, rats and 

 snakes ! This belief about the snake 

 seems to be.on a par with that other, 

 about the peevit sleeping on his back 

 with his legs raised high to prevent the 

 sky falling on him ! 



There are two methods of cardamom 

 cultivation— the Brooke-Mockett and 

 Middleton method, and the Coorg 

 system. In the former (I quote from the 

 Inspection Note of the Conservator of 

 Forests in Mysore) the modus operandi 



"is to thin out the forests by removing 

 small poles to such an extent as to let in 

 the required amount of light, and 

 to plant the area thus cleared with 

 nursery-raised seedlings." This done, 

 if facilities exist for the purpose, the 

 area is irrigated, otherwise the area is 

 simply weeded. In the Coorg system 

 " a careful selection is made of suitable 

 areas, such localities being indicated by 

 the presence of plants which have come 

 up spontaneously. In February and 

 March clearings of one square chain, 

 more or less, are made in the selected 

 locality, taking care to fell only small 

 poles from 2 to 3 feet in girth and brush 

 wood. One or two large trees standing 

 by the sides of the cleared plots are 

 then felled right across it, the object of 

 which is two-fold— first, to let in more 

 light ; and secondly, to loosen the soil 

 and thus cause the dormant seeds to 

 germinate. The plots are made at 

 intervals of 2 to 10 chains so as to not 

 open out the leaf canopy too much in 

 one place. The seedlings make their 

 appearance at the first burst of the 

 monsoon, and by the close of the mon- 

 soon attain a height of 3 or 4 inches. At 

 the beginning of the following monsoon 

 they are thinned out wherever they are 

 over-crowded, and blank spaces are 

 stocked. All that need be done in 

 subsequent years is to keep the plots 

 clear of weeds. The plants begin to 

 crop in the fourth or fifth year, accord- 

 ing to the richness of the soil, and give 

 full crops in the seventh year. They 

 continue to produce good crops till the 

 fourteenth year, when they begin to 

 decline, languish, and die. Then one or 

 two large trees standing by the side are 

 again felled right across the plot- The 

 plants at once begin to revive, and the 

 rhizomes throw out new shoots. This 

 process is repeated every seventh year, 

 and thus renovated the plots last many 

 years. Little or no crop is collected in 

 the years in which the renovation 

 fellings have been made". In the former 

 system of putting out nursery-raised 

 seedlings or bulbs : " This is the Brooke- 

 Mockett and: Middleton system, but it 

 hardly commends itself, even though 

 the plants begin to crop earlier, inas- 

 much as it is more expensive than the 

 Coorg system and the plants cease to 

 yield sooner. Moreover, as rightly re- 

 marked by the Conservator of Mysore, 

 the Coorg system causes the least 

 injury to the forest growth," and, there- 

 fore, the risks of interference with the 

 rainfall, or with the head-water of 

 streams, are reduced to a minimum. 



There are two methods of drying the 

 produce — spreading it on mats or in tin 

 trays and exposing it to sunlight, and 



