NUTMEGS AND MACE 105 



nutmeg and clove plantations, the limit is reached at 

 under 1000 ft., above which the tree will not grow. 

 The highest point of Great Banda is 1500 ft. 



CLIMATE 



It is commonly said that nutmegs must be able to 

 smell the sea, and cloves must see it, and it is certain 

 that if proximity to the sea is not altogether essential 

 for the success of the cultivation, there have been very 

 few, if any, really successful plantations of nutmegs at 

 any distance from the sea. It will be noticed that all 

 the great cultivations of this plant have been on islands, 

 viz. the Moluccas, Penang, Grenada, and Trinidad, 

 while attempts to cultivate the plant far inland never 

 seem to have been attended with much success. 



With regard to temperature, Dr. Oxley gives the 

 temperature of Banda as ranging from 76 to 86 Fahr. 

 in the south-east monsoon, and from 80 to 92 in 

 the north-west monsoon. In the Straits Settlements 

 the temperature is rather less regular, ranging from 64 

 to 93, with an average of 79 for Penang, and 81 for 

 Province Wellesley. 



The temperature of Trinidad is given as from 75 

 to 90. 



Rainfall. The rainfall of Banda ' is described as 

 similar to that of the Straits Settlements, that is to 

 say, from about 87 to 142 in, per year. This rain is 

 constant, and there is no dry period. Occasionally, in 

 the Straits Settlements, a month or even two may occur 

 with very little or no rain, but this is not a constant 

 occurrence, and usually there is a little rain every day, 

 i with heavier storms at the break of the monsoon. 



In Penang there is distinctly more of a trace of a 

 dry season than there is in Singapore, and farther 

 north in the Lankawi Islands, within sight of Penang, 

 it is still more marked. A little drying of the air in 

 the months of June and July does not seem to hurt the 

 tree, even if grown with full exposure, as in Penang 



