338 
SPICES 
OHAl*. 
tannic acid, and Mollison suggests that this may be 
poisonous or deterrent to insects. 
Several writers have recommended an artificial 
germination of the seed in a closed tin case, the lid of 
which is kept close to exclude light and air as much as 
possible. The seeds are placed on a piece of flannel or 
cloth, and kept moist by a layer of saturated soil below. 
The seeds, when they have germinated, should be shaken 
off the cloth on to the surface of the nursery bed, and 
covered with fine soil (Watt’s Dictionary). 
Seed if sown on a nursery bed take a month to 
germinate according to Moller, but the Director of Land 
Eecords for Bombay states that they take in Kanara 
three months. Owen, in dealing with them in Ceylon, 
says that the time depends on the temperature, that is 
the elevation, entirely. In the low country the seed 
will be above ground in three weeks, whereas at an 
elevation of 4,000 ft. it takes as many months or even 
longer. It is therefore, says he, advisable to make the 
nursery at as low an elevation as possible if for Malabar 
seed, indeed a successful nursery at high elevation is 
very improbable, the plant being very slow of growth 
and damping ofi‘ in a very disheartening way. Mysore 
cardamoms are on the contrary comparatively easily 
grown from seed. The seeds are sown in Madura and 
Kanara from July to October, apparently usually in 
the latter month, which is the usual time for ripening. 
The seedlings are very delicate, and very liable to 
damp off when young, and as, furthermore, a large 
proportion of the seeds do not germinate, a considerable 
excess of seeds is required for the nursery beds. 
Owen gives the following calculations : — 1 lb. of 
fresh fruit will be found to contain on an average 776 
capsules, each containing on an average 16 to 17 seeds. 
Thus 1 lb. of fresh fruit contains 12,804 seeds. 10 lbs. 
of fresh fruit produces lbs. of seed, and 1 lb. of seed 
contains about 50,000 seeds, of which, however, only a 
small proportion germinates. 
Shading . — There seems to be a consensus of opinion 
