X 
CARDAMOMS 
349 
Mollison says a well -grown, healthy plant may yield 
up to ^ lb. of dry cardamoms, and at 300 or 400 plants 
per acre, as grown among betel palms in Kanara, this 
gives 150 to 200 lbs. dry cardamoms per acre. 
In Travancore the yield, according to the Madras 
Manual, only comes up to 20 or 25 lbs. per acre. This 
is, however, in a form of wild cultivation, where the 
owners of gardens in forests merely clear away the 
creepers and brushwood around the plants once a year. 
CURING 
The object to be aimed at in curing the cardamoms 
so as to be of the highest commercial quality, is to 
produce a light straw-coloured fruit with no black or 
brown spots on it and as little split as possible. 
A certain proportion of split cardamoms, composed chiefly 
of over-ripe fruit, is unavoidable, but our endeavour should be 
to reduce this to a minimum. The curing of cardamoms is a 
very simple matter in dry weather, sun-drying being the most 
effective and cheapest method. Long exposure to the sun 
during hot weather, the attempt in fact to dry the fruit quickly, 
is a mistake, for the seed inside gets heated, swells, and bursts 
its covering. Three hours’ exposure in the morning and two 
hours in the afternoon is as much as it is safe to give. In 
showery or unsettled weather, of course, full advantage must be 
taken of whatever sunshine there is. The slower the drying 
process, the smaller is the proportion of split fruit, and hence too 
long protracted exposure to the sun or to artificial heat should 
be avoided. (Owen’s Notes on Cardamom Cultivation.) 
In Southern India as described by Ludlow, 
the cardamoms are dried by exposure to the sun on 
large bamboo or date mats. Those nearly dry are not 
allowed to get mixed with the green ones, and four 
days in the sun is sufficient if the sun is strong. A 
shed is required close to the drying-ground in case of 
rain, so that the capsules can be quickly taken there 
out of risk of wetting. 
Ferguson, in All about Cardamoms, says that he hung 
up a few racemes, with branches and capsules, in a room 
