VIII 
PEPPERS 
289 
younger, green fruits do not commence to wither for 
some time after they are gathered, being indeed still 
alive for a day or two. Plunging into boiling water kills 
them immediately, after which they quickly commence 
to blacken. 
During the process of drying, in whatever way, the 
pepper must be constantly turned over, and care taken 
that no mildew appears. 
White Pepper . — As this is merely the ripened seeds 
of the pepper deprived of skin and pulp, in order to 
obtain a good quality the gathering of the spikes is 
delayed till nearly all on the spikes are showing a red 
colour, if possible. The fruits, however, on the same 
spike ripen so irregularly that this cannot always be 
done. 
The ordinary method adopted by the Chinese for 
making white pepper is, first, to detach the fruits from 
the branches by pressing them underfoot. The berries 
are then put into large bags and allowed to soak for a 
week or ten days in water. Where possible, a running 
stream in full sun is used, but open water-holes are more 
commonly made for this work. The heat and moving 
water, however, accelerate the decomposition of the skin 
and pulp, and so streams are preferred. When the skins 
are sufficiently loose and soft the pepper is put into tubs, 
where it is stamped underfoot in a little water, and 
washed till all the skins, pulp, and stalks are detached. 
The peppercorns are then taken out of the tub and put 
to dry in the sun on mats. J. Bosscha (in Teysmannia, 
1900, No. 2) suggests that it is better to make troughs 
of brickwork or hard wood, through which the stream 
can be allowed to run slowly, and to carry off the waste 
pulp, stalks, etc., which are lighter than the seeds. 
White pepper is also made from dried black pepper 
in England by milling it in a special machine made for 
the purpose. The machine consists of a rotating stone 
enclosed in a wire-covered circular box. The pepper is 
thrown against the wire netting by the stone, and re- 
bounds. By this method the skin is gradually rubbed 
u 
