266 
SPICES 
CHAP,. 
these are not always procurable and it is not uncommon 
for the posts to fall when loaded with a well developed 
vine. The Dutch sometimes cultivate the pepper on 
trellises, but these are even more liable to decay and 
require constant renewing in a hot damp country where 
termites and fungi very quickly destroy any but the 
hardest woods. On the whole, the stout hardwood 
stakes of the Chinese planter are, if procurable, the 
most convenient supports. This system, however, 
presupposes the existence of an accessible forest with 
suitable trees, which is not always at hand, and the 
exhaustion of the suitable timber near the plantations 
was given by the Chinese as one of the causes of the 
abandonment of the cultivation in Singapore in 1896. 
It must also be pointed out that the posts practically 
give no shade to the roots of the pepper, at least at 
first. The Chinese obviate this by covering the ground 
between the posts with cut lalang- grass and refuse,, 
gambir leaves, etc. 
Growth . — As the vine ascends the post or tree, it 
is tied with a soft bast or twine. When it reaches the 
top it has been the custom to pull it down, and wind 
it round the base of the support, when it throws out 
more shoots, which climbing to the top cover it with 
a dense bushy mass. Some pull down the vines thus 
more than once. The prostrate portion of the vine 
round the base of the support is covered with soil to 
induce growth of the ascending shoots. This method 
O 
was in vogue among the Achinese, and also formerly 
among the Chinese, but the latter have abandoned the 
method in Borneo, according to Mr. Dalton in Mr. 
Hewitt’s paper above referred to. They now allow 
three shoots to climb up the post, tying them at every 
internode. 
If a single stem only rises to the top of the support,, 
it requires to be cut back or pulled down, so as to cause 
it to branch heavily, as a good pepper plant should 
completely cover the post with a dense mass of stems, 
and branches. 
