NUTMEGS AND MACE 133 



Termites. Dr. Oxley mentions white ants or termites 

 as being troublesome to the nutmeg trees in the Straits 

 Settlements in 1848, but says they only attack weak 

 plants. "It is only upon the first symptoms of decay 

 that they commence their depredations." " Every 

 planter must lay his account to losing occasional trees 

 by them, but he who has his ground clearest and most 

 free of old roots and stumps of trees will lose fewest." 



I cannot say I have ever seen nutmeg trees really 

 attacked by any kind of termites. At present in the 

 East Indies there is only one species out of a very large 

 number which attacks living trees, and that is Termes 

 gestroi, the well-known species which does occasional 

 damage on rubber estates. This species might certainly 

 attack nutmeg trees, if it happened to be in the ground 

 near the trees. I gather from the description that Dr. 

 Oxley does not refer to this insect, but rather to one of 

 the common dead-wood eating species. These frequently 

 may be seen attacking the outer bark, coating it with 

 mud and nibbling the dry bark layers off, and occasion- 

 ally tunnelling up the centre of any small trees. The 

 occurrence of such an accident is a clear and certain 

 sign that the plant is dying from some other cause, and 

 the termites are merely devouring already dead portions. 

 It is, indeed, usually in very bad soil that this attack of 

 termites is seen, and it may be taken as evidence that 

 the ground is unsuited for cultivation. 



Dr. Oxley recommends the use of pig's dung in 

 solution for driving them off; any putrefying animal 

 matter will have this effect, and night- soil or urine will 

 soon cause them to go away. 



Parasitic Plants. The mistletoe, Loranthus, is 

 sometimes very troublesome to the planter. The seeds 

 are brought by birds which pass them on the boughs, 

 where they germinate and push their roots into the 

 host-plant. If neglected the whole bough on which the 

 parasite is growing dies and falls off, and eventually 

 the whole tree may be killed. 



It is of no use to merely pull off the branches of the 



