The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-03-26
About Pepper.

Nv Jlltiht wv Diii'OtIs
About Pepper.
The most familiar spice, the one long
est known to the civilized world, and
the most largely used among all classes,
il pepper. Even the ancicnts, we learn
from history, knew and appreciated its
virtues.
The G ARE, at least, eighty species OF
plants, pronounced by botanical author
tiles to belong to the pepper family, but
Of these the fruits Of only a few nre re-
cOPnized to be of sufficient value to
make them worth cultivation. These
varieties are the black (from II com-
mercial point Of view the most impor'
tant Of tho family, the long and the
cayenne.
The black pepper is the fruit Of n
vine, indigenous to Iudia and the East
India Islands generally. If not inter
fcrcd with it grows to n height OF TWEEN
ty feet, but is found to yield more album
dainty when restrained to twelve. tits
often trained on poles, like beans, but
more frequently around small trees,
which are planted for that purpose, for
it is u shadow loving plant. The leaf
is broad, ovatc, and gray-mottlcd on
the under side, and the fruit or berry
hangs in long, slender clusters from the
branches, each cluster being composed
Of from twenty to fifty peppcr'berrles.
When ripe, these berries are OF n nch
deep red, becoming black on being pick
ed and dried. The picking il done by
rubbing the lunches between the
hands until the fruit is separated, when
it is Mt Once put on mats in the sun to
dry, during which operation it becomes
hard and shrivelcd, as it is when it
reaches us. If the gathering is delayed
until the fruit is ovcr-rlpc, 1T INJURIES
the quality of tho pepper materially,
hence the rule among planters to gather
when the first red berries appear on
the lunches. There are two crops an
u%uallv, but the season is irregular.
Malabm pepper is considered superb
or TO all others, but there il, little actual
difference between it and the pepper
raised in Sumntra and other islands.
The best black pepper should be pun
gent and aromatic in odor, hot and ac-
rid in tasto, berry large and so firm and
sound that il will not break into frag-
mcnts on being rubbed between the
hands. 1t should be rs free from wrink-
les as possible, and Of II brownish-black
color. Small broken berries which
clumblo easily in the hands arc not
good stock, and should be by nll means
rejected.
What we call "whitc pepper 4" is real
ly NJ moro than black pepper stepped
in water until thoroughly mOistcncd,
and then stripped ci It's skin ms this
skin contains II great proportion Of the
pCmgcnt acId flavor, the removal Of it
makes tho white pepper go called
much mildcr. ~ o Chinese pri2o this
pepper very highly, and use it almost
exclusively.
Long pepper il another variety Of
which very little IN o imported for
merry it was much used in pharmacy,
but l~uttcrly cayenne has taken its place,
1t is gathered while still green, mc
when dry becomes dark gray in color,
1t is imported in the spikes, which ar'
about an inch long. The root of this
species has great medicinal virtues, anC
il highly pri2ed ON that account by TIT
native Hindoos.
Cayenne pepper belongs to II diilercn
botanical family and IL confined to
different sphere. IL il II native of thu
West Indies, and of late has been con
sidcrcd II commercial product Of Rrca
Importance, but it IN never supply TIN
place of black pepper in the trade.
The opening OF free trade III the Gus
gave n great impulse to the peppe
trade, as, indeed, was very natural, tn,
tax in 1923 having been actually 81.
!. times the price of the pepper. But
, throwing off the enormous taxes an,
opening the trade to all, although some
, what tardily done, has rendered it NJ
industry in which thousands are EN-
ploycd, and placed it within the reacl
of all.
What IL called allspice, pimcnto, ol
. Jamaica pepper, has nothing whatever
in common with pepper proper and la'
only been named Jamaica pepper be
cause its dried berry somewhat rcscm
+ blcs the black pepper berry. II is M
tive to Jninnlca and the whole northern
= SIDE of that island, rs far as the las,
of the Blue mountain range, is clothed
, in green by pimcnto groves or walks. ,
The pim"r to tree is u beautiful one,
and, although insignificant in height,
when HI ng ug full OF rich purple Iruit,
is n sight t. be long remembered. The
berries are picked when green, as the
dried ripe ones become soft. In some
seasons a single tree will bear MS much
as $50 pounds of green fruit, that is,
al o 1t 100 pounds of dried fruit, M tho
loss III drying is about one third. The
crop is, however, irregular, and plant
ers do not count on I'M unusually
plcntcous yield oltoncr than once in five
years.
Means of Checking Coughing, Sncez-
ing. Etc.
The following is on extract from the
second lecture Of DR.. Brown. Sruuard
Mt Boston
There are many fncts which show
that morbid phenomena Of respiration
can be also stopped by the influence of
arrest. Coughing, for instance, can be
stopped by pressing on tho nerves on
the lip IN tho neighborhood of the
nose. A pressure there may prevent n