260 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
in small heaps and burnt. (It would be better either to 
pile it in lines and allow it to rot down, or to use it in 
making burnt earth.) A space of about 1 acre should 
be cleared and dug deep, cleaned of roots, etc. In 
this pepper cuttings should be laid do^m about 1 in. 
apart, 12 in. buried beneath the soil, and 6 in. exposed. 
For the 12 acres about 15,000 cuttings would be 
required. In about a year these should have made 
roots and shoots, and can be planted out near the trees 
left for supports. As a rule, the trees left in this 
manner being irregular in size and position, are not well 
suited for a good pepper garden. 
Preparation of the Ground . — If the ground selected 
for the plantation is covered with forest, this is completely 
felled and burnt. The stumps and roots are dug out 
after the burning, and collected into heaps for making 
burnt earth. Any hardwood timber may be stored 
for the stakes. In fields covered with lalang grass 
{Imperata cylindrical, as is often the case in the Malay 
region, the grass is fired or cut, and the ground dug 
over so as to expose the rhizomes of the grass to the 
sun. If possible a plough may be used with advantage. 
After three weeks most of the lalang will be dead, and 
the rhizomes that are not are again dug out. 
As burnt earth is a necessary manure for pepper in 
most countries, the planter will utilise as much as he 
can of the vegetation cut during clearing to have it 
ready for the planting. There is no need to waste it 
all by merely burning it on the ground. The failing 
supply of brushwood for the gambir and pepper planta- 
tions, and the scarcity of good stakes for the pepper, 
contributed much to the disappearance of these cultiva- 
tions in Singapore some years ago. 
The ground cleared, it is lined and sticks are put 
in to mark the positions of the pepper posts, 6 ft. 
apart. J. Bosscha, in Teysmannia (1900, xi. No. 2), 
mentions a case of overcrowding at this distance, where 
from want of proper air-space the vines in a wet year 
were attacked by a fungus, the mycelium of which 
