X 
CARDAMOMS 
329 
fruits at a higher elevation than the Malabar one. The 
general idea seems to be that cardamoms are typical 
hill plants, and that a certain altitude must be selected 
for their cultivation. That altitude, apart from the acci- 
dental circumstances of difference in temperature and 
possible rainfall, has a distinct influence on plant life in 
the tropics seems clear, but the cause 'of this is at 
present obscure. 
Wild Cultivation . — In the early days of cardamom 
cultivation, if cultivation it can be called, the system 
in Malabar, and also in Ceylon, was merely a system of 
helping the wild cardamoms of the forest to increase in 
numbers, and to produce large crops by clearing away 
the forest round them. This system seems to be still 
adopted in Coorg. 
It is described by White in the paper previously 
quoted thus : — 
The months of February and March are, on account of the 
prevailing dry weather (in Malabar), selected as the most proper 
for commencing their labours ; the first part of which consists 
in cutting down the large and small trees, promiscuously leaving 
of the former, standing at nearly equal distances, certain tall 
and stately individuals, adapted to that degree of perpendicular- 
shade which experience teaches them to be the most favourable 
for the future crops. They affirm, and with some reason, that 
no little exactness is required in hitting this prolific medium, 
for as too much sun burns up, so does excessive shade alike 
disappoint the hope of harvest. The grass and weeds are 
then cleared away, and the ground disencumbered from the 
roots of brushwood ; the large trees lie where they fall. The 
shrubs, roots, and grass are piled up in different small heaps, 
and their spontaneous and gradual decomposition fertilises the 
space they cover. 
He notes here that Pennant’s statement that the 
ground is manured by the ashes of the rubbish when 
burnt is an error. It is obvious, indeed, that if the 
cardamom seed and rhizomes were already in the ground 
there would be a great risk of destroying them if fire 
were used, unless with great care in definite spots. The 
decomposition of the weeds and shrubs in situ, though 
