CLOVES. 417 



clove tree in Zanzibar appears to be from 60 to 70 years (on the 

 authority of Mahomed-bin-Saif Drumiki, an elderly Arab of much 

 experience, who has been for over 20 years in charge of the 

 Sultan's plantation at Indo). vSach terrible devastation resulted 

 from the great hurricane of 1872, when nearly all the clove 

 plantations on the island were destroved, that the averagre acre of 

 the trees now growing may be put down as below 20 years, and 

 the age of the trees in the Sultan's plantation, the largest in the 

 island, is from 16 to 17 years. 



" The appearance of the clove plantations is, as a rule, most 

 healthy and luxuriant, the height of the more matured trees 

 averaging fully 40 feet, and the branches of the two rows often 

 completel}' shading the ground. Clove trees generally have forked 

 stems, and often as many as three and four, and a single-boled tree 

 is the exception. 



" So far as I have 'oeen able to ascertain, the clove tree is not 

 subject to any fungoid disease, and the percentage of dead, dying 

 and unhealthy trees noticed by me was very small. The cause 

 generally was either a damp situation, or else want of cultivation, 

 and the presence of grasses, especially ' hook,' called in Swahili 

 ' Pamba ya moitu.' The clove tree, however, suffers from the 

 attacks of two enemies — one a caterpillar, which attacks the 

 foliage in the dry weather and often denudes the tree of its leaves, 

 but the tree recovers at once as soon as the rains set in. The 

 other is the white ant, which occasionally attacks the roots. Xo 

 remedial measures appear to be taken. 



" In good situations the clove trees begin to yield in 5 years from 

 planting, and in inferior soil in 6 years to 6 J years from planting. 

 Cocoanut trees are generally planted at irregular distances betw^een 

 the rows of clove trees, but the reason for doing so appears to be 

 quite forgotten, the usual reply being that ' it was the custom.' 

 (Cocoanut trees are usually planted here and there amongst the 

 clove trees in Amboyna and the Moluccas, it being believed that 

 the proximity of this tree is beneficial to the clove. The French 

 most probably adopted the custom in Mauritius and Eeunion, and 

 it eventually found its way to Zanzibar). The picking of the buds 

 commences in August, and lasts for four months. On an average 

 each tree is picked three times in a season. The unexpanded buds 

 on the trees are at first a pinkish yellow, becoming a deeper red as 

 they mature. The stalks and buds are gathered at the same time, 



DD 



