NUTMEGS AND MACE. 17 



transferred to bamboo pots, and, when they have quite recovered 

 from the transplanting, and have formed good roots, they are ready 

 for the nutmeg plantation. The planters must now exercise strict 

 supervision over the labourers to see that the bamboo pot is care- 

 fully slit down on one side, and the plant, with the earth 

 undisturbed round the root, gently placed in the hole prepared for 

 its reception. If this operation is done too harshly or clumsily, 

 the tip of the tap root is broken and the plant soon dies. 



Nutmeg trees require a deep, rich, loamy soil, moist, but not 

 swampy, with a humid atmosphere. They thrive best in steady 

 river valleys from the sea-level up to 300 or 400 feet, but they 

 will grow in favorable situations up to an elevation of 2,000 feet. 

 The trees should be placed at distances of 25 or 30 feet apart, and 

 if the situation is not naturally shady and sheltered, trees should 

 be planted for the purpose of breaking the wdnd as well as to 

 provide shade to the young plants. The trees are a long time coming 

 to maturity, not producing a crop, as a rule, till they are nine years 

 old : and only when they first flower, at six .or seven years of age, 

 is it possible to determine whether they are male or female. A 

 very small proportion of male trees is left for fertilization by 

 insects; the rest are cut down, and fresh plants are substituted. 

 The fertile trees continue to produce fruit for seventy or eighty 

 years. On an average, each tree will yield ten pounds of nutmegs 

 and about one pound of mace every year ; and, when highly manured, 

 it is said that they will produce ten times that amount." 



A note on the curing of nutmegs in Grenada is given in the 

 November, 1891, number of the "Jamaica Bulletin," the details of 

 which may be of service to those who are starting the culture. 

 The process is said to be that which is adopted for preparing the 

 nutmegs for the London market. The nutmegs are picked up 

 from under the trees every day (except Sunday). On being 

 brought into the " boucan," the mace is peeled off and pressed flat 

 between heavy blocks of wood, where it is left for two or three 

 days, then put into a case and left till it reaches the proper colour. 

 The nutmegs are put into receptacles with fine mesh bottoms, so 

 that the air can pass through, and left inside the " boucan " for 

 three wrecks or a month, in fact until the nut begins to shake 

 inside the shell ; they are then placed in the sun for a couple of 

 hours a day for two or three days. After this they are cracked. 

 Great care is necessary here, for if the outside shell is struck too 

 c 



