ON A SUGAR ESTATE. 



237 



introduction and pres- 

 ervation, and has 

 grown into trees of 

 great size, appearing 

 at a distance like well- 

 trimmed orange trees. 

 The male trees, in 

 February, were just 

 flowering, while the 

 female trees hung 

 thick with nuts re- 

 sembling our walnuts 

 before they burst their 

 husk. Some of these 

 nuts had burst their 

 outer covering, dis- 

 closing the mace ly- 

 ing between the out- 

 er shell and an inner 

 one inclosing the nut, 

 of a rich vermilion 

 hue, and possessing 

 a warm, spicy taste. There are several nutmeg groves 

 throughout the island, though but little attention is 

 paid to their cultivation. The income from each 

 nutmeg tree in bearing is estimated at five dollars per 

 year — a pound sterling per season. 



The clove did not prove so successful as the nut- 

 meg, though its cultivation is attended with little labor 

 and the profits sure. A very instructive account of 

 experiments in clove culture is that of a gentleman 

 in Dominica, who wrote in 1796. For several years 

 he persevered on his estate, Montpelier, in the hills 



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J ALM, 



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READ-FRUIT. 



