BY G. DALTON. 
57 
It has been suggested that the planters do not use 
the hard-wood permanent posts at the commencement 
and thus save all the trouble of changing the temporary 
sticks after a certain period, because such posts are 
injurious to the young vine. Seeing that the large sur¬ 
face and harder nature of such posts would give off more 
heat than would the small sticks of soft wood, there may 
well be some advantage in this extra labour. But as 
often as not when the pepper-planter has started his 
garden and paid the initial expenses, he has very little 
spare cash with which to indulge in bilian posts; these 
are improvements for which he has to wait until times 
are easier, and this no doubt is a cogent reason in many 
cases for the primary insertion of temporary sticks. 
Originally, vines of five or six months’ standing 
were taken down and layered to form a circle, some 
two feet in diameter, round the permanent post ; the 
terminal shoot of the vine was then trained up the 
post in close proximity to its roots. Vines thus treated 
are retarded six months or so in growth, but the) 7 form 
much stronger plants, which will last a good twenty 
years if treated with ordinary care. This practice was 
discontinued by the new planters, who came in with 
the “ boom,” owing to the loss of time entailed. 
Three main shoots only are trained up the post, these 
being tied at every joint (say every 4")- All flower is care¬ 
fully picked off. 
If cuttings are desired, from the age of 12-14 months, 
one main shoot only is allowed to grow, until the vine is 
18 months old, when the cutting is taken and the vine 
treated with half a catty of Prawn Refuse in preparation 
for its first fruiting. All flowers, of course, up to this 
point have been rigorously destroyed. 
By this method a good sound cutting is obtained 
which will form a strong vine later on. If the planter 
intended selling cuttings he would probably run up three 
shoots, but cuttings obtained from these would be inferior 
in quality to those obtained from the single shoot. 
Similarly, although it is possible to obtain cuttings 
from a 6 months’ old vine, such cuttings are usually 
weaklings. It is also possible to take three, or even four, 
lots of cuttings off one plant in a year, but again such are 
not to be recommended. It is far better, both for vine 
and cutting, to wait 18 months before taking the cutting. 
