114 SPICES 



CHAP. 



on hot days is excessive, and this must certainly injure 

 the roots, the ground being kept scrupulously clean of 

 weeds, and so receiving the full and continuous heat of 

 the sun. In the Singapore Botanic Gardens a number 

 of trees were grown in open ground. The soil (except 

 just round the trees, where it was kept clear for con- 

 venience in manuring) was covered with grass. No 

 shading was used, but two or three trees were close to 

 taller trees of the kind known as Tembusu (Fagraea 

 fragrans). These two or three trees, shaded from the 

 afternoon sun partly or altogether, are much larger, 

 more bushy, and produce much more fruit. The 

 leaves are of a richer green, and the whole plant much 

 more healthy in appearance. In several old gardens in 

 Singapore were formerly some old trees which seemed 

 to have remained over as relics of the long abandoned 

 cultivation here. These had been neglected in many 

 cases, and were shaded by old fruit trees. They were 

 of large size, with fine and abundant dark-green foliage, 

 but I observed that most of them produced very little 

 fruit. Probably in these cases the shading was too 

 dense, and the plants too much crowded by the other 

 trees. I am strongly inclined to think that, in most 

 places at least, a good light shade would be very 

 beneficial to the growth of the nutmeg. 



In Trinidad the well-known rain-tree (Pithecolobium 

 saman) is used for shading, and is, I think, as good a 

 shade tree as could be found. It grows readily from 

 seed, and is a fast grower. It is not too dense, allowing 

 a good quantity of light to pass through its foliage. 

 During rain and at night it closes its leaves so as to 

 let rain and dew fall on the plants beneath it. The 

 saga (Adenanthera pavonina) is another tree that 

 might be used. It is a fast grower from seed, but 

 spreads less than the rain-tree, and sheds all its leaves 

 during the dry season, which might expose the nutmegs 

 to the full heat at the hottest period. The rapid- 

 growing Albizzia moluccana is often used as a shade 

 tree for coffee and other plants. It gives a light lattice- 



