THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
[July  i,  1892- 
58 
blossoms,  at  which  period  it  may  have  attained  the 
height  of  six  feet ; it  is  then  fit  for  training  down ; this 
is  done  by  loosening  the  vine  from  the  stick  and  remov- 
ing that  entirely ; the  leaves  are  slipped  off  the  stem, 
leaving  only  a small  tuft  at  the  top ; a pit  is  then 
dug  close  to  the  roots,  about  twenty  inches  in 
diameter,  and  nearly  the  same  depth,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  the  stem  of  the  vine  is  coiled  horizontally, 
bringing  the  top  or  tuft  before  mentioned  to  the 
supporter  already  planted  for  that  purpose,  to  which 
it  is  fastened  by  a string;  the  pit  is  then  filled, 
covering  the  stem  in  that  position.  The  increasing 
size  of  the  vine  in  a short  time  after  the  above 
operation  has  been  performed  shows  that  roots  are 
springing  abundantly  from  the  stem;  the  whole 
skill  of  the  cultivator  is  now  shown  by  the  manner 
in  which  he  trains  the  vine,  as  this  naturally  takes 
a perpendicular  direction;  his  care  is  to  prevent  its 
ascending  too  rapidly,  which,  if  not  checked,  it  will 
certainly  do.  This  was  an  error  the  majority  of  pepper 
planters  fell  into  at  the  first  settlement  of  the  island, 
when  the  cultivation  of  this  valuable  plant  was  not 
so  well  understood  as  at  present.  The  top  of  the  vine, 
therefore,  and  a length  of  some  feet  below  it,  is 
consequently  not  allowed  to  adhere  to  the  supporter, 
but  being  pendant  and  inclining  to  the  ground, 
throws  outside  shoots,  by  which  it  increases  in 
bulk  proportionably  to  its  height.  Although  the 
blossom  on  the  vine  thus  turned  down  comes  to 
maturity,  the  produce  even  of  the  third  year  is 
trifling,  averaging  perhaps,  in  a large  plantation, 
about  an  eighth  of  a catty;  from  the  third  to  the 
fourth  year  half  a catty;'  increasing  half  a catty 
a year,  until  it  will  average  two  or  two  and-a-half  catties, 
at  which  time  the  vine  may  be  considered  to  be 
in  full  vigour.  As  there  are  not  many  plantations 
on  the  island  much  above  ten  years  old,  we  can 
only  judge  from  information  how  long  the  vine 
will  continue  bearing.  From  intelligent  Chinese, 
who  have  lived  at  Tringano  and  other  places  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  we  learn 
that  it  continues  in  full  vigour  to  the  age  of  fifteen 
years,  and  then  gradually  declines,  still,  however, 
yielding  fruit,  if  properly  attended  to,  to  the  age 
of  twenty-five  or  thirty  years.  This  opinion  differs 
very  materially  from  that  entertained  by  the  or- 
ginal  cultivatiors  on  the  island,  who  supposed  the  vine 
would  cease  bearing  at  sixteen  years;  there  is, 
however,  every  reason  to  suppose  the  mean  of  the 
two  opinions  will  prove  nearly  correct:  a garden 
eleven  years  old,  situated  at  Songhy  Cliuan,  contain- 
ing 3,000  plants  only,  has  lately  been  let  for  three 
years’  for  seventy  piculs  of  pepper  per  annum,  which 
makes  each  plant  average  2J  catties,  a strong 
agrument  in  favour  of  the  vines  bearing  longer 
than  sixteen  years,  as  did  it  than  cease  giving  fruit 
entirely,  the  gradual  decrease  would  certainly  have 
commenced  at  eleven  years : but  it  has  been  before 
observed  that  the  vine  in  full  vigour  will  not  average 
more  than  2§  catties  per  plant.  The  renter  of  this 
garden  is  thought  by  his  countrymen,  the  Chinese, 
to  have  made  a very  good  bargain.  There  are  few 
soils  on  this  island  unfavourable  to  the  vine:  the 
dark  mould  mixed  with  gravel  is  generally  preferred  : 
it  thrives  in  high  and  low  situations — best  in  the 
latter,  if  sufficiently  raised  _ to  prevent  the  water  in 
the  heavy  rains  from  settling,  if  the  roots  were  to 
be  covered  with  water  for  six  or  eight  days  the 
vine  would  infallibly  be  killed.  A plantation,  if 
properly  taken  care  of,  should  be  kept  perfectly 
free  from  weeds  and  grass,  and  for  the  first  five  or 
six  years  the  earth  should  be  regularly  turned,  twice 
a year;  after  that  period  once  turning  will 
be  sufficient.  Four  coolies  will  take  care  of  a 
laxa  (10,000)  of  plants,  if  properly  attended  to ; they 
must,  however,  be  allowed  a cook  but  they  will 
require  additional  hands  when  the  crop  is 
gathered;  the  number  will,  of  course,  depend  on 
the  fertility  of  the  vines.  The  vine  blossoms 
twice  a year — after  the  commencement  of  the  rains 
in  the  setting  in  of  the  south-west  monsoon  in  April 
and  May,  and  when  they  cease  in  December;  the 
former  crop  is  gathered  the  latter  end  of  December, 
January,  and  February:  the  latter  in  May,  June 
and  July.  The  quality  of  the  pepper  depends  in 
a great  measure  upon  the  care  taken  in  the  gather- 
ing and  drying.  The  pepper  when  plucked  before  it  is 
fully  ripe  diminishes  both  in  size  and  weight,  so  much 
as  frequently  to  occasion  a difference  of  upwards 
of  30  per  cent  between  what  is  gathered  in  this 
state  and  that  which  attains  its  full  maturity. 
The  Chinese  planters  fall  frequently  into  this 
error  from  want  of  funds  and  the  necessity  they 
are  often  reduced  to  of  realising  cash  at  a fixed 
period  in  order  to  satisfy  those  who  have  made 
them  advances  at  most  extortionate  interest,  and 
also  from  a wish  to  save  expense  in  collecting 
the  pepper  gradually  as  it  ripens  (which  is  when 
the  fruit  becomes  a reddish  colour)  they  pluck 
the  whole  or  the  greatest  part  of  the  pepper  at  once 
from  the  vine,  instead  of  those  bunches  only  which  are 
perfectly  ripe.  This  mode  of  course  is  more  laborious 
. and  expensive.  When  gathered  it  is  exposed  to  the 
sun  on  mats,  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  begins 
to  turn  black;  it  is  then  put  into  a large  wicker 
basket  in  the  shape  of  a tray,  and  trod  upon  to  separate 
the  pepper  from  the  stem  on  which  the  bunch 
is  formed : in  favourable  weather  it  will  be 
perfectly  dry  in  the  course  of  four  days,  when  it 
is  packed  in  gunnies  and  ready  for  the  market. 
A picul  of  green  pepper  if  allowed  to  remain  on 
the  vines  till  perfectly  ripe  will  yield  from  35  to 
36  catties  when  dry.  The  vines  seldom  fail  of 
showing  much  blossom  in  gardens  which  are 
properly  taken  care  of ; but  it  is  subject  to  be 
blighted  even  after  the  fruit  has  attained  some 
.size  when  the  season  proves  either  unusually  hot 
or  dry : when  this  happens  considerable  quantities 
of  pepper  will  drop  off : a few  hours  rain  soon 
puts  a stop  to  it.  The  pepper  of  this  island  when 
gathered  in  a proper  state,  and  carefully  dried, 
is  esteemed  equal  in  taste,  weight,  and  size  to 
that  of  any  place  whatever,  and  superior  to  most. 
European  cultivators  make  their  plantations  by 
contract ; the  usual  price  is  §525  per  thousand : 
this  includes  every  expense  of  tools,  houses,  dig- 
ging wells,  and  clearing  the  ground,  and  every 
other  item,  the  price  of  the  young  plant  excepted. 
The  pepper  plant  was  first  introduced  into  the 
island  from  Aclieen,  by  the  then  Captain  China 
Che  Kay,  under  the  patronage  of  Mr.  Light, 
who  advanced  him  money  for  that  purpose ; 
this  was  about  the  year  1790,  100  years  ago. — British 
North  Borneo  Herald. 
— 
COCOA  AND  CHOCOLATE. 
Mr.  Richard  Bannister,  r.i.c,,  f.s.c.i.,  Deputy 
Principal  of  the  Inland  Revenue  Laboratory, 
Somerset  House,  recently  delivered  the  third  and  last 
of  the  interesting  series  of  Cantor  Lectures  at  the 
Society  of  Arts,  his  subject  being  cocoa.  He  said  that 
Linnseus  was  so  pleased  with  the  nourishing  drink, 
derived  from  the  seeds  of  the  plant,  that  he  named 
it  Theobroma,  or  food  of  the  gods.  The  native  name 
was  cacao,  and  the  plant  was  therefore  known  as  the 
Theobroma  cacao.  The  name  bad  now  been  corrupted 
into  cocoa,  but  it  was  impossible  to  trace  the  steps 
of  the  change.  The  use  of  the  word  certainly  led  to 
confusion  with  the  coco-nut,  and  it  was  now  be- 
coming customary  to  spell  the  latter  “ coker, ”*  for 
distinction’s  sake.  Both  cacao  and  chocolate  were 
words  of  Mexican  origin,  and  it  had  been  surmised 
that  the  latter  expressed  the  endeavour  of  the  natives 
to  render  into  language  the  sound  made  by  the 
pestle  and  mortar  in  mixing  the  cacao  with  sugar 
and  species  for  the  production  of  that  substance. 
Europe  was  indebted  to  Spain  for  the  discovery  of 
cacao,  which  was  indigenous  to  Mexico,  and  especially 
Hernando  Cortez,  who  conquered  that  country  in 
1521.  Peter  Martyr  remarked  that  the  natives  used 
the  seeds  as  - coins,  and  he  thus  named  them 
annjtjdalcc  pecuniarice.  The  natives  also  used  it  as 
food,  and  much  esteemed  the  beverage  made  by  in- 
* Horrible  I In  Ceylon  we  have  simply  dropped 
the  superfluous  a and  write  the  name  of  the  palm 
coconut. — Ed.  T.  A. 
