AND THE CAPSICUM, 



607 



There are three or more species in cultivation for their fruit, natives of 

 tropical climates ; the annual capsicum, the Spanish, or Guinea pepper, 

 C. annuum L., a native of South America, growing in our stoves about two 

 feet high, and producing pods, long or short, round, long, or cherry-shaped, 

 and red or j^ellow, in the autumn of the same year in which the seed is sown; 

 the bell pepper, C. grossum, W., a biennial, a native of India, producing 

 large red or yellow berries, which remain on through the winter; the 

 bird pepper, C. baccatum jL., and the chilies or cayenne pepper, C. 

 frutescens, L. To these the French have lately added another variety, 

 the tomato capsicum, Piment tomate, Fr.^ the fruit of which is round, 

 yellow, furrowed, twisted like the tomato, and in a green state so mild 

 as to be eaten sliced in salad. This is also the case with the bullock's- 

 heart variety of the common capsicum, the C. cordiforme of Miller. In the 

 native countries of these plants there are numerous varieties which are cul - 

 tivated for using green, and for pickling, and for making the well-know^n cay- 

 enne pepper, which is much employed in curries and other preparations. 

 In Britain they are used chiefly for the two former purposes, and for putting 

 into vinegar, which from the fruit being in some places called chilies, is called 

 Chili vinegar. Medicinally, a small portion of the fruit put into a carious 

 tooth is said to give instant relief, and Chili vinegar mixed with barley water 

 forms an excellent gargle. It is also, from its pungent and digestive proper- 

 ties, the most suitable condiment to all kinds of fish. The ripe fruit ground 

 into powder, as cayenne pepper, is in great request as a condiment in every 

 part of the world, and more especially in hot countries : both in a green 

 and ripe state, it is much used as seasoning, and in the preparation of 

 pickles, and it also forms an excellent pickle of itself. Fresh gathered in a 

 green state, pickled, ripC;, or as cayenne pepper, taken during dinner, it pre- 

 vents flatulency and assists digestion. When ripe, it may be preserved on 

 the plant for several years by hanging it up in a dry and modei-ately warm 

 room. In some families the green fruit is supplied daily throughout the 

 year, from plants kept in the pine-stove. 



1345. Culture of the capsicum, — The seeds should be sown in March on 

 a hotbed, and transplanted from one pot into another till the middle of 

 June, when in warm parts of the country, the annual sorts may be trans- 

 ferred to a warm situation in the open garden, where they will at least pro- 

 duce fruit fit for pickling ; and if trained against a south wall, it will ripen 

 in many situations when the summer proves warm. In less favourable cir- 

 cumstances the plants should be kept in pots and under glass, either in a frame 

 or pit, or in a greenhouse. In this state they will ripen their fruit, which 

 will remain on the annual plants great part of the winter ; and that of the 

 biemiial and frutescent kinds may be kept in the greenhouse in a fruit- 

 bearing state for two or three years. The market-gardeners about London, 

 who raise immense quantities of capsicums for pickling, transplant first on 

 heat, three inches or four inches apart, and in J une plant out in rows, a foot 

 I apart and six inches distant in the row. The fruit is gathered and sent to 

 i the market as soon as it has attained the proper size ; and not being then 

 above half that of the ripe fruit, an immense quantity of pods is produced 

 during August and September. A single ripe pod will produce enough of 

 seed for a small garden, and it need not be separated from it till wanted for 

 sowing. 



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