in 



NUTMEGS AND MACE 109 



of bamboo pots lies in the facility with which the 

 young plants can be transported to any part of the 

 estate with a minimum of risk. I never think, however, 

 that plants grow as well in bamboo pots as they do in 

 a nursery bed. Conical baskets of split rattan are 

 better for this kind of work. 



Sowing seed at stake is occasionally practised, but 

 is hardly to be recommended. If it is found more 

 convenient to do so, two seeds should be put in each 

 hole, and after germination the weaker plant should be 

 removed. 



Sexes of the Plant. The nutmeg tree is normally 

 monoecious, that is to say, is either male, bearing only 

 male flowers, or female, bearing only female ones, and 

 it is stated by some that the males never become 

 females, nor the females males. It is, however, often 

 stated that male trees have been known to produce at 

 first a few, and later all female flowers in from two to 

 six years. 



There are, however, also trees which produce both 

 kinds of flowers at the same time, and these are known, 

 according to Kumphius, as Boy-trees (Pala boi) in 

 Amboyna. The origin of this name is unknown. 



Dr. Oxley seems to have considered that these 

 hermaphrodite trees are inferior, as they have a tendency 

 to produce double nuts, and the nuts themselves are 

 inferior in quality and quantity. 



Janse, in the Annals of the Buitenzorg Gardens, 

 1904, in treating of double and triple nuts, says that 

 the hermaphrodite trees bear more or fewer nuts each 

 year, that a large percentage of these have double or 

 triple nuts, and that such nuts are not produced at all 

 by female trees. Dr. Oxley states that the female 

 flowers of weakly trees (by which he seems to mean 

 hermaphrodite trees) are entirely yellow instead of 

 being of a greenish colour at the base, and are im- 

 perfectly urceolate, approaching in form more nearly to 

 the staminiferous flowers of the male trees. 



I cannot say that I have noticed this, nor do I find 



