222 ODOROGRAPHIA. 
not think it worth while to subject to the process of smoking, and 
they are merely dried in the sun; they are discoverable by their 
shrivelled appearance and are of inferior value. The period of 
harvest is here from October to December, and the. average pro- 
duction of all trees in a plantation may be taken at above five 
pounds, this is allowing that only two-thirds of the trees are in 
bearing condition, the remaining third being either barren or young 
trees. According to these figures, the produce of an acre will be 
375 lbs. avoirdupois, and deducting one-eighth for young trees under 
ten years, 328 lbs.” * 
On the Moluccas the clove-tree begins to blossom when about 
seven or eight years old; the average produce is about 43 lbs. of 
cloves from each tree yearly. The harvest takes place twice a 
year, in June and in December ; the buds are partly collected by 
hand, and partly knocked off by bamboo canes and collected in 
cloths spread beneath the trees. 
As cultivated in the Bencoolen districts in Sumatra, the seeds 
are planted in rich mould at the distance of 12 inches from each 
other, screened from the sun and duly watered. They germinate 
within five weeks, and when four feet high are transplanted to 
distances of thirty feet, with a small admixture of sand with the 
red mould peculiar to these districts, so as to reduce its tenacity ; 
they are then cultivated in the same way as the nutmeg-trees, only 
that when full grown they require less manure in the proportion of 
one-third. They yield generally at the age of six years, and at the 
age of twelve years are in their highest state of bearing; the 
average produce may then be estimated at six or seven pounds of 
marketable fruit from each tree during the harvest, which takes 
place in the rainy seasons, i. e. twice a year. 
At the commencement of the wet season the tree throws out a 
profusion of new leaves. Soon after, the germs of the fruit are 
discovered at the extremities of the young shoots, and in the four 
followimg months the cloves are completely formed. The buds, at 
first of a pale green colour, assume in time a pale yellow and ulti- 
mately a blood-red colour. They are then ripe for gathering for 
the purpose of drying for the market, but this is not the actual 
period of maturity of the fruit, 7. e. the time when the seed is 
developed and ripe for purposes of propagation. For this another 
three weeks are required, and in this short period the fruit swells 
* ‘Tndian Agriculturalist, reprinted in Pharm. Journ. Aug. 20, 1887. 
aT Mei 
