September i, 1887,! THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
201 
PEPPER GROWING. 
. The cultivation of pepper though simple is an in- 
teresting one and affords ample scnpe for the application 
on intelligence of a higher order than we are generally 
ready to accord to the coolies employed in the work. 
The lines are laid out seven feet apart and the 
holes dug two feet square by over one foot deep, 
the centre of the holes being seven feet apart in 
line. At one corner of the hole a split post six 
or eight inches square is put in having about .ten 
feet out of ground. The post should be of such 
wood as will not be readily eaten by white ants and 
tarred to prevent decay, for this post performs a 
very important part in the cultivation. It is usual 
to put three cuttings eighteen inches long into each 
hole in the opposite corner to the post, burying the 
cutting about six inches deep and for over a foot 
in length ; it then throws out lateral roots from 
all the joints that are under ground which gives it 
ample strength to procure nourishment from the soil 
it is placed in. The cuttings are taken from the 
tops of the vine and are usually put in the grouud 
to root before being planted out. The vines come 
into bearing in 2| to, 3 years and average half 
a catty to the vine for the first crop, increasing 
to three catties in the fifth year. A viue is in 
full bearing when 6 to 7 years old, but continues 
to increase year by year if manured and not allow- 
ed to over-run or overbear itself in any one year. 
A fair average crop I am told is 20 piculs to the 
acre and a good crop 28 piculs to the acre. Of this 
product there are two crops a year. Black pepper 
is simply the berries dried. The white come from 
the ripest berries which are let lie in a heap for 
some days, to ferment, when the skins are removed 
by the coolies trampling amongst them ; they are 
then washed and dried upon an improvised drying 
apparatus on which they are spread with a slow fire 
beneath. In order to make the vine throw out later- 
als and spread, it is topped when about two feet 
high. Such briefly is a sketch of the pepper cult- 
ure, barring mauuring, weeding, and cost of laying 
oat a garden, which I believe all iucluded for the 
first three years does not exceed $100 per acre. 
The gambicr is grown simultaneously with the pepper 
in order that the refuse may be used as manure for 
the latter. Like the areca palm and coconut of 
Muar, pepper and gambier are the staple products 
of this part of Johore, but are not confined to this 
part of the territory, being grown I believe at Sedilli 
on the East and Batu Pahat on the west. But as 
showing the large quantity now raised I find that 
nearly two-thirds of the exports of these articles 
from Singapore aro produced in Johore. — Straits 
Times. 
— ♦ 
NEW VARIETIES OF VANILLA. 
A small trial shipment of vanilla pods of a kind 
not hitherto seen on our market, arrived in Lon- 
don a few days ago, and was placed in the show- 
room of a firm of Mincing Lane drug-brokors 
for inspection. The pods are from four to eight 
inches in length and from one to two inches in 
width, deep brown in colour and of a rather dis- 
agre able rancid odour, possibly caused by the oil in 
which they have been steeped. The vanilla does not 
belong to tho ptanifolia species, which is the sort 
generally mot with on this market, but may be the 
fruit of the I'anilla pal marum or V. aroinatica varieties 
which aro known to Nourish in Brazil, from which 
country tho shipment in question is said to havo been 
imported. The pods are entirely devoid of " frost," 
snil it is very unlikely that, in the condition in which 
they aro offered at present, they will at all secure 
• favourable reception. But it is by no means im- 
possible that the growers may itnprovo their product 
by paying greater attention to its cultivation and 
propirntiou for the European market, and iu that case 
the ungainly-looking sample now offered to our buyers 
may prove to be the predecessor of regular and 
marketable supplies. The p"ds somewhat resemble a 
specimen deM-ribed son.o year* ago by Mr. CharboULier. 
iu tho Repertoire de ihariitacic a# the product ol 
Guadeloupe, in which island it bad been cultivate^ 
for several years, and whence consignments varying 
from 150 to 2,000 kilos, per annum have been shipped 
to French ports, where it sold at about one-half tho 
price of Bourbon vanilla. Shipments of Brazilian 
vanilla have also been received in France from time 
to time, but the quality gav« no satisfac'ion, and the 
supplies have also been of a spasmodic obaractsr. 
Must of the so-called vanillon sold on the French 
markets is also said to be a Brazilian product. Its 
use is almost confined to perfumery purpose*. 
It would certainly seem that there is room for an 
extension of the sources of supply of vanilla, provided 
the cultivation of the plant be conducted with care, 
and the fruit prepared in a manner suitable to the 
taste of the European market. The planters of Reunion 
and Mauritius have contrived to do this, with the 
result that a thriving vanilla industry has been created 
in these islands, the former of which now produoes 
perhaps 100,000 lbs. vanilla per annum, and the latter 
more than half that quantity. Mexican vanilla, the 
best variety known, is mostly consumed in the United 
States, which country imports nearly 100,000 lbs. of 
vanilla yearly. In Java, Ceylon, and several of the 
Polynesian Islands, vanilla is to some extent success- 
fully cultivated; but it will probably be a long time 
before the yield of these islands becomes an ap- 
preciable factor in the trade. The eastern coa^t of 
Madagascar appears to possess a soil eminently suitable 
for vanilla cultivatioo, but cap tal and skilled labour 
are required to develop the industry. As yet no 
particular effort has been made to create a trade in 
the product, but it is said that in some ptrts of 
the island the cultivation of the plant is increasing 
rapidly. 
The extension of vanilla cultiv't'on in vir ous f irei^n 
countries should be beneficial to the London market. 
Hitherto trial shipments of new vanillas have generally 
been directed to Bordeaux, but the French Government, 
in the protective mood which at preseut distinguishes 
them, have just laid before the Chamber of Deputies 
a Bill imposing an additional duty of 416f. per 100 
kilos, (about lj. 6d. per lb.) on all foreign v,niil a-, 
irrespective of the duty of 416f. per 100 klos. which 
is already levied upon all vanillas alike. Of course 
the doubling of the import duty on the foreign article 
is intended to secure to the vanilla-growers in Reunion 
(or Bourbon), which is a French colony, the monopoly 
of the market in the mother country. The result o f 
the new impost will probably be to direct to London 
such consignments of Mauritius and, perhaps, Mexican 
vai ilia as have hitherto found their way to Bor- 
deaux. And if the vanilla cultivation in Mada- 
gascar should increase the produce from that 
island, which has not as yet been incorporated iu 
the territories of the French Republic, it will probably 
alfo be shipped to London, and to this port also 
shipments from Brazil and the Australasian islands 
will eventually find the'r way. So far as we are 
concerned there is, therefore, no cause for grumbling. 
It should be added that the French Government, to 
do the thing thoroughly, propose to pi >ce a duty of 
10-lf. per kilo, (about 36j. per lb.) on vandliu or 
artificial vaoilla made in France, and 208f. per kilo, 
on foreign vanillin. The present market value of 
vanillin, which is mostly imported from Ge many, is 
about OOOf. per kilo. (10.?. per oz.). — Chemist and 
Druggist. 
ABOUT MAHOGANY AND OTHER PLANTS 
we find the following information in the proceedings 
of tho Madras Agri-Horticultural Society :— 
Kcad tho following letter from D. Morris, B q , 
Assistant Director, Royal Gardens, Kew, dated 6th 
May, 1887:— 
" Mr. Thiselton Dyer has received your letter of tho 
9th ultimo, an i Las carefully noted its contents. As 
ho is now vory bu.y with general administration 
work consequent upou tho beginning of the new i fhVial 
year, he has asked me to acknowledge your kindness 
and to say that we are very pleased to hear good 
accounts of the mahogany seed last sent. It would 
be, as you say, a very do-.irshla arrangement t<i got 
