X CARDAMOMS 333 
bering the young shoots and interfering with their 
growth. 
Mr. D. T. Evers writes an interesting article on the 
subject of cardamom cultivation in the number of the 
Indian Forester for 1908, which is quoted in the Agri- 
cultural Journal of India, vol. iv., 1909, p. 103. The 
plant is said to grow well in moist places in the Forest 
Ghauts of the Mansarabad and Belar Taluka of the Hessan 
district, but does not thrive on the Southern and Western 
exposures. It comes up spontaneously in the ghaut 
forests when light is admitted by the felling of some 
large trees. It is a general belief that the seed which 
induces such growth is disseminated by monkeys and 
rats. The cultivation by some planters is considerable ; 
nearly all coffee estates have fair-sized areas under this 
crop on partially cleared forest land. 
There are two methods of cultivation : {a) the Brook- 
Mockett and Middleton system, recommended by these 
two planters, and (6) the Coorg system. In the former 
the forest is thinned out to admit sufficient lio^ht, and 
nursery-raised seedlings used to plant out the cleared area. 
The crop begins to yield in the third or fourth years and 
is in full bearing in the fifth or sixth. Irrigation if avail- 
able is useful at some seasons and weeding is required. 
The Coorg system has been already mentioned, but 
I repeat Mr. Evers’ remarks, as there are some slight 
differences and additional ideas : — “ Small detached areas 
in which the plant has come up naturally are carefully 
selected. In February to March small trees 2 or 3 ft. 
in girth and brushwood are cleared away. The leafy 
canopy should not be too dense, and it may be necessary 
to fell one or two large trees across each plot. The 
seedlings make their appearance at the first burst of the 
monsoon, and by its close are 3 or 4 in. high. At the 
beginning of the following monsoon they are thinned out 
where overcrowded and vacant spaces are stocked. 
The plant yields in the fourth and fifth year according to 
the richness of the soil. They continue to produce good 
crops till the fourteenth year, when they begin to decline 
