358 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Noy., 1902. 
Simmonds states that some planters always raise their plants from seed, 
and that the vines so raised are said to bear for fourteen years; also that the 
crops from the latter are heavier and the berries larger. 
Mernop or Harvestine. 
When the first berries ripen, which is evidenced by their turning red, the 
crop is gathered. In Java, Dr. Meyen states that the crop is sometimes so 
great that the leaves of the plants cannot be seen for the immense quantity of 
berries. The exact point, for commencing to gather, requires, for reasons given 
before, some judgment, and can only be determined by experience. It is, of 
course, desirable that the vines shall not be injured, and for this reason, as 
well as for the purpose of reaching the top branches, the best cultivators use 
light, triangular bamboo ladders, the operator collecting the fruit in a basket 
slung over his shoulder. The fruiting spikes or bunches are gathered whole 
and spread on mats in the sun to dry. As they dry the spikes are turned over 
and either rubbed through the hands or trodden on for the purpose of 
separating the berries. After this, they are sifted and winnowed to fit them 
for packing for market. 
Good black pepper should be large-grained, not excessively wrinkled, and 
hard. It should contain no broken grains nor any which crumble on being 
rubbed. Thatit should be highly pungent and aromatic is a matter of course, 
and the failure of any one of these conditions evidences immaturity at the 
time of gathering, or careless preparation. 
White pepper is the same seed from the same plant, but deprived of its 
external skin. This is done by steeping the seed in water till the skin is soft, 
when it is rubbed off. The pungency of the pepper is, however, reduced by 
the process, and its value as a condiment is lessened, the only advantage being 
that it is more easily ground. Some small quantity of the white pepper of 
commerce consists of the first and largest berries which have fallen and 
bleached on the ground, whence they are carefully gathered and set aside. 
What is known in commerce as “long pepper,” consists of the fruiting 
spikes of Piper longum. These, which resemble the fruit of the common rib- 
grass, are gathered before maturity, are dried without detaching the seeds, and 
are sent to market in that form. They are warm and pungent, but possess 
only a slight aromatic odour. Nicholls says the yield varies very much. It 
may be from 3-lb. to 7 lb. for each vine, and these plants give at 7 feet distances, 
from 443 lb. to over 6,000 Ib. per acre. With good cultivation and a suitable 
soil, 4,000 lb. an acre ought to be obtained. 
The latest price quoted for pepper wholesale is, for black, from 4d. 
to 53d. per lb., and for white, 83d to 93d. per lb. Long pepper from 52s. 
to 54s. per cwt. 
Most of the above we have taken from Bernays’ Cultural Industries of 
Queensland, 
COST OF SUGAR PRODUCTION IN BARBADOS. 
The following interesting information on the cost of producing 1 ton of 
sugar in Barbados will doubtless be read with interest by sugar planters and 
manufacturers in this State. On the 28th February last His Excellency the 
Governor of the islands received a deputation from the Agricultural Society 
and he showed that the loss on the present year’s crop of sugar in Barbados 
would reach £48,000 after paying the mere cost of production, and that it 
would require a rise of 18 cents per 100 lb. of sugar on the then price of 1:20 
dollars and 5 dollars to save the said loss. To arrive at this conclusion, he 
based his calculation on the figures given in the Royal Commissioner’s report, 
which stated that the cost of producing 1 ton net of muscovado sugar was 
£8 12s. 2d. This statement has called forth the subjoined remarks from a 
correspondent of the Barbados Agricultural Gazette :—It is to be regretted 
that His Excellency was evidently unaware of the method by which this sum. 
a  ——— 
