VIII 
PEPPERS 
257 
with nearly equal vigour in all varieties of soil, between 
the two extremes of sand which prevailed near the 
coasts, and the stiff yellow clays of the hills. Sand, 
however, is quite unsuitable for the plant unless mixed 
at least with a good proportion of humus, and it is, as a 
rule, advisable to avoid land which can be definitely 
classed as sandy. 
Kocky soil is equally objectionable, though in Ceylon 
it was said that pepper grew very well over rocks. Under 
light shade it might do well, provided that the soil 
between the rocks is rich enough for the plant, but 
exposed rocks are so strongly heated by the tropical 
sun that pepper would soon be destroyed by the 
excessive heat. 
CULTIVATION FROM SEED 
Black pepper is almost invariably grown from 
cuttings, but it may be grown from seed. It is stated 
that pepper vines grown from seed take a very long 
time to fruit, and indeed it has been said that in some 
localities they will not fruit at all from seed. In this 
case they probably revert to the unisexual form, i.e. 
the original wild form ; on the other hand, there are 
many places, at least, where pepper is readily raised 
from seed and grows well and quickly. It is certainly 
preferable to grow from cuttings, as it is then possible 
to be sure that a good heavy fruiting strain can be 
secured, cuttings generally coming true more frequently 
than seedlings. There are cases, however, where, for 
some reason or other, it is necessary to raise pepper 
from seed. Thus in some parts of the world it has been 
found expensive or almost impossible to introduce pepper 
by cuttings, which have to travel in a Wardian case, 
and seed is the only form in which the plant can be 
introduced. Seed of pepper is, however, by no means 
a good traveller, and has often failed in cases of long- 
distance travelling. 
It is said (Simmond’s Tropical Agriculture) that 
in Malabar it is often raised from seed, and that 
s 
