1 Drc., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 439 
up, will they not? Thatis their way of protecting themselves from the rays 
which would absorb the last drop of moisture from their tissues. Now to 
altogether stop the free exercise of this natural function is like sending a 
healthy man to bed and keeping him there. He would soon become a sick 
man. The less artificial the conditions under which you carry on any system 
of plant culture the better for the plant, though, of course, in many forms of 
industrial cultivation, an artificial product is what is chiefly aimed at, and then 
the guide of Nature to some extent fails us. The stuffing of turkeys is not 
natural, but the excellence of the result is undeniable. 
Do not therefore be alarmed if some of your plants curl upa little, unless 
you have reared them in an artificial manner to begin with. It is only when 
the curling or wilting goes too far that serious results are to be feared. You 
may often see during the heat of the day the Marantas and plants of that type 
in this shade-garden presenting a wilted appearance, but directly the sun’s 
rays are moderated they expand once more and are ready to absorb the cool 
moisture which collects on their surfaces during the night. - 
When you enter the door you will notice directly in front of you a pillar 
wreathed round with a very dark-green creeper, which grows upon the pillar and 
an iron bar in a curious resemblance to across. The facility with which this 
creeper can be trained on the most slender support, such as a piece of wire 
stretched from point to point, makes it most useful for the purpose of forming 
wreaths of foliage in the shade-garden. With a little ingenuity, very artistic 
effects can be produced in this way. Some examples of arches so formed may 
be seen in another part of this structure. ~ 
The plant Piper nigrum is that from which we derive that most useful 
condiment, pepper, both black and white, the latter being produced by allowing 
the fruits to ripen before they are picked. Pepper has had a very respectable 
antiquity, and was at one time held of no small account. We read that Alaric, 
king of the victorious Visigoths, demanded, in approved modern fashion, a war 
indemnity from the Romans, whose city he had invested. The items were 
5,000 Ib. of gold, 30,000 1b. of silver, 4,000 silk garments, 3,000 pieces of fine 
scarlet cloth, and 3,000 lb. of pepper. This was 1,490 years ago. A pepper- 
corn rent is looked upon as the very easiest form of tenure; but it was a very 
serious form of rent indeed in the Middle Ages when it was first introduced, 
and meant payment of 1 Ib. of pepper yearly. This plant is a native of close 
valleys in South-western India, in a latitude corresponding to that of our 
Northern districts north of the 20th parallell, but it has been introduced into 
several other countries, notably Java, where it is cultivated at a great profit. 
Tt must have the shade of trees, and a common way of growing it in India is to 
clear the jungle of undergrowth, allowing the trees to stand, and planting at the 
base of each a few vines, manuring them with some decayed leaves. This would 
prove a good way of trying the plant in the scrubs near the margins of some of 
our Northern streams. It propagates quite easily from cuttings, of which there 
are any number here. In artificial plantations the mother trees are usually 
mangoes, Jack fruit, or Lrythrina indica. 
It may be mentioned here—and this is true of almost all the subjects 
touched upon in these papers—that the avocation of a pepper-planter is one 
in itselfin the countries where this article is produced in perfection. The 
methods employed in, say, India, Java, and Sumatra are quite distinct. The 
writer of these papers disclaims any intention or desire of urging or advising 
any cultivator to dissipate his energies over a variety of products, or to waste 
too much of the time which he might otherwise usefully employ in 
“experimenting.” He considers that the old-fashioned advice, “Put not all 
thy eggs into one basket,” is pretty well played out. His advice is, “ First 
know your basket, get as many eggs as possible into it, andthen look after that 
basket.” The latest price current for pepper in London was 4d. per 1b., and 
over 23,000,000 Ib. are annually imported. 
To the right you will note a large creeper sending out aerial roots with 
which it seizes hold of woodwork and tree-stems, not by the process of clasping 
them in the way with which we are familiar in the cases of many climbers, 
