VIII 
PEPPERS 
265 
cultivated only on the plains (of Malabar), but it has 
been proved to do well at 2,500 to 3,000 ft. elevation 
above the sea and even to 3,500.” He recommends 
Erythrina and J ack trees as standards and also 
Grevillea robusta. Almost any hardy tree with rough 
bark will do, as pepper is apt to keep slipping down off 
smooth bark. An ideal tree is a straight, slender stem 
with a rough bark and. a small head. Trees like Jack 
trees with big heads must be lopped. For the first 
three years a certain amount of shade is best, but in the 
fourth year it must be lopped to admit plenty of light. 
Without sufficient light the crop will be small, but it 
is a mistake to remove all shade, as pepper is naturally 
a shade plant. Besides, excessive lopping may kill the 
standard. He recommends planting 25 ft. apart, that 
is a 100 to the acre. (This appears to me to be waste of 
space.) He suggests planting pepper in abandoned 
coffee plantations, the old shade trees being utilised as 
standards. Shade trees for coffee have been practically 
abandoned, in most places at least, but should such a 
spot be available and otherwise suitable, the planter 
might well follow out this idea. 
“ Producer ” gives the cost of planting at 5 to 6 
rupees per acre when the standards are established, but 
when Erythrina has to be planted, 20 rupees the first 
year and 10 rupees for succeeding years. He says also 
that 1,000 cuttings are required for an acre’s planting, 
as only 33 per cent grow. (This seems a very small 
percentage, as pepper cuttings are not at all difficult 
to strike, and I have generally succeeded in getting 
nearly three times that amount develop into healthy 
plants. ) 
Posts and Trellises. — In the Straits Settlements 
and Borneo the Chinese do not utilise living trees to 
support the vines, but grow them exclusively on stout 
wooden posts, about 12 to 14 ft. tall and 7 in. through. 
Care is taken to select hard and durable timber which 
will not be destroyed by termites or fungus -decay 
before the life of the pepper plant is finished. But 
