PEPPER. 



{Piper nigrum L-.) 



The pepperer formed an important member of the community in England during the 

 Middle Ages, when a large proportion of food consumed was salted meat, and pepper 

 was in high request as a seasoner.— S. Dowell, Taxes in England, IV. 35. 



The plants yielding the black and white 

 pepper of the market are climbing or 

 trailing shrubs. The stem attains a length 

 of from 15 to 25 feet. The climbing por- 

 tions cling to the support (usually large 

 trees) by means of aerial roots similar to 

 the ivy. The leaves are entire, simple, al- 

 ternate, without stipules. The flowers 

 are very insignificant in appearance, ses- 

 sile upon a long, slender, pendulous 

 spadix. They are mostly unisexual, either 

 monoecious or dioecious, that is the stam- 

 inate (male) flowers and pistillate (female) 

 flowers are separate, either upon different 

 branches of the same plant (monoecious) 

 or upon different plants (dioecious). The 

 fruit is berry-like, with a thin, fleshy 

 pericarp enclosing a single seed. The 

 young fruit is grass-green, then changes 

 to red and finally to yellowish when ripe. 

 In southern India the flowers mature in 

 May and June and the seeds ripen five or 

 six months later. 



Piper nigrum is a native of southern 

 India, growing abundantly along the 

 Malabar coast. It thrives best in rich 

 soil in the shade of trees to which it clings. 

 It also grows in Ceylon, Singapore, 

 Penang, Borneo, Luzon, Java, Sumatra 

 and the Philippines. It is cultivated in all 

 of the countries named, especially in 

 southwestern India. Attempts at its cul- 

 tivation have been made in the West In- 

 dies. 



In India the natives simplify the culti- 

 vation of pepper by tying the wild-grow- 

 ing vines to a height of six feet to neigh- 

 boring trees and clearing away the under- 

 wood, leaving just enough trees to pro- 

 vide shade. The roots are covered with 

 heaps of leaves and the shoots are 

 trimmed or clipped twice a year. In lo- 

 calities where the pepper does not grow 

 wild, well drained but not very dry soil 

 not liable to inundations is selected. Dur- 



ing the rainy season or during the dry 

 season in February cuttings are planted 

 about a foot from the trees which are to 

 serve as support. The plants are ma- 

 nured and frequently watered during the 

 dry season. They begin to yield about 

 the fourth or fifth year and continue to 

 yield for eight or nine years. The meth- 

 ods of cultivation differ somewhat in dif- 

 ferent countries. The harvest begins as 

 soon as one or two berries of the base of 

 the spike begin to turn red, which is be- 

 fore the fruit is mature. Two crops are 

 collected each year, the principal one in 

 December and January, the second in 

 July and August. The spikes are col- 

 lected in bags or baskets and dried in the 

 sun on mats or on the ground. Ripe 

 berries lose in pungency and also fall off 

 and are lost. 



Pepper is of extreme' antiquity. It re- 

 ceived mention in the epic poems of the 

 ancient Hindoos. Theophrastus differ- 

 entiated between round and long pepper, 

 the latter undoubtedly P. longum. Dios- 

 corides and Plinius mention long, white 

 and black pepper and dwell upon the me- 

 dicinal virtues of spices. Tribute has been 

 levied in pepper. In 408, Alaric the dar- 

 ing ruler of the barbaric Visigoths, com- 

 pelled the conquered and greatly humili- 

 ated Romans to pay as part of the ran- 

 som 3,000 pounds of pepper. During the 

 Dark and Middle Ages pepper was a very 

 costly article, as is evidenced by the fact 

 that it was frequently found among royal 

 presents. The pepper-corn rents, which 

 prevailed during the Middle Ages, con- 

 sisted in supplying a certain quantity of 

 pepper at stated times, usually one pound 

 each month. The high price of pepper 

 was the prime motive to induce the Portu- 

 guese to seek a sea-route to India, the 

 land of pepper. The route via the Cape 

 of Good Hope led to a considerable re- 



