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the sticks to a height of about 18 ins. : to these mounds is carried the 
burnt earth obtained from the burning of the stumps. The garden is 
now ready for planting. 
Planting. The pepper vine is invariably propagated by cuttings 
obtained from the terminal shoots of young vines which are only about 
live or six feet high and from li to 2i years old. The cuttings are 
from 14 to 2 ft. long and are planted straight out, nurseries being un- 
necessary. Usually they are arranged in the soil at an angle of about 
45° and are pointed to the East : some five or six internodes should be 
covered by soil, the lowest one being about six inches deep: the top of 
the cutting leans against the stick. Above, protection from the sun’s 
rays is afforded by a covering of fern leaves or grass, one to each cut- 
ting, and this protection is continued for several months, until in fact 
the young plant has attained a fair hold. Planting is usually perform- 
ed in January during the wet monsoon. 
Treatment of Vims . Within a week or so of being planted, each 
vine receives a first application of burnt earth, a few handfuls, and 
afterwards this is applied regularly every four months. 
Whenever it becomes necessary, the young shoots are tied to the 
stick with soft bark or twine. After six months or more these tempor- 
ary supports are replaced by the permanent posts which are of the 
hardest wood obtainable and of the dimensions 12 feet long by 4 ins. 
or more square. This post is fixed vertically two feet deep in the 
centre of each mound and the vine is transferred to the post. 
Three main shoots only are allowed to climb up the post and these 
are tied to their support at every internode. Formerly it was custo- 
mary to pull down the main shoot and to coil it spirally round the 
post so as to obtain a more bushy vine : nowadays this is no longer 
practised. 
About this time the flower spikes may appear in which case they 
should be at once picked off. It is the custom of the pepper gardeners 
to prevent sporadic fruiting, which is liable to occur almost any time 
in the life of the vine, and thus to concentrate on the proper annual 
crop. When the vines are about a year old, all those from which cut- 
tings are to be taken are pruned so as to leave one main shoot only. 
This is allowed to grow for six months or more and is then cut off: 
this is the cutting which is ordinarily employed in planting. After this, 
around the roots of each vine a quantity (half a catty) of prawn refuse 
is spread : the valuable manure is applied in preparation for the first 
fruiting. In the ordinary course of events fruiting occurs during the 
succeeding year and now the gardeners are particularly busy with 
weeding, draining, the regular application of burnt earth, and with 
spraying operations. Judicious pruning is also necessary for producing 
bushy vines : by the time it has reached the top of its post a vine has 
been pruned at least three times. When the vine is from 2i to years 
old the first crop is over, the yield being estimated at from 1 to catties 
of white pepper per vine (four to six catties of green pepper). By the 
end of another year, the vine being years old, the plant has reached 
the top of its ten ft. post and is considered to be full grown : the crop 
of that year is estimated at three catties per vine. In each year the 
fruiting period extends over some months, the main crop being produe- 
