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ed between August and December. Each season, when fruiting is 
nearly over, a catty of prawn refuse is supplied to the roots of each 
vine ; this is the manure for the next season’s crop. The average life 
of a vine is from 10 to 12 years, but this depends very much on the 
care bestowed on its cultivations. 
Crop. In a well conducted garden the fruiting vines are covered 
with fruit spikes and each spike is thick with many well formed 
berries. As everybody knows, the white pepper and black pepper of 
commerce are products to the same vine, the difference between them 
depending simply on after treatment of the picked berries. Dotanically 
speaking, black pepper is the entire fruit w 7 hilst white pepper is the 
seed only. When preparing white pepper the spikes of fruit are picked 
off just as they are turning red : the berries are loosened from the 
spike stalk by pressing underfoot. These berries are collected and 
tied up in large bags which with their contents are allowed to soak in 
water for a week or ten days. It is usual to arrange for running 
water which receives the full heat of the sun as the decomposition of 
the skin on the pepper corns is thereby accelerated. When the skins 
have become sufficiently loose, the pepper is put into tubs where it is 
stamped underfoot and well washed until all the skins and stalks ha\e 
been removed. Finally, the pepper corns which remain are spread 
out on mats and dried in the sun : the product is now ready for the 
market. 
In making black pepper, the fruit is picked before it is ripe, earlier 
than would be the case if white pepper were the object. It is then 
spread out on mats to dry in the sun, and as it dries, the skin of the 
pepper com turns black : afterwards it is rubbed by hand so as to 
separate the berries from the stalks which latter are winnowed out. 
A better method of preparing the article is to boil the fresh berries in 
water for a short time and then dry them as above. In this way the 
skins are rendered tougher and the skins have a more uniform colour. 
Insecticides. The spikes of flowers and of fruits of the pepper 
vine are the victims of insect attack and to prevent partial or even 
etire loss of the crop it is absolutely necessary to resort to insecticides. 
The Chinaman always employs for this purpose a watery extract of 
crushed ‘tuba’ (Derris elliptica) and strong tobacco. This is applied 
to the flowers from a syringe and it proves very effective : the smell 
of the tobacco clings to the garden for several days. The proportion 
commonly adopted are one catty of ' Tuba, ’ one catty of Tobacco, and 
five gallons of water : such a quantity would be sufficient for ten vines, 
It is usual to apply the insecticide three times, at intervals of a week 
or more, while the fruit is setting. This insecticide although excellent 
for its purpose is comparatively expensive : in 1907 the price of Tuba’ 
was 8-12 cents per catty and of tobacco 35 cents per catty. 
Labour. It usually happens that the man in charge of a pepper 
garden is also the owner — it is often heavily mortgaged— and this man 
may be sufficient for a small garden. However, as already mentioned 
the pepper vine requires much personal care and it is found that one 
coolie cannot properly deal with more than 400 vines. In gardens 
of 1,000 vines or more it is the costom to employ one or two Sinkehs” 
(indentured coolies) who cost from $30 to $60 each for the year not 
