250 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
fullest and most pungent aroma of any. Trang pepper, 
too, stands the milling process in London better than any 
other ; the local Malay Peninsula varieties being apt to 
break up, being too brittle, and for these reasons Trang 
pepper always obtains the highest price in the market. 
Sumatran Varieties. — Marsden, in The History of 
Sumatra, mentions three varieties cultivated by the 
natives, Lada Kaivur, Lada Manna, and Lada Jambi. 
The first of these, also known as Lampoon (Lampong), 
is the strongest he says, and bears the largest leaf and 
fruit, is slower than the next in coming to perfection, 
but of much longer duration. The fruits of the second 
variety, Lada Manna, are somewhat smaller, and its 
peculiarity is that it bears soon, and in large quantities, 
but seldom passes the third or fourth year crop. The 
Jambi, which had, he says, fallen into disrepute, is the 
smallest in leaf and fruit, very short-lived, and not 
without difficulty trained to its post. 
Dwarf Pepper. — A non-climbing pepper of erect 
habit, and dwarfed, is described by Mr. W. E. Broadway, 
the Curator of the Botanic station in Grenada, West 
Indies, in the Agricultural News (vol. ii. p. 69). He 
says that this form never fails to produce a good crop, 
and its low habit is very convenient for gathering 
the fruit, while the climbing pepper fruits irregularly. 
Though this is an interesting variety, and might, under 
special circumstances, be used profitably, one would 
hardly be inclined to recommend it for cultivation. It 
is obvious that this dwarf pepper, however closely packed 
on the ground, could not give as big a return from an 
acre as a good vine growing from 12 to 20 ft. tall. 
HISTORY 
Pepper is one of the earliest known spices in the 
world, and was formerly the staple commodity of 
trade between India and Europe. It is mentioned by 
Theophrastus in the fourth century B.C., who mentions 
two kinds, apparently black pepper and long pepper. 
