104 SPICES 



CHAP. 



Province Wellesley in the Malay Peninsula, whence are 

 derived the finest nutmegs in the world. Here the 

 trees grow on the steep exposed slopes of granite hills, 

 the soil of which is the yellow loamy clay so character- 

 istic of what are known as the laterite formations of 

 the Malay Peninsula. The more friable the clay the 

 better the plants seem to thrive. Dr. Oxley affirms 

 that the deeper the tinge of iron in the soil the better 

 it is for the full development of the tree. Bare clay 

 slopes or sandy soils do not suit the plant at all. The 

 rain-wash in such places, especially if it is impossible 

 to grow shade trees to check this, is most injurious. 



The slopes of the Penang and Province Wellesley 

 hills are rocky, with projecting boulders and masses of 

 granite, and among these the trees do well. 



In Malacca, at Pringitt, there was formerly for many 

 years an excellent little plantation which throve well 

 and yielded good crops on a hard ferruginous gravel, 

 or pebbles of clay iron-stone (laterite). 



In Bencoolen, Sumatra, Lumsdaine says that the 

 soil of the plantation was generally of a red colour, 

 with stony fragments or pebbles scattered through it ; 

 the surface of the forest lands being of a chocolate 

 colour. 



In Trinidad, virgin forest with rich soil is preferred, 

 but the soil need not necessarily be very rich, for the 

 plant throve well in red-brick soil, the poorest in the 

 district (Hart, Trinidad Bulletin). 



Alluvial flats are recommended by Lumsdaine, but 

 in most cases these are too low-lying and wet. Wet 

 or flooded ground is fatal to nutmegs, as is also exces- 

 sively dry ground. 



Altitude. The limits of successful cultivation in 

 the West Indies are from sea-level to 1000 ft. eleva- 

 tion. In the Straits Settlements it is seldom grown as 

 low as sea-level, but is generally cultivated on hills 

 from about 200 ft. to 2000 ft. above the sea. 



On the hill known as Bukit Mertajam, in Province 

 Wellesley, where every suitable spot is covered with 



