388 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 9. 191L 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE FRUITING OF A 

 NUTMEG TREE. 



M^lLE' 



In ihe Ayricultnrcd Keifs for October 14, 1911, 

 a note apjjeared that had been received from Mr. J. C. 

 Mooie, Agricultural Superintendent, St. Lucia, dealing 

 with the circumsiance of the fruiting of one of the 

 stamiiiale nuiuieg trees at the Botanic Gardens iti that 

 island. Since ihif, Mr. J. .Jones, Curator of the Botanic 

 Gardens, Dominica, hns kindly drawn attention to the 

 following note in relation to the subject, which appeared 

 in the Agricultural BvUetiv of the Mahiy Penin^ida 

 for April 1897, and in so doing, states that the same 

 phenomenon has been observed in thac island: — 



As a rule each tree is either inalo or female, and this is 

 only distingui.shable by the fiower.s. 'J'lie female flowers 

 are solitary, and much larger than the male.s, and thicker in 

 texture. If opened,, they will be found to contain a pubescent 

 cylindric pistil, cleft at the top into two short .styles. The 

 male flowers, on the other hand, arc produced in little racemes 

 of three or four, and each contains a column of stamens all 

 joined together. 



Some trees produce both male and female flowers in 

 various pro[iortions, and it is well known that trees on their 

 first flowering bear male flowers only; after about two years 

 they will sometimes produce female flowers, and eventually 

 bear no males. 



Female trees are naturally of the greatest value to the 

 planter, but it is of course essential to have some male trees 

 in the plantation, or the fruit will be of no value. Even with- 

 out males the fruit will sometimes sot arid develop up to 

 a certain point, but never ripens, and soon falls ott'. The 

 pollen is conveyed from male to female flowers by small 

 insects, chiefly apparently a very small, flattened, brownish 

 beetle, but bees often visit the flowers as well. 



In relation to the. same subject, the following 

 interesting information has been communicated by 

 Mr. W. N. Sands, Agricultural Superintendent-, St. 

 Vincent: — 



I would draw^ attention to the Trinidad Bulletin of 

 Miscellaneous Information, AY>n\ 1007, p. 202. There, Hart 

 describes a monoecious nutmeg tree growing in Trinidad, 



and stales that it is possible that such a form has been pre- 

 viously produced and records registered, but mentions that 

 he has been unable to trace any note in available literature. 

 In the nutmeg grove at the Botanic Gardens here, there 

 are two ' male ' trees, each twenty-one years old, which have 

 borne fruit. One of these at the present time has two fruits 

 on it and has each year for the past si.x years to my knowl- 

 edge, e.xhibitcd this abnormal feature. Aljout five years ago 

 I germinated two fruits, but unfortunately lost sight of the 

 plants owing to carelessness on the part of an emifloyee. 

 I have e.'cainined many flowers on the trees and they are pro- 

 duced in great abundance, but all appear to be 'male'; this 

 points to the fact that very few flowers capable of forming 

 fruits are jnoduced, but whether these aro unisexual, or 

 hermaphrodite,' or both, is a point which requires to be 

 investigated. 



These monoecious trees, although of a good bearing age, 

 have never borne more than tw-o or three fruits at any time, 

 so that they are not likely to be of any commercial value; but 

 they are certainly of much interest from a botanical point of 

 view. 



Further in the same connexion, the following 

 short article ajjpeared in the Port-of-Spnin Gazette, 

 for October 29 ;— 



We have read a rather interesting account from 

 St Lucia which appeared in the Agriexdtural Xeivs of the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture, Barbados, just to hand 

 and issued on the 14th instant, under the heading, The 

 Fruiting of a 'Male' Nutmeg Tree, page 324, and asking if 

 any similar observation had been made by other persons. 

 \N<i, ourselves, remember to have seen at Dellevue estate in 

 the parish of St. Andrews, Grenada, a long time ago now, 

 several plump, ordinary-looking nutmegs upon a male tree. 

 There were blossoming, at the same time, the usual numbers 

 of flowers characteristic of this se.x. Near by were to be 

 seen some of the oldest nutnug trees in the West Indies. 

 Everybody knows it, but it might be said that Grenada is 

 famous for its extensive nutmeg cultivation, and that it is due 

 to this fact that the island is referred to sometimes as the Isle 

 of Spices, or the Spice Island. Since the visit to Bellevue 

 we have seen another male tree producing nuts in the parish 

 of St. David, Grenada, the chief fruit parish of ;that beauti- 

 ful island 



