48 DE. COLLTNGWOOT) OX NUTAIEa-CULTIYATIOK IN SINOArOUE. 



exhausted tlie tree, so tliat the premature decay thus brouglit on 

 by inflexible physiological laws was incapable of being arrested 

 by any after-treatment. 



When it was found that, in spite of care and lavish expen- 

 diture, the trees surely died, a reaction took place. Tlie planters 

 abandoned the plantations in disgust, in many cases while there 

 wei'c still numerous healthy trees ; and the land reverted to the 

 Government. In other cases, whore expensive bungalows had been 

 built upon the estate, they were sold for a small projjortion of 

 the sums expended in building them, since they were, as a rule, 

 too far from town to command any competition, and ceased to be 

 conveniently situated. Many planters, both English and Chinese, 

 whose whole estates were invested in nutmeg-plantations, were 

 thus reduced to ruin, and absolutely penniless ; and distress and 

 disappointment everywliere prevailed. 



It is a curious fact that many of these abandoned trees, around 

 Avliich has now sprung up a thick jiuigle undergrowth, have, 

 since they have been thus neglected and left to them^elyeSyrecovered, 

 and relievo the generally dismal prospect of bare branches and 

 skeleton trees. I have myself seen these dark^green healthy 

 trees in many situations where they are quite uncared for, even 

 amongst the oldest plantations in the. island; and this fact 

 seems decidedly corroborative of the idea that the disease was 

 one of exhaustion and decay, arising from unnatural forcing. 

 Another fact is significant, viz. that at Penang, where this culti- 

 vation, as described, was carried on with the greatest vigour and 

 the greatest expenditure, the destruction has been most complete 

 and marked, while at Malacca, Avhere the people were not so rich, 

 and could not afford to manure the trees so highly, they have not 

 suffered so severely as at Penang and Singapore. 



At the present moment there is no such thing as nutmeg- 

 cultivation either at Penang or Singapore; nor does it seem 

 probable that the experiment will be again tried. Planters are 

 now persuaded that neither the soil nor climate are favourable 

 for their production ; and, as we shall presently see, other crops 

 have fared but little better. The trees which still exist are 

 neglected and abandoned by their owners, though they still 

 yield nutmegs. These are gathered by any Chinese or Malays 

 who take the trouble to do so ; and the few nutmegs, insignificant 

 in quantity, which now find their way into the Singapore market, 

 are obtained in this way,— a clear gain to those who carry them 

 there. 



