284 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
ripe at the same time, and one never sees a spike with 
all the fruits red. There are often many flowers un- 
fertilised, indeed it would be impossible for every flower 
on a spike to produce a fully developed fruit ; and there 
are losses from imperfect fertilisation, attacks of insects, 
and other such causes. A full spike of ordinary length 
can carry fifty fruits, but a large proportion of spikes 
are rarely fully filled. 
In an article in the Koffij Gids, 1900, p. 966, a 
writer says that the natives of East Java class the fruit- 
spikes of pepper as follows : — 
1. Meritjoh krentil — a bunch furnished well with large 
peppercorns. 
2. Meritjoh ranti — spikes short, and fruit of unequal size. 
3. Meritjoh lawee (lawi) — a long bunch with distant, more 
scanty fruits, ripening at different times. 
The first of these is nearest to the ideal pepper. 
COST OF CULTIVATION 
Dobree [Ceylon Observer, February 1883) gives an 
estimate of cost of cultivation for the first three years 
in Ceylon, which, of course, is to a certain extent 
dependent on variations in cost of land, labour, etc. , but 
which gives a fair idea of the approximate cost. 
Fikst Year (per acre) 
Rupees. 
Superintendence . . . . . 10 
Felling ...... 8 
Nurseries ...... 10 
Weeding, 8 months .... 8 
Lining ...... 1*50 
Holing 9 
Filling in 9 
Drains and roads. . . . . 12 
Planting and shading . . . . 6 
Planting supports .... 2 
Tools, building contingencies . . 20 
Es.95-50 
