The vine may be propagated either from the seed or by cuttings. When
berries are selected for seed they are first soaked for three days, when
the outer coat can be removed. The seed is then dried in the shade,
after which it is sown by drills in nursery beds, which are made in the
usual manner in good moist soil in a shady locality. Frequent watering
will be necessary, if it be a dry time, until the plants have four
leaves, when they will be ready for planting.
The land to be planted is to be cleared of underbrush. Sometimes large
trees are burned by setting fire to their trunks. The tree will then
decay and will be attacked by insects and will become a heap of rotten
dust. This dust is washed by the rain around the roots of the vines,
making a good fertilizer.
The land cleared is next well planted and hoed and is lined out 7 × 7
feet, and holes are dug two feet square and fifteen inches deep, which
are filled with good soil or leaf mold if it can be secured. In filling
these holes they should not be heaped, as depressions are better for the
plant, but care should be taken that all that portion of the plant
underground in the nursery should be buried in the garden.
The land is fenced by mud walls made into terraces. The vines need
support, for if they are not supported they will spread over the ground
with the result that there will be much loss of fruit.
When posts are used, as is the case on the Island of Borneo, they
should be twelve feet long and eight inches square, with the lower end
tarred for two feet, to prevent decaying in the ground. The plantation
will then have the appearance of a hop field. But there are many
disadvantages in connection with the post support, as the posts must
be reset at intervals (much oftener than the vines) and the removing
of the post disturbs the aerial roots of the vine, which cling to
them. Even if the vine be trained to its new post, it will take some
time for it to attach sufficiently to receive any support or
nourishment. As the poles furnish little or no shade, a severe drought
will largely ruin the plants. For these reasons the use of posts has
not proved a success. Different countries use different growing trees
for the support, thus securing shade protection as well. Many kinds of
trees are used. One of these is the mango or the bread tree, which
will yield the planter one crop of fruit each year in addition to the
pepper crop; but the bread tree (_artocarpus-incioa_), being of slow
growth, should not be used for a support until it is twelve years old.
The Jack tree (_artocarpus-integrifolia_) is sometimes used in Malabar
as a second choice, but its fruit is diminished in quantity and
quality by the pressure of the pepper, and sometimes the monkeys will
pull them out or the crickets nip off the tops. The _erythrina-Indica_
(_erythrina coroilodendron_), a thorn tree called by the natives
_chingkariang_, is much used in Sumatra for an early support. It grows
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