108 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
The beds should be shaded with the leaf-roofing 
known as ataps in the Malay region. These are made 
of plaited or folded palm or pandanus leaves, and should 
be sufficiently loose in texture to let through a certain 
amount of light. The roofing is supported on sticks 
about 3 ft. tall. If the place is very exposed, it may 
be advisable to shade the sides also of the nursery 
beds. 
The beds should be watered every other day or 
oftener, according to the temperature of the air and 
dryness of the soil. It should not be allowed to get 
too dry, nor should it be over-saturated. 
The seeds germinate in a month or six weeks, some- 
times later. They sprout very freely if they are sound 
seed, and under ordinary circumstances at least 95 per 
cent can be raised. 
During their growth, which is rather slow at first, 
all that is necessary is to keep the bed watered, and to 
remove the weeds which spring up in the beds. It is 
a good plan to lighten the shading of the nurseries as 
the plants grow, so as to accustom them gradually to 
full light, and to allow a good current of air to pass 
through the foliage of the seedlings. 
The young plants remain in the nurseries till they 
are about 6 in. tall, or even taller, that is to say, about 
six months, after which they are planted out in the 
estate in the positions they are intended permanently 
to occupy. 
It is advisable to have the nurseries in close 
proximity to the plantation, to save trouble and expense 
in transporting the seedlings. 
Hart, in the Trinidad Bulletin, recommends that 
the seeds should be planted in old brandy cases, about 
500 or 600 in a dozen cases. When they are 6 or more 
inches tall, he would transfer them to bamboo pots, to 
grow for another six months before transplanting. 
Some planters prefer planting the seeds in bamboo 
pots and allowing them to germinate and grow there 
till they are big enough to plant out. The advantage 
