DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2375#0227
222
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
CHAPTER planted in the garden, which is done in their fifth year. They are
v^vO then estimated worth one silver Fanam a hundred, 5} Fanams eoin"*
March 15. t0 t]ie jiupee • out they are seldom sold, any man lending to his
neighbour when he may be in want of a few.
The crop season of an Areca garden continues from two months
before, till one after, the winter solstice. The bunches are cut as
they approach to ripeness, for the ripe nut is of no use except for
seed. The husk is removed with a knife. A decoction is then
made with a few nuts, a little Chunam (ashes of the bark of the
Chuncoa Muttla Buch: MSS.), and some bark of the Honay, or Pte~
rocarpus santolinus. These are bruised together, and are boiled six
hours in water. A quantity of the nut cleared from the husk is
then put in a pot, and into this the decoction is poured, until it
rises above the nuts, which are then boiled till the eyes separate.
They are now put upon a strainer of mats supported on posts, and
are dried six days in the sun. At night they are covered with a mat.
In this country the Betel-nut is never cut, but is sold entire, and
is called red Betel. Any nuts of a bunch, that have become too
ripe before it was cut, are picked out and kept separate. Their
husks are removed, and they are dried in the sun without boiling.
These are called raw Betel, and sell much lower than the other
kind. ,•;
From the month preceding the winter solstice, to that following
the vernal equinox, the leaves of the Areca fall off. Each is accom-
panied by its broad, leathery, membraneous petiole; which, when
they are young, form collectively a green smooth body at the top
of the stem. These membranes are cut off, and carefully preserved.
They are about three feet long, and a cubit broad; and, in the
rainy season, are. used to make covers for the young bunches, or
spadices. In the month following the summer solstice, a man mounts
the Areca, and above every branch fixes a cover, so as entirely to
keep off the rain. Some of the trees are so tall and slender, that
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
CHAPTER planted in the garden, which is done in their fifth year. They are
v^vO then estimated worth one silver Fanam a hundred, 5} Fanams eoin"*
March 15. t0 t]ie jiupee • out they are seldom sold, any man lending to his
neighbour when he may be in want of a few.
The crop season of an Areca garden continues from two months
before, till one after, the winter solstice. The bunches are cut as
they approach to ripeness, for the ripe nut is of no use except for
seed. The husk is removed with a knife. A decoction is then
made with a few nuts, a little Chunam (ashes of the bark of the
Chuncoa Muttla Buch: MSS.), and some bark of the Honay, or Pte~
rocarpus santolinus. These are bruised together, and are boiled six
hours in water. A quantity of the nut cleared from the husk is
then put in a pot, and into this the decoction is poured, until it
rises above the nuts, which are then boiled till the eyes separate.
They are now put upon a strainer of mats supported on posts, and
are dried six days in the sun. At night they are covered with a mat.
In this country the Betel-nut is never cut, but is sold entire, and
is called red Betel. Any nuts of a bunch, that have become too
ripe before it was cut, are picked out and kept separate. Their
husks are removed, and they are dried in the sun without boiling.
These are called raw Betel, and sell much lower than the other
kind. ,•;
From the month preceding the winter solstice, to that following
the vernal equinox, the leaves of the Areca fall off. Each is accom-
panied by its broad, leathery, membraneous petiole; which, when
they are young, form collectively a green smooth body at the top
of the stem. These membranes are cut off, and carefully preserved.
They are about three feet long, and a cubit broad; and, in the
rainy season, are. used to make covers for the young bunches, or
spadices. In the month following the summer solstice, a man mounts
the Areca, and above every branch fixes a cover, so as entirely to
keep off the rain. Some of the trees are so tall and slender, that